Morning Coffee: Padres’ Big Three Starting Pitchers

May 21, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher

(38) throws during the first inning against the Minnesota Twins at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Ian Kennedy, Tyson Ross, and Andrew Cashner. That’s a really solid 1-2-3 for starting pitchers.  Back in the days when there was only a league championship series and the World Series, having three top-level pitchers was enough to win you a championship. These days, it’ll still get you pretty far in the playoffs. I’m pretty convinced that this Padres trio is legitimate.

So far this year, they’re a combined 13-15 with a 2.92 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP in 212.2 innings pitched.  The W-L record, of course, is due to the Padres lousy hitting. Playing around with the numbers a little bit, and calculating what the number of wins would be based on the records of NL pitchers with similar stats, and we see the triumvirate might be a combined 17-11 with league average hitting behind them. That’s a .609 winning percentage. If the fourth and fifth starters could manage a .500 winning percentage, we’d be looking at a 92-win season.  Hello, postseason.

.Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Cashner will return from the disabled list to make the start against the Nationals on Saturday. Ross is toeing the rubber tonight. Kennedy was the victor in Wednesday’s bizarre game.  The three are pitching in that order now, Kennedy, then Ross, then Cashner.  When the Padres take on the Phillies next week, that’s who the Pads will be throwing out there. The Phillies will be putting up A.J. Burnett, Kyle Kendrick, and Cole Hamels. I really like our chances to sweep that series.  Especially if we can draw nine walks every night, like we did on Wednesday.

Here’s hoping that the summer months set the offense in motion.  It would be a lot of fun to watch these pitchers get the wins that they deserve.