Padres Cash In on Pitching Health

Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Key Performances

Andrew Cashner, how we missed you this year. As happy as I was to see Andrew Cashner get two wins this week, go into the 9th inning in both games he pitched, and even have an OBP of 1.000 with a triple in a game, it got me thinking…

Imagine if he had made just ten more starts this season. So 28 instead of just the 18 so far. He has gone over 118 innings in those starts, a great average of 6.5 innings, though I would guess his average start would be more on the 7-8 inning side if you throw out a few really bad ones. Let’s say the Padres win 6 of those 10 starts. Maybe not quite a playoff team because of it, but we are then talking about a team above .500. It’s simplistic to look at it this way, but is it? If Robbie Erlin makes a few starts that we don’t have to give to Despaigne or Eric Stults, does the record tell a different story? Can Jesse Hahn duplicate next season the promise he showed this season, and will Tyson Ross have a 2015 to beat or equal his 2014.

Certainly the three headed monster of Cashner, Ross, and Hahn is one Padres fans can hope will last a long time, with Ian Kennedy taking the veteran role and Robbie Erlin holding down the 5th spot until possibly Matt Wisler? It was great to see Cashner at full strength this week. I just hope we get to see more it next year too.