Weekend Joe with Editor Billy Brost

Are you excited Padres’ fans? No, really. Do you have a little bit more of a spring in your step these days? Okay, maybe it’s not time to get that excited, but you have to admit, watching the San Diego Padres play ball since the All-Star Break has been much more entertaining than the mind-numbing lack of offense we had grown accustomed to seeing each and every night.

The Padres are 8-6 since coming out of the break. That’s two games over .500. Big whoops I know, but they have to start somewhere. The adage says that struggling teams who feel they are on the verge, carry positive momentum into the following spring training. I’m not saying that the Padres are going to be world beaters by any means, but they should be much better than the squad we’ve seen through most of 2014.

The Padres are built on pitching, and if they can get any type of production out of their lineup, this is a Wild Card team at a minimum. Now nobody is expecting the Padres to compete dollar for dollar with the mighty Dodgers, but they don’t have to. Led by Tyson Ross, a healthy Andrew Cashner, and Ian Kennedy, that’s not a bad 1-3.

Instead of throwing away free agent dollars on dead arms like Josh Johnson, perhaps augmenting the lineup here and there, provides support to players like Jedd Gyorko, Tommy Medica, and perhaps a resurgent Everth Cabrera. Gyorko since his return from the DL, is the guy Padres’ fans remember from last season. All Medica ever needed was a chance. It’s been a short sample size, but I think fans and media alike, will admit that something has changed with the Padres’ lineup since the break.

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The Padres have scored 6 or more runs 5 times since the All-Star Game. They’ve scored in double-digits three times since the break, including last night’s drubbing of the Atlanta Braves. Sure, nobody thinks this is a playoff team today, but it’s nice to sit back, and watch a team compete night in and night out, rather than knowing the first run allowed by a stealth Padres’ starting pitching staff, most likely means the kiss of death for that ball game.

Now, for the remainder of the summer hopefully, we can sit back, crack open a cold one, enjoy our friends and family, and witness what we all hope to be true: the future of the San Diego Padres moving in the right direction. And if not, then at least they’re hitting the ball better than they were before!