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Padres News: Tyson Ross Losing Control?

By Daryll Dorman |

Tyson Ross had a breakout 2014 and many expected him to build on that success heading into 2015. He was within 5 innings of 200 innings pitched, had an ERA of 2.81, struck out 195 with 72 walks and of course made the All Star team. Yet 2015 isn’t off to quite as rosy a start for the tall right hander from the Bay.

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Through his first 5 starts, he has gone 27 2/3 innings and walked 18 while allowing 14 runs. He does have 37 strikeouts to go along with it, but in his last three starts has been unable to go at least six innings. In fact he has not passed the six inning mark all season yet this year. In a year which the middle bullpen has struggled and only Dale Thayer seems to be able to consistently get outs in the bullpen, this marks trouble and helps explain his 1-2 record. For example, in Thursdays game against the Astros, he allowed 4 runs to the Astros and left losing the game 2-4. The bullpen faltered and the final score was 14-3 Astros. Ouch.

Of course, Tyson Ross has learned a lot about pitching since coming over to San Diego way back in 2013 from the Oakland Athletics. Maybe he is pressing, maybe he is just taking another step of maturation but needs to have a few bumps in the road first. An under-rated aspect of the 2015 rotation is what James Shields can bring this team. I expect Shields to continue to mentor Ross and teach him how to keep those strikeouts up but also pitch deeper into games.

Andrew Cashner doesn’t have a pretty record either this year at 1-4, but is tied for the team lead in IP so far at 31, has only allowed 9 earned runs (17 total!), and has 36 strikeouts to just 8 walks. He is tied with James Shields who is 2-0, has allowed just 10 ER (13 total), and has 41 strikeouts to 9 walks. These three are similar power pitchers, and can all learn from each other and push each other throughout the season. It is exciting to watch and as these three along with now healthy Ian Kennedy they should be able to take the Padres deeper into games and hold down more leads.

Keep an eye on the next start for Tyson Ross Tuesday in San Francisco as I expect Ross to purposely watch his own pitch count and keep working on his control. With his stuff, he can dial it up and strike anyone out when he wants to, but by controlling his walks he can reach new heights.

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