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Padres Week in Review May 18-24th: Black’s Time Ending Soon?

By Daryll Dorman |
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Manager change coming soon for the Padres? Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Opening Statement

 It is now safe to say that this years Padres squad is not meeting expectations. Their pitchers lead the league in home runs allowed. The offense has had more nights than not where they show their incredible potential, but they also have had quite a few shutouts. The team’s defense, while better in the outfield than many expected, has still contributed to quite a bit of unearned runs. Just ask Andrew Cashner.

So as May comes to a close, the questions comes down to what GM A.J. Preller can do to turn things around and light a fire under the team. Rumors abound about a new shortstop as Alexi Amarista struggles to hit his weight – and he only weighs 160 pounds. The bullpen has righted the ship and though Craig Kimbrel has struggled more than he usually does, he is still doing a fine job closing out games for the Padres. The next logical person to take the blame and fall is manager Bud Black. Black of course has been the manager since 2007 and is tied with Bruce Bochy for second in longest tenure of MLB managers behind Angels manager Mike Scoscia. He has outlasted several ownership and GM changes but has no playoff appearances to show for it. With previous teams it was easy to say he didn’t have the talent, but with the shopping cart of talent delivered this off season to the Padres, those expectations are drastically different.

With that backdrop, how would the Padres respond after losing 3 of 4 to the Nationals heading into this week?

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The Padres pitched well against the Cubs, but it wasn’t quite good enough.. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Cubs Series Recap

 The Padres were able to rebound from their 10-5 Sunday loss to come through with a 4-3 victory Tuesday night in San Diego against the Chicago Cubs. Derek Norris provided the major offensive support with a 2-run double in the 8th inning after James Shields pitched 7 solid innings for a no decision. Joaquin Benoit had pitched a scoreless top of the 8th and came away with the win with Craig Kimbrel securing the save in the 9th with 2 strikeouts after a lead off home run. Shields re-took the NL strikeout lead with 11 on the night and just allowed two runs.

Tyson Ross started game 2 of the series for the Padres and allowed three runs in 7 innings of work. He matched his season high of innings pitched and has only allowed more than 3 runs in a game in one start this season. That said, he has allowed at least 2 runs in every start this season as well which adds up to his 3.93 ERA and 2-4 record. Justin Upton launched a home run in the game but the Padres fell short 3-2. The Padres got the tying run to third base in the 9th but Abraham Almonte struck out to end the game.

The finale didn’t get much better for the Padres. Cubs youngsters Kris Bryant and Addison Russell each went deep and Kyle Hendricks got his first win of the year with a complete game shutout. It was a pretty good night for Odrisamer Despaigne who allowed just two runs but the Padres offense was not able to take advantage of the opportunity to score more runs. Yet the story was Hendricks who previously had not thrown past 8 innings in the majors. Bryant also leads the Cubs with 27 RBI while former Cub Anthony Rizzo leads the team with 8 home runs.

The Cubs series saw the Padres dip below .500 and questions remaining about how to keep opposing teams in the ballpark and score more consistently. They would head up the 5 to Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers who were coming off a three game shutout sweep at the hands of their own rivals the San Francisco Giants.

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May 22, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder

Joc Pederson

hits a solo home run against the San Diego Padres in the 8th inning during the game at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

Dodgers Series Recap

The Padres and Dodgers both came into this series struggling. The Padres had lost 5 of their last 6 and the Dodgers were shutout in three straight games by the Giants, with even Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarmer hitting a home run. Both teams hoped that a weekend in Chavez Ravine would awaken their slumbering offenses. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case for either team, and the Dodgers mustered just a little bit more.

 Game 1 pit Zack Greinke against Andrew Cashner whose bad luck this season has been well documented. Friday would be no different. He threw six solid innings allowing only 1 run and it was of course unearned. This is now remarkably his 12th unearned run of the season, or 40% of the runs he has allowed. Joaquin Benoit had a rare poor outing allowing the decisive home run to Joc Pederson in the 8th after the Padres had rallied to tie it in the 7th. The Dodgers won the game 2-1 and another Cashner start went to waste.

 Game 2 started well enough as Yangervis Solarte singled on the 4th pitch of the game from Dodgers starter Mike Bolsinger. Solarte by the way was starting at 1B while Will Middlebrooks got his first professional start at SS and Corey Spangenberg started at 3B. That is one way to fix the lack of production from Alexi Amarista if Middlebrooks can start to bump his average up from the Mendoza line himself. That single was erased by a double play and would be the last offense of the day for the Padres. Bolsinger pitched 8 allowing only the leadoff hit and walking none. Meanwhile Ian Kennedy pitched 6 innings and allowed only two runs himself. That was enough though as the Dodgers won this one 2-0. The Dodgers were able to do just enough to win this game, and rookie Joc Pederson homered for the second straight night.

 The finale game on Sunday did prove to be the offensive game the Padres had been looking for, as they erupted for an 11-3 victory. This one was easy for James Shields, and the offense clicked on all cylinders. Why can’t we just spread things out a little more? Also, Will Middlebrooks continues to see his batting average rise up which is a positive sign. When Wil Myers and Yonder Alonso return from the DL it will be interesting to see how the manager will keep Solarte’s hot bat in the lineup.

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May 20, 2015; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres left fielder Justin Upton (10) hits a two run home run during the fourth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Friar of the Week

It is not so easy to pick a Friar of the Week in a week where the Padres played to a dramatically losing record. However I think it is important that we don’t get caught up too quickly in a gloom and doom scenario. Much was made on the Saturday Fox Sports SD telecast that the Padres of 2015 have at this point in the season the same record of the 2014 season. However, the 2014 Padres were playing UP to their ability. It is quite clear that the 2015 Padres are playing DOWN to their ability. Here are some positives to look at from this team:

– Yangervis Solarte has played very well so far this season, forcing Bud Black to find him a spot in the lineup. He has filled in at first while Yonder Alonso is out, played second when Jedd Gyorko was really struggling, and played well at third too. He is 4th in the National League in BA with RISP and tied for third on the team with 22 RBI. For comparison sake, Solarte is hitting .273 with 2 HR and 22 RBI. Chase Headley over on the Yankees does have 5 HR and 18 RBI but is hitting just .235. Headley is being paid $13M to $516,000 for Solarte.

– Speaking of Yonder Alonso, many had him written off as a hitter anymore after two bad seasons. He leads the team in BA and has proven to be the capable left-handed hitter we all expected when he was traded for from the Reds. However, would love to see him develop more gap power as in his 29 hits only FOUR have been for any sort of extra bases.

– Justin Upton has 11 home runs and when he hits them you just sit back and watch them with him. Monster power, and making up for the lack of power from Matt Kemp…but we are looking at positives here. He is also tied for the team lead in 14 walks despite his team leading 43 strikeouts.

– Wil Myers has proven to be great at the lead-off spot and in center field, hitting .291 with 5 HR. He has played well at first base when needed and while not stellar his defense has been more than serviceable.

– James Shields has taken charge of the pitching staff as expected and when he pitches he demands attention. He leads the team in wins, the league in strikeouts and is without question the “go to” guy for the Padres.

– Brandon Maurer, Dale Thayer and Kevin Quackenbush have helped stabilize a bullpen that struggled early in the season. Benoit has had a few hiccups and Kimbrel as well, but I’ll take those two at the end of the game more than most.

All this looks great, yet the teams record still doesn’t. What could be the piece that brings it all together?

The manager.

Bud Black, it is time for a change.

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May 23, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; San Diego Padres manager Bud Black (20) argues with home plate umpire Cloint Fagan after a play in the eighth inning of the game at Dodger Stadium. Dodgers won 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Padres Week Ahead

The Padres head down to Anaheim Monday following their series against the Dodgers for three against the Angels before back to Petco for 4 against the Pirates. The Angels have been struggling some themselves and like the Padres have all the star power in their lineup you could ask for. Mike Trout and Albert Pujols alone means they should start almost every game with a run or two. Perhaps it will give Bud Black some time to talk with his mentor about how to get through these tough times. After all Bud Black was the bench coach for Mike Scoscia on his 2002 championship team and Mike had some tough years before getting back to the playoffs last year again wrestling  the AL West back from the Oakland A’s last season. Yet the fuse is lightly lit on Bud Black’s remaining time. Not even so much because he is doing a “bad” job I would argue, as many people think around Padres nation. Sure, he plays with the lineups a lot, but that is seen as genius when Joe Maddon does it. I would also argue even back to last year’s team that they would not have done so well WITHOUT that mix and matching.

So why is the time now? To start, this is the largest payroll the Padres have ever had. I said it in spring training that no matter what he should be given two months. That time is almost up. He has the talent on the team except for maybe at shortstop. The thought of lead-footed Middlebrooks actually playing there often is appalling, esepcially thinking back to when Everth Cabrera ran out there just last year and made some tremendous plays at the position. After that it comes down to the manger leading his team. Baseball is a mental game in part because of how often you play. Day in, day out and often a player can not get even a hit for days at a time. How they respond to those times and how the manager reacts is crucial. A guy can go a month without hitting a home run, then hit 4 in two days and 3 more in another couple days and all of a sudden they are back “on pace” for a 20 home run season. A manager has to know when that hot streak will come, and when it won’t come. The starting pitching is allowing a lot of home runs. That Bud Black can’t do much about, but how he talks to his team about responding to it is his job. I don’t see anyone except James Shields getting mad about it. I like the fact that Justin Upton got tossed Saturday night, probably in part due to frustration about losing another game by 2 runs or less. The time for a change is now.

Current Record: 21-24

Current Standings: 4th place, 6.0 GB Dodgers in NL West

Weekly Predicted Record: 3-3

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