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.

May 30, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; San Diego Padres first baseman

(23) gets a single against the Chicago White Sox during the fifth inning at U.S Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Infield:

Yonder Alonso: D-

Alonso is hitting .210 with 5 home runs, 22 RBI, and 19 runs scored. He had a reasonable month of May, in which he hit .267 with four homers, 12 RBI, and 11 runs. But the rest of the season he has been downright awful. As a first baseman without home run power, he was counted on to bring a high batting average to the team. His .210 is third worst among major league first basemen. And now he is on the DL.

Jedd Gyorko: D-

The only thing that kept Jedd Gyorko’s first half from being a total disaster is that he managed to drive in a team-leading 24 runs before going on the DL. He had the worst on-base percentage in the majors by nearly 50 points. He hit .162. Despite his RBI, he still managed to put up the fourth worst WAR in the majors, at -1.2. On June 4, he went on the DL with plantar fasciitis, an ailment which tends to take a very long time to heal. Expected to be a middle-of-the-order run producer, Gyorko’s sophomore season has been an unmitigated disaster.

Everth Cabrera: F

Another player with high expectations who has failed to deliver, Cabrera, the leadoff hitter, finished the first half with a the 7th worst OBP in baseball at .255, and only 13 stolen bases, after stealing 81 over the last two years. Defensively, his 13 errors are the third worst in baseball among shortstops. He has been a major disappointment.

Chase Headley: F

After starting the season as the team’s number 3 hitter in the lineup, Headley has never found any kind of groove all season long. His season high in batting average is .212, and he ended the first half at .207. His six home runs are the bright spot in his season so far, and six homers is nothing to get excited about At all. Headley is having his worst year by far, and is a prime candidate to be traded, if a willing trade partner can be found.

Yasmani Grandal: F

Another potential middle-of-the-order bat having a disastrous season, Grandal is hitting .196 with six homers and 17 RBI. He has lost his starting catcher job to Rene Rivera, who is better defensively, and has outhit Grandal this season. Grandal has thrown out only 10% of baserunners, third worst among catchers with at least 30 attempts.

Rene Rivera: C

One of the pleasant surprises of the season, Rivera, who started the game as the third catcher on the roster, has hit above expectations and frequently catches for the Padres’ top two starters, Cashner and Ross. His 36% caught stealing is 5^th in baseball among catchers with at least 30 attempts, and his catcher’s ERA is second in baseball behind Derek Norris of the As. While his defense it top-rate, his hitting has been an added bonus this year, and while his average of .220 doesn’t qualify as great by any standards, it is higher than the team’s average as a whole, and his OPS of .699 is sixty points higher than Grandal’s.

Overall infield: D-

Only Rene Rivera’s catching keeps this from being an F. Everyone else has been just awful.

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?