Padres Week in Review: April 20-26th

Apr 25, 2015; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller presents left fielder

(10) with the Silver Slugger Award prior to a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Introduction

The Padres ended up this week going 4-3 after I predicted them going – thats right –  4-3 for the week.

While the offense still certainly continues to show flashes of offense well beyond anything we have seen in the last few years, there still are some lulls that can’t seem to be overcome. Justin Upton had a nice power week after getting recognized Saturday for winning the Silver Slugger Award for 2014, he blasted two home runs in a wild one Saturday night at Petco Park.

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Matt Kemp continues his strong 2015 and catcher Derek Norris shows that his slow spring training was no indicator at all of how his season would turn out. Last week in this space we talked about the struggles of the middle bullpen and the Padres continued to make some changes trying to find the combination in that regard this week, in the end sending both left-handers back down to AAA and recalling the popular Kevin Quackenbush.

One aspect of the Padres game that has been surprising some is the defense. Yangervis Solarte is one of the main culprits with 3 errors, though that can be partially explained by the fact that he is hitting so well he is forcing Bud Black to play him at new positions like first base that he hasn’t played before. That said, after making two errors there in limited duty hopefully Black rethinks that experiment. Yonder Alonso’s hot hitting and slick defense helps too.  The Padres have made 14 errors on the season, tied for 6th among all of MLB.

So how did this week go in going 4-3? Was it a week that could’ve gone differently and how does it bode for the rest of the season?

Next: Rockies Series Recap