Padres Midseason Report Card

Jun 19, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; The San Diego Padres congratulate each other after beating the Seattle Mariners 4-1 at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Saturday’s game marked the end of the first half of the season. Only halfway in, and the GM has been fired, and the front office has announced that every player other than Andrew Cashner is tradable. So, obviously, we can’t exactly say the first half went well overall. But let’s take a look at individual parts of the team, and see how well they performed in the first 81 games. Here is: The Padres Midseason Report Card.

Apr 16, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Andrew Cashner (34) throws during the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Starting Pitchers:

Andrew Cashner. Grade: A-

Cashner has established himself as the clear ace of the staff, and as one of the top starting pitchers in baseball. His ERA of 2.36 is 10^th in the major leagues, and he has recorded a quality start in 75% of his games. His focus this year on pitching efficiency has resulted in lower strikeouts rates than last year, but has allowed him to pitch deeper into games. He has pitched at least 7 innings in four of his 12 starts, and has only pitched less than six innings once. Why not an A grade? He’s been on the DL twice already. A team needs its ace in the game, not in the training room.

Tyson Ross: A-

Ross came into the season listed as the fourth starter, behind Cashner, Josh Johnson, and Ian Kennedy. After 17 starts, Ross is very clearly number two on the staff. His slider has become practically unhittable, and he is using the pitch nearly 60% of the time. He has parlayed the success of that pitch into a team-high six wins, a top-30 in baseball 3.18 ERA, and his 102 strikeouts are 17^th in the majors. He has pitched at least seven innings in nine of his 17 starts, and has allowed two or fewer earned runs 11 times. Ross’s emergence as a top-flight starter ranks as one of the best things about the first half of the season.

Ian Kennedy: B

Some pluses for Kennedy include the highest strikeout rate of his career, 9.67 K/9, and six games where he allowed only a single earned run. Some minuses have been a high pitch count which limits his ability to go deep into games, with 7 innings being his longest stint, and a regression in the month of June, which has caused his ERA to balloon from 3.42 to 4.01. Overall, Kennedy has been solid, but unspectacular.

Eric Stults: C-

Some may think this grade is too high for a man with the second-highest ERA of all starters in baseball and a 2-11 won-lost record. But while Stults has not been good overall, his main problem has been inconsistency. He has actually allowed three or fewer earned runs in 10 of his 17 starts, and is 2-5 in those starts. He’s only allowed more than four runs in 4 of his 17 starts. But he’s been pretty hittable overall, allowing 111 hits in 87.2 innings. And on a team where scoring 5 runs is an anomaly, allowing four runs in five innings isn’t going to win you many games.

Robbie Erlin: Incomplete.

Erlin has only made eight starts and is currently on the 60-day DL with elbow soreness. In the eight starts, he complied a 4.53 ERA that was overly affected by one 5.1 inning, 8 run start. Aside from that, his ERA was a very respectable 3.40. He has an excellent 39:11 K/BB ratio, and in May had a 2-0 record with a 2.45 ERA before getting injured. Overall, the Padres have to like what they have seen this year after his impressive 2013 debut.

Others: Jesse Hahn and Odrisamer Depspaigne have been bright spots in limited spot starts, and Tim Stauffer once again showed he’s better in the bullpen.

Overall Starting Pitching: B+.

Cashner, Ross, Erlin, and the rookies have performed above expectations. Kennedy has been adequate, and Stults somewhat disappointing. Overall, the pitching has kept the team from being a complete disaster, and gives fans some hope for the future of the team.

Apr 9, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; San Diego Padres relief pitcher

(R) celebrates with catcher

(44) after defeating the Cleveland Indians 2-1 at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Bullpen

Huston Street: A+

Street has been perfect in save opportunities this year, at 21-for-21. He has allowed three runs all year. He is 8^th in baseball in saves, and his ERA (0.93) and WHIP (0.76) are both better than each of the seven closers with more saves. In short, Street has been the best closer in baseball this year.

Joaquin Benoit: A

Another in a long line of successful setup men for the Padres, Benoit has been practically as good as Street, with a 1.34 ERA and 0.74 WHIP. Benoit has only given up runs in 3 of his 33 appearances this year, and in none of those games did he give up the lead. He has not allowed a run since May 11.

Nick Vincent: B-

Vincent’s grade has dropped since June 1. Prior to that date, his ERA was a fine 2.96, and he was holding down the 7^th inning spot before handing the ball to Benoit and Street to finish games. But shoulder fatigue kicked in, and he gave up 9 runs in 3 June games after allowing only 8 runs in all of April and May, and he is currently on the DL.

Kevin Quackenbush: B+

After starting the year at AAA El Paso, Quackenbush has quickly earned the confidence of Bud Black, and has appeared in 14 games in June. He is pitching in late innings, and appears likely to take the 7^th inning role in Vincent’s absence. He has a 2.91 ERA and an outstanding 0.78 WHIP.

Dale Thayer: A

Thayer’s 38 appearances lead the team, and his ERA of 1.85 shows why Black uses him so much. He allowed only one run in April and one run in June. Thayer has kept the Padres from falling further behind in many games this season.

