A Quick Padres Update

Thanks for bearing with me over the last 12 days, over which I’ve only had the time to get two posts in. Things are pretty much back to normal now, so my writing should be back to it’s regular once-or-more-a-day pace from here on out.

I thought I’d resume my coverage with a quick, very general update on the Padres.

The team is currently 13-8 and 1 game up on the Giants in the NL West. San Diego has put five games on the Dodgers already, an interesting development given that most predicted the Dodgers to win the division and the Padres to finish last.

Offensively, the team is hitting a collective .243/.321/.388, which isn’t where you really want your offense to be, but given the home park, it’s not terrible.

Leading the way is Adrian Gonzalez (not surprisingly) with a .319/.438/.635 line, followed by Chase Headley (.337/.382/.446) and Will Venable (.239/.295/.507).

Dragging the offense down is the production of shortstops Everth Cabrera (.209/.274/.284) and Jerry Hairston (.217/.230/.233).

The bullpen, led by Joe Thatcher (0.86 FIP), Tim Stauffer (2.42), Luke Gregerson (2.44), and Heath Bell (2.44) has been great. Wade LeBlanc (3.50) has been the team’s best starter, followed by Kevin Correia (3.56) and Mat Latos (4.26).

Clayton Richard (4.64) and Sean Gallagher (6.00) have been the worst pitchers in their respective units.

Gonzalez (1.1 WAR) and Headley (1.0) have both been worth at least a win this season–the most valuable pitcher has been Gregerson (0.6).

Hopefully, May will bring similarly good returns.