Padres Finish Off Dreadful Week in Many Ways

The Padres lost 3 of 4 to the Mariners this week before winning 2 of 3 against Colorado, but the numbers alone do not show what a bad week the Padres just experienced.

The Padres got blasted by their own Executive Chairman Ron Fowler who is “embarrassed” to watch his own team, then traded their largest free agent acquisition in team history James Shields to the White Sox.

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The trade wasn’t surprising, but the timing was clearly influenced by Fowler’s harsh words and Shields last start where he allowed 10 runs to the Mariners in under 3 innings. Then two days later the Padres let a 12-2 lead in the 6th inning disappear. Someone had to take the ax for ownership’s frustrations and it ended up being Shields.

Wil Myers is happy the calendar has flipped to June. After a good April he along with most other Padres struggled in May. He hit just 2 home runs and .229. So far in just 5 June games, he has 3 home runs already and is hitting over .400. He was a triple shy short of the cycle Saturday night.

With the Shields trade now Erik Johnson is the main pitching prospect received in return, and it looks like he will start for the Padres this next weekend at Coors Field. Seems like the Padres could’ve had him debut at a little bit of a friendlier pitchers park, but it is what it is.

Whether or not it signals the beