Top Padres Stories of 2014

Tyson Ross

Jul 29, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Tyson Ross (38) pitches during the fifth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Looking at the Padres 25-man roster on Opening Day, if I asked you to guess who the Padres representative at the 2014 All-Star Game would be, you might have guessed Tyson Ross on your 20th try. Ross came out of nowhere for the Padres this year. After splitting 2013 between the bullpen and the rotation, there weren’t many expectations for Ross. Whatever expectations there were though, Ross blew past them.

Ross threw a career high 195 2/3 innings and would have hit the 200 inning mark for the first time had he not been shutdown at the end of the season. He also had a career low ERA of 2.81 and a career high strikeout rate of 8.97. All of this helped earn him his first trip to the All-Star Game.

It was truly great season for Ross. While Andrew Cashner was out with an injury, Ross stepped up as the leader of the staff. He’s still young, turning just 28 in April, so there’s still hope that he can make even greater strides in 2015.