Alex Torres: A-

Another reliever who has been enjoying a fine season, Torres came into June with an ERA of 0.79, having allowed only two runs in the first two months of the season. June brought a couple of shaky starts, but Torres still sports a fine 1.89 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. The team’s lefty specialist, he has excelled against both lefties and righties, holding all opponents to an overall .195 batting average. Extra credit to Torres for ignoring detractors and being the first major leaguer to wear the protective cap.

Tim Stauffer: B

As a reliever, Stauffer rates an A-, with a very good 2.25 ERA. As a starter, he earns a D+, with one very good start and two that were pretty awful. Even though we wish we got more out of this former first-round draft pick, Stauffer has consistently been a good long reliever, and this year has been no exception.

Others: Blaine Boyer, Donn Roach, and Troy Patton have also seen time in the bullpen this year, and only Roach has found some difficulty, with a 4.50 ERA that got the rookie sent back down to AAA.

Overall Bullpen: A

This bullpen is the best in baseball, with an overall opponents’ batting average of .204, and a major-league leading 2.40 ERA and 1.06 WHIP. There is not a weak link – every pitcher in the ‘pen belongs on a major league roster, and would find a job on any team in the majors.

Jun 20, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres right fielder

(25) follows through on a swing in the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Outfield:

Will Venable: F

His OPS is the second worst in baseball behind Gyorko. After going 22-22 in homers and steals last year, he has two homers and three steals. He is hitting .193. He has driven in 14 runs and scored 21. His slash line for June is .143/.179/.222. He is currently in a 1-for-21 slump. Defensively, he hasn’t committed any errors, but he also hasn’t had an assist all season.

Cameron Maybin: C+

Maybin missed the first 20 or so games of the season, but has produced reasonably well since returning. His .273 BA seems stellar on this team, but his OBP of .316 reveals his lack of discipline at the plate. He has one homer and two steals, so aside from the decent BA, he’s not contributing a lot to the offense. His defense in Center Field has been adequate, but his range factor is actually below average for the position. But merely being below average at the plate and the field has made him one of the better non-pitchers on the team.

Carlos Quentin: F

After having three knee surgeries in 2.5 years, Quentin is pretty much done defensively. He is a major liability in left field. But he’s not on the team for his defense, he’s here to be the team’s power threat. Unfortunately, he has failed in that respect, too. Limited to 85 ABs, his slash line has been .176/.290/.318. His three homers and 10 RBI are huge disappointments, and the Carlos Quentin as a National Leaguer experiment is likely coming to a quick end.

Overall Outfield: F

While most teams rely on their corner outfielders to be cornerstones of their offense, starters Venable and Quentin have failed miserably. Maybin has been a non-factor offensively and is a below-average CF.

May 5, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres left fielder

(12) slides into third base after a triple during the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Bench:

Seth Smith: A

Smith was brought to the team to hit right-handed pitching, and he has excelled at that, with a .289/.384/.515 line against righties. He leads the team in BA, OBP. SLG, doubles, triples, homers, runs, and walks. He has been the only player on the team whose season could actually be considered “good”.

Tommy Medica: B

Medica has spent time both in AAA and the majors, and has done pretty well in the bigs, hitting .258 with a .474 SLG. His 4 homers in 97 ABs show more of the promise we saw in last year’s cup of coffee with the big league team. In his first week after getting called up in May, he hit .533, going 8-for-15 with two homers. He shows promise, which has been a nice change of pace from the rest of the offense this year.

Chris Denorfia: C+

Denorfia started off hot, hitting .305 in April, but dipped to .226 in May, and is mired in a .150 slump in June, bringing his season average to .250. He’s only got one home run, but has contributed 7 steals to the offense, and is one of the few decent situational hitters on the team. His hustle gains him a few extra points.

Alexi Amarista: C+

Amarista has not been good at the plate, with a .550 OPS. But he has managed to fill in adequately defensively at 2B, SS, 3B, and the outfield. His defensive versatility is a big plus.

Jace Peterson:

Not ready for prime time. Hit .100

Overall bench: B

These guys have been better than the starters.

June 21, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres manager Bud Black (20) prior to the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Overall:

Overall offense: F

This may be the worst offense in the history of baseball. And while that has likely been said many times over the last century, this team may actually pull it off. After half a season, they have the lowest team batting average (.213) and on-base percentage(.272) in history. They have scored zero or one run in one-third of their games (27 of 81). They have been shut out 12 times. They have had a no-hitter thrown against them. They have the worst three hitters in the major leagues in OPS, for players with at least 200 ABs. They are bad, worse, worst.

Overall pitching: A-

The starting pitching has been above average, and the bullpen has been fantastic.  Overall, the Padres’ pitching had a very strong first half, with the seventh-best ERA in baseball, and have held up very well in the NL West, which has excellent pitching overall.  The team is ninth overall in opponents’ batting average and strikeouts, and has the sixth best opponents on-base percentage in baseball.  On a team with even an average offense, the Padres would likely have a winning record, and be in contention for the postseason.

Apr 12, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres general manager Josh Byrnes prior to the game against the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park. . Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Overall team grade: F

While the pitching has been quite good, the offense has been appalling. The offense is historically bad while the pitching is only good in a normal, “this-season” kind of way. The Padres 34-47 first-half record is the second worst in baseball.   The team has fired the General Manager, in effect giving up on the season.

When ownership gives up before the halfway point, what other grade than F can be given?