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Padres News:Kevin Quackenbush’s 2015 Outlook

By Jeremy Loeks

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As Corey Brock writes on MLB.com 2014 was an up and down year for the San Diego Padre’s rookie reliever, and now as spring training starts Kevin Quackenbush looks to solidify his spot with the Padres in 2015.

2014 could only be described as a roller coaster for the reliever, as he was recalled from Triple-A El Paso five times in 23 days. That’s five times getting called into the Chihuahua’s manager’s office to hear what every minor leaguer wants to hear, “Pack your bags kid you going to the Show”. Only to go home and pack to take the 3 hour and 40 minute flight from El Paso to San Diego.

Five times. Now I haven’t talked to Quackenbush, but I’m going to go out on a limb and after the third or fourth time he was probably pretty sick of going back and forth.  In Brock’s article Quackenbush had this to say about his up and down ride in 2014:

"“It was a dream come true last year, and it was a learning process as well and it was also a learning process, going up and down as much as I did. It was strenuous … like, ‘What am I doing?’ But once I got settled in, it was a lot of fun.”"

After hearing that I have to think that staying in the big leagues can only help to improve on Quackenbush’s excellent rookie stats, which bodes well for his sophomore season.

Although this doesn’t mean the man that Bud Black affectionately refers to as Quack will be handed a job. He is going to have to compete for the setup job with the right handed pitchers that A.J. Preller brought in this off-season, Shawn Kelley and Brandon Maurer.

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Brock asked Quackenbush about this too, and he had this to say about his competition:

"“I think every spring from here on out, you have something to prove … whether you have new guys or not. I’m glad they’re here. I hope they can help out.”"

It is obvious that Quackenbush expects a lot from himself, but what can the fans expect from him?

In his rookie season fans of the Friars saw the success he experienced in the big leagues, pitching 54.1 and striking out 56. He also had a 2.48 ERA, 6 saves and 9.28 K/9.

According to Fangraph’s Steamer projections we can expect regression from Quackenbush in 2015. Steamer has him pitching 45 innings, winning two games, striking out 44 without any saves.

I for one hope that the Steamer projections are off, and that Quackenbush can not only match his stats from 2014, but improve on them. Time will tell where Quackenbush will start the season and how well he will pitch, but I am rooting for him to succeed in 2015.

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