Padres Drew Pomeranz Continues Stellar Start But Coming Up Empty

The Padres are running out of superlatives to describe the start to the season that Drew Pomeranz is providing his new club. Amazing? Dazzling? Take your pick.

Whatever word you use, the Padres are certain that it has to be a synonym with “great”. Pomeranz pitched another gem that will go without a reward Monday night in San Francisco as he shut out the Giants for 7 innings but came away with another no decision.

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While Pomeranz is saying all of the right things, the lack of wins to show for his stellar start must be frustrating. His ERA is now down to just 1.70 but has a record of just 4-4. This one the Padres gave away in the 9th when Alexi Amarista and Matt Kemp failed to communicate on a pop fly that stayed up forever but no one could catch bringing in the decision 1-0 run.

Manager Andy Green had this to say about his performance and his starting staff in general:

“He was great. Seven very strong innings — there’s nothing more you can ask for. [He] matched Cueto pitch for pitch and gave us an opportunity to win the baseball game. That’s what you want out of your starting pitching. We couldn’t, across the board, be more pleased with the way our starters are throwing the baseball.”

Its a familiar refrain for a Padres manager, as major cogs Wil Myers and Matt Kemp have cooled off considerably in May after good April starts and injuries took out key pieces of their infield for about a month.

Pomeranz knew the Padres needed a long outing after the extra inning affair Sunday, and Pomeranz delivered: “Obviously, in the back of my mind, we were thin in the bullpen and everything, so I was just trying to get out there and limit my number of pitches each inning so I could stay out there a little longer.”

As far as where Pomeranz stands within the Padres pantheon, only eventual Cy Young Award winners Randy Jones and Jake Peavy have posted lower ERA’s through their first 9 starts. Considering Pomeranz was somewhat of a suprise winner of the 4th rotation spot in Spring Training is a testament to a gamble that GM A.J. Preller took that really paid off. Yonder Alonso is hitting just .218 with 1 HR for Oakland.

Next: Padres Show Some Swagger Against Dodgers

While there are concerns about how many innings the 27 year old Pomeranz will be able to throw this season, the Padres enjoying the show now and he is a promising sign for the future of this team looking ahead to 2017. With Andrew Cashner a pending free agent and Tyson Ross injury still hindering his progress, Pomeranz has been the stabilizing force in the Padres rotation and looks to carry that mantle even farther.