Ross’s Loss In Arizona
By Victor Wang
Aug 26, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA; San Diego Padres catcher
Nick Hundley(4) and manager
Bud Black(20) argue with MLB umpire Manny Gonzalez after missing a tag on Arizona Diamondbacks right fielder
Gerardo Parra(8) during the seventh inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
The Padres lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks Monday night by a score of 6 to 1 in Arizona for the home opener. The Padres were coming off both a long and emotional 15th inning win against the Cubs Sunday and perhaps there was a bit of fatigue or carry over in the game. The Padres finished with 5 hits and no walks, while giving up 8 hits, 4 walks and an error.
Tyson Ross started and pitched 6 innings and gave up 4 earned runs for the loss. Tyson pitched a mix of 55.1% four-seam fastballs, 34.7% sliders and 9.2% change-ups. Tyson also threw one intentional ball, included in the aggregate pitch count reported. With a fastball sitting around the mid 90s for the game, I would have like to see Tyson use the change-up more often. You can review more details of Tyson’s pitches at fangraphs. Interestingly enough, it shows that Tyson’s most effective pitch is his slider, with opponents averaging only 0.145 off his slider, while hitting 0.269 off his fastball. Hitters are also averaging .250 off Tyson’s change-up so far, so it’s not necessarily a superior pitch to the slider as an off-speed pitch. Nevertheless, the change-up is a pitch that improves the outcomes of the fastball pitch. I believe if Tyson were to improve his change-up and increase his usage of the pitch, he would also see improvements and better outcomes on his fastball. Tonight was not Tyson’s best night and I would like to see more improvement for Tyson to stay in the starting rotation. I believe Tyson has more or less fallen into the starting rotation by default at this point due to injuries and a demotion. For the upcoming weeks as well as going into next year, it will be interesting to see if Tyson can put together consistent performances. He has the tools with a mid to above average velo fastball and solid slider out-pitch. So, he has the tools, and he has mentors in Eric Stults and Buddy Black who maximized their performance despite their tools.
The Padres hitters did not fare well either. Although the Padres are probably too proud to make excuses, I`ll make them for them this time. Yeah, it’s like that with me and my team. Coming off a long sunday match, they just were not in synch, as evidenced by no walks. Although credit the Padres for not making excuses too, for what they do have in abundance is heart and fight. Padre Prospect Reymond Fuentes made his debut on Monday but came up empty in his first game. Skipper Buddy Black scooped Fuentes’ call up earlier on a Padres.com piece in a discussion regarding Fuentes and Padres pitching prospect Keyvius Sampson. Buddy alluded that at least one of the young prospects would make an showing. Fuentes was one of the pieces of the Adrian Gonzales trade and its interesting to see the last piece finally come up, after seeing Casey Kelly and Anthony Rizzo last year. Let’s hope he gets his feet wet in Arizona in a memorable way.