Padres Offense Struggles Yet Again

The Padres have had a tough time in 2016, and Tuesday night was yet another chapter in their book of offensive struggles.

Of course, going up against Madison Bumgarner is never an easy task. Bumgarner has been marvelous all year, just like he has been for the past few seasons. So far in 2016, Bum has gone 5-2 in nine games with a 2.45 ERA, giving up just 16 earned runs in 58.2 innings pitched.

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The Giants ace threw another brilliant outing against the Padres on Tuesday night, throwing nine innings giving up just one run on five hits with no walks and 11 strikeouts. That lone run was a Matt Kemp blast in the ninth inning. Other than that, Burgarner had no trouble shutting down the Padres.

As far as the Padres offense goes, just five hits and one run. To make matters a bit worse, in the four-game series against Milwaukee over the weekend, San Diego scored just 13 runs in four games, with eight of those runs coming on Saturday in the 12-inning affair. Somehow the Padres would go on to split the four-game set, but 13 runs in four games against a mediocre Brewers team is never a good sign.

Unfortunately for the Padres, this week won’t get much easier as the days go by. Wednesday they will face Johnny Cueto, who threw a complete game, 7-hit shutout his last time out against the Padres in late April. As if that weren’t enough, the Padres will face Jeff Samardzija, who just threw eight innings, giving up one run last week against the Diamondbacks.

After the Giants series is over, the Padres will face Scott Kazmir, Alex Wood, and Kenta Maeda before the weekend is over. That is a brutal stretch, but the Padres will just miss out on facing Clayton Kershaw, which is always a good sign.

It certainly doesn’t help that the Padres are without Jon Jay, who hasn’t played since Friday. Andy Green said in a press conference after the game that Jay continues to nurse that sore shoulder, and it remains unclear when Jay will return to the lineup.

Adam Rosales and Jose Pirela are just about starting everyday, and that’s not necessarily a good thing. Rosales is batting .169 and Pirela is hitting just .1176, not to mention Derek Norris hitting a buck 81. Melvin Upton Jr. has the highest batting average for the Padres, hitting .273 on the year. If it weren’t for Matt Kemp’s moonshot in the ninth inning, the Padres would have gotten shutout again, which would’ve been the second scoreless game for San Diego since Friday.

The injuries continue to mount and that certainly isn’t helping the Padres cause. With Alexi Amarista, Yangarvis Solarte, Jemile Weeks, and Cory Spangenberg all still on the disabled list, the Padres are simply running out of infielders. Brett Wallace has played a ton, and is hitting just over .200, while Rosales and Pirela start pretty much every day. The Padres can’t wait for Solarte and Amarista to get back to PETCO Park, and with Jay injured, one can’t help but wonder if they call up Hunter Renfroe or re-call Alex Dickerson sooner than later.

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The Padres offense is currently 24th in runs scored in the majors, 28th in batting average, 23rd in hits, and 24th in home runs just six weeks into the 2016 season. The Padres are ravaged by injuries, but if their offense doesn’t improve, and soon, they might have a hole to deep to dig out of.

It’s safe to say that Alexi Amarista and Yan Solarte can’t get back soon enough.

The Padres have had a tough time in 2016, and Tuesday night was yet another chapter in their book of offensive struggles.

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