Good morning from Miami,<\/p>\n
Paging A.J. Preller. Dr. Preller to \u201cThe Room<\/a>.\u201d Stat.<\/p>\n The season\u2019s breath is fading.<\/p>\n The Padres lost another game yesterday that tore right to the heart of what ails them.<\/p>\n Their starting pitcher \u2014 bulk reliever in this case \u2014 was bad.<\/p>\n You can read in my game story (here<\/a>) from the 6-5 loss about how the Padres scored three runs against the Braves\u2019 Chris Sale and Griffin Canning coughed up that lead and the Padres could not come back all the way.<\/p>\n The Padres have lost five of seven since the All-Star break.<\/p>\n They dropped to three games under .500 for the first time since they were 2-5 on April 3 and fell to four games back in the race for the final National League wild-card spot.<\/p>\n So now what?<\/p>\n People inside the Padres organization have maintained all along they want to improve their team for 2026 (and beyond) before 3 p.m. PT on Aug. 3. There is little indication those intentions have changed. That means the Padres still hope to be buyers in some way, shape or form.<\/p>\n They are prudently fielding calls and texts regarding several of their players. There remain several paths of buy\/sell\/both they could follow depending on what happens over the next week or so.<\/p>\n The decisions hinge on how they play, their results, the results of teams ahead of them in the race for the final wild-card spot and what starting pitchers they can add in a market in which at least 10 teams are said to be shopping for rotation help.<\/p>\n Preller\u2019s ability to swing blockbuster, potentially season-altering deals cannot be denied. And the Padres cannot categorically be dismissed as potential contenders if they can adequately bolster their pitching staff.<\/p>\n It just seems so unlikely, given how things are going, that they can sustain winning in a manner that will be required to remain relevant.<\/p>\n They are losing games that most teams, including them, almost always win.<\/p>\n The Padres have scored five runs in five of their seven games on this trip and have gone 2-3 in those games. That is preposterous.<\/p>\n They were 32-4 in games in which they scored at least five runs before the break.<\/p>\n Just two other times this season did they sustain a stretch as long as their current one in which they produced as prolifically on offense.<\/p>\n They scored five runs nine times in a 10-game stretch in April and went 9-0 in those games. They did so 10 times in 16 games in June and went 9-1 in those games.<\/p>\n So this is bad. And it is probably a bad sign. It just might be a sign that they should accept the pennant race going on without them.<\/p>\n Fernando Tatis Jr. was asked whether, given the fact they are losing games like this, it felt like the season was slipping away.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s slipping away, but we should (take advantage) of this opportunity,\u201d he said. Offensively, we have. Every day we\u2019re not going to score eight, six or 10 runs. It\u2019s just tough.\u201d<\/p>\n And that is as close as any position player will come to even hinting at pointing a finger.<\/p>\n Padres hitters know they have no room to be sniping.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s part of the game,\u201d Jake Cronenworth said. \u201cWe were losing games 1-0, 2-1 where we weren\u2019t scoring any runs where they were pitching their butts off. It\u2019s our job now to win 7-6 or 6-5. Yeah, it\u2019s hard to do. But it\u2019s gotta happen.\u201d<\/p>\n While the Padres have not lost a single game 1-0 and lost 2-1 just once, it is a fact that they are a major league-worst 6-12 when they allow exactly three runs.<\/p>\n And they were almost historically bad offensively for 36 games from the end of April through the first week of June, batting .192 and averaging three runs a game. That is when their record took its biggest nose dive.<\/p>\n As baseball tends to cruelly go, they have improved immensely at the plate only to have the pitching, by and large, let them down.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very difficult when all the pieces of the baseball team aren\u2019t working in sync,\u201d Padres manager Craig Stammen said. \u201cThat\u2019s a very difficult thing to do. At times this year we\u2019ve had different entities doing very well and the other entities kind of lagging behind. Right now we\u2019re in one of those time periods where the offense is starting to go a little bit, and the starting pitching really is not holding up its end of the bargain. Even some of the relievers, we\u2019re struggling a little bit in different roles and stuff like that. We\u2019ve got to find a way to piece it together with the rotation, the bullpen, the pitching staff together.\u201d<\/p>\n Here or there<\/p>\n Ty France returned on a minor-league deal to the team that drafted him in the 34th round and for which he made his MLB debut, and he is playing as well as ever.<\/p>\n He is arguably as big a reason as any single player that the Padres are even considering trying to be a contender.<\/p>\n France has six home runs in his past nine games and is batting .323 with an 1.104 OPS in 26 games since June 19. That is the fourth-highest OPS in the major leagues in that span.<\/p>\n His .877 OPS and 138 wRC+ rank in the top 20 among players with at least 250 plate appearances this season.<\/p>\n His home run in the eighth inning yesterday was his third this season that got the Padres to within one run. That goes with his five game-tying homers and two that gave the Padres a lead.<\/p>\n It has been quite the renaissance year for a player who had endured some tough times since being an All-Star with the Mariners in 2022.<\/p>\n And now \u2026<\/p>\n France might be a huge part of the Padres turning this season around. Or he could be flipped at the trade deadline for a third consecutive season and the fourth time in his career.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a terrible part of the game, but it\u2019s part of the game,\u201d Tatis said. \u201cHe has been carrying us offensively. He\u2019s probably been the best offensive player on our team. So it would be a shame if he\u2019s leaving home because he\u2019s playing too good.\u201d<\/p>\n What can be done?<\/p>\n Every time it has reached a point where it seems absolutely impossible the Padres can run a starting pitcher out on the mound again, that pitcher has been diagnosed with an ailment.<\/p>\n Matt Waldron was hours away from being designated for assignment when he reported trouble near his biceps. Having surrendered 11 runs in 11 innings over his previous two starts, Germ\u00e1n M\u00e1rquez finally told the Padres on May 1 he could not touch his forearm without feeling acute pain. Lucas Giolito was allowing almost half the batters who came to the plate to reach base over the course of four weeks when inflammation was discovered in his elbow.<\/p>\n There is a universal truth in baseball that no pitcher\u2019s arm is completely healthy. Virtually all of them have something wrong to some extent.<\/p>\n The team and the pitchers have provided anecdotal evidence that suggests all those injuries were truly problematic.<\/p>\n So, hey, maybe Canning has something going on too.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a frustrating part is I feel really good,\u201d he said yesterday after allowing five runs in 2\u2154 innings after taking over for opener Kyle Hart at the start of the second inning.<\/p>\n Whatever they decide to do, the Padres will almost without question make a change of some sort. They know they can\u2019t allow Canning to keep going like this.<\/p>\n His 6.97 ERA and 1.63 WHIP over 62 innings do not come close to telling the story of his struggles \u2013 even though there are just two major league pitchers who have worked at least 60 innings and have a higher ERA and four with a higher WHIP.<\/p>\n Canning, who does have one quality start (six innings, three runs) and twice allowed a run over five innings, has allowed five or more runs four times.<\/p>\n Yesterday was the fourth time he allowed four or more runs while not completing four innings. He has allowed multiple runs in his first inning of work in six of his 15 games.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019ve got to go back to the drawing board and see where we can help Griffin be the most successful, whether that\u2019s putting him out there every five days or giving him some time in the bullpen,\u201d Stammen said. \u201cAll options are on the table. All options are on the table for the entire pitching staff, really. That\u2019s kind of how we\u2019ve been trying to mix and match.\u201d<\/p>\n Why the wait?<\/p>\n We can all convince ourselves that we saw the fourth inning playing out the way it did before it happened.<\/p>\n That is certainly what it felt like.<\/p>\n Canning allowed a leadoff home run by Ozzie Albies, got an out and then surrendered a single and had a batter reach on catcher interference before getting the second out.<\/p>\n So why wasn\u2019t lefty Yuki Matsui, who was warming up, brought in to face left-handed batter Dominic Smith?<\/p>\n Because Matsui wasn\u2019t ready.<\/p>\n He had not started warming up in time, in part because of how the inning played out with the catcher interference on the first pitch of that at-bat and in part because the Padres can\u2019t just turn to its short-handed bullpen without considering the toll and how many outs remain in a game.<\/p>\n Injuries to Jason Adam and Jeremiah Estrada combined with an abundance of truncated outings by starting pitchers have contributed to a taxed bunch of relievers not being as reliable recently.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was ready for the next guy,\u201d Stammen said of Matsui. \u201cIt was one of those scenarios where we needed Griff to go more innings if possible. You\u2019re weighing whether one more inning is worth one better matchup. Once he got two outs, I kind of stuck with Griff there to see if he could get through that inning and maybe possibly handle a few more. Ultimately, it didn\u2019t work out that way.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead, Canning surrendered a three-run homer to Smith.<\/p>\n Including the home run Michael Harris II hit on the second pitch Canning threw in the game and the homer by the switch-hitting Albies, Canning has surrendered a home run every 4.36 at-bats to those hitting from the left side this season.<\/p>\n E2<\/p>\n For the second time in the four-game series \u2014 and second time in a game the Braves won by a single run \u2014 Mauricio Dub\u00f3n reached base because his swing hit catcher Freddy Fermin\u2019s glove.<\/p>\n Yesterday\u2019s catcher interference came when Fermin moved up to try to grab a pitch early for a throw to second base on a steal attempt in the fourth inning. Two batters later, Smith homered.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, you look back at the series and ask what the critical plays were \u2014 two catcher interference plays kind of cost us the series,\u201d Stammen said. \u201cThat guy over there is kind of known for that. Unfortunately, our catchers weren\u2019t back far enough to prevent that from happening. \u2026 Freddy is coming up to throw the guy out at second, and that\u2019s a little tougher situation.\u201d<\/p>\n Dub\u00f3n has reached base via catcher interference just four times in his career, but three of those have come this season.<\/p>\n Tidbits<\/p>\n You can read in my notebook (here<\/a>) from yesterday about how Mason Miller\u2019s workload is wearing on him. Unlike the start of the season, however, that is because the workload is too light. All right, that\u2019s it for me.<\/p>\n I might skip a newsletter over the weekend. Doing this thing after almost every game means I get precious little sleep. Throw in a team veering off a cliff at the trade deadline, and I need to make up time somewhere.<\/p>\n Regardless of whether there is a newsletter, there is always game coverage on our Padres page<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nAlso in that notebook are updated numbers for Luis Rengifo, who started in left field yesterday for the first time since 2023, the year he made all of his previous five starts at the position.
\nYesterday was the ninth time the Padres have used an opener this season. Those openers have allowed one run in 10 innings but the members of the starting rotation who have followed them have an 8.35 ERA in just 32\u2154 innings, and the Padres are 3-6 in those games.
\nThe Padres have won the season series against the Braves every year since 2022.
\nTatis challenged a strike call for just the third time this season. He was correct, getting a 2-2 count turned into a 3-1 count and eventually walking in a run in the second inning.
\nManny Machado was 2-for-4 with a pair of singles. He is batting .333 (14-for-42) over his past 11 games and .255 with a .950 OPS in his past 37 games. That has his season average up to .205 and his OPS up to .724.
\nJackson Merrill did not start for just the fifth time this season. He pinch-hit for Jase Bowen, his replacement in the starting lineup, and flied out to left field.<\/p>\n