Padres Week in Review: 8/18 – 8/24

Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Week Summary

The Padres season is winding down, and though flirting with doing some damage late,  we now anxiously await the off-season and seeing what the new GM can do to make this team play games next year in September that will matter.

Their is still plenty of optimism in the pitching staff. Andrew Cashner made his long-anticipated return from the disabled list, Tyson Ross continues his breakout season dueling Clayton Kershaw for 8 innings in Los Angeles and even managed the first Padres hit off of the Master, and youngster Jesse Hahn is working his way towards being shut down for the season to make 2015 his true breakout year. It appears that the magic of Odrisamer Despaigne really was more smoke and mirrors than a diamond in the rough, but with a good Spring Training who knows?

The new offensive additions continue to do their part in Abraham Almonte and Yondervis Solarte, but what to do about the left-over Padres like Will Venable, Cameron Maybin, and Yonder Alonso.

This week the Padres took 1 of 3 from division leading LA before winning only 1 of 3 against the Diamondbacks who had a horribly disappointing season. Where will these Padres find themselves next year?

Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Dodgers Recap

The Padres headed to Los Angeles knowing the tough foe these Dodgers always are at home. However, they likely presented much tougher a challenge than most ignorant Dodger fans expected who hadn’t been paying attention to the last month of the other team down the 5 from Chavez Ravine.

In game 1 Jedd Gyorko put the Padres up to a quick 3-0 in the first. Against veteran Kevin Correia, things looked pretty good for the Padres. Yet have you seen the Dodgers offense? Carl Crawford led his team going 3-3 with 3 runs scored and a walk for good measure. Though the Padres scored a couple of late runs, they fell 8-6. It was disappointing to see the Padres veteran Ian Kennedy fail to take advantage of the early lead and lose the game.

Wednesday saw the resurgent Eric Stults continue his reign in August, getting the win despite only going 5 innings. That bullpen of the Padres allowed just 4 base runners over the last 4 innings and rookie Kevin Quackenbush picked up his first MLB save to finished off the night and the victory 4-1.

Yet Thursday’s game was really the one to watch. Clayton Kershaw and Tyson Ross dueled it out in a classic. It was Ross who broke up Kershaw’s no-hitter in the 6 inning, and the game was knotted at 0’s after 6 innings. When Rene Rivera singled home Abraham Almonte in the 7th it appeared that would be all the Padres needed. Yet Ross hung one slider, and Justin Turner hammered it to left to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead they would not relinquish.

Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Diamondbacks Series Recap

Friday saw the Padres head to the desert. In game 1, it was Despaigne who allowed 4 runs in the first inning. He has now gone 1-4 with a 5.81 ERA in his last six starts after starting 2-1 with a 1.31 ERA his first 5. The Padres only managed 4 hits and 1 run against Josh Collmenter and the D’backs won 5-1, also thanks to 2 Padres errors. Despaigne still seems to have good “stuff”, just making mistakes that he wasn’t making early on or perhaps just getting a little unlucky. Without plus pitches or superior velocity, control and movement is critical. Perhaps Stultzie can give him a few pointers. They would lose 5-1.

The Padres wouldn’t have much more success Saturday night either, as Andrew Cashner returned to the rotation and battled nicely through five innings, thanks in large part to several sparkling defensive plays from Chris Nelson and Rymer Liriano. It was good to get Cashner back, but while many predicted 2014 would be a breakout year for him – he ended up with far more time on the disabled list than an ace should. Padres fans can only hope the rest will help him down the road. The game was tied after a great performance from Vidal Nuno of the D’backs until Kevin Quackenbush served up a three run home run in the 8th and the Padres lost 5-2.

Sunday the Padres got off to an early lead and then watched the D’backs whittle the lead away to get it within 5-3. Then Will Venable hit a home run in the 8th to give the 7-3 lead the bullpen would not relinquish.

Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

General Thoughts

While for several weeks the Padres seemed like they might have it in them to make a second half push to the second wild card, this week dispelled all of that momentum. It will be interesting to see how Andrew Cashner responds the final month of the season. While has had a very good statistical season, he certainly failed to break out in a big way many expected, including myself. The injuries are certainly a concern, as remember this is a pitcher who came up as a reliever before the Padres converted him to starter. While any good bullpen arm is valuable, his impact to the Padres is DRAMATICALLY reduced as a starter. If Byrnes were still the GM – I would certainly say that the Padres would keep him as a starter until he can’t pitch any longer because he made the trade for Rizzo. The longer this goes on, the worse that trade looks for the Padres as Rizzo continues to mash and Cashner is on the shelf. However, if more shoulder issues crop out next season, I wonder if new GM Preller would make the call to put Cash back in the bullpen prolong his overall career and not fall victim to pride in hopes that Cashner can make good on the flashes of brilliance he has shown as a starter. Time will tell.

Cameron Maybin is another veteran Padre (and previous regime signee) who has a lot to show Preller in the remainder of the season. Can he stay healthy and clean to make valuable contributions to this baseball club? Like Cashner, he has shown flashes of being a dynamic force for the Padres, both offensively and defensively. Yet injuries have reduced his playing time the last two seasons to minimal innings and not enough time for the Padres to even evaluate him! Or perhaps that alone is enough for evaluation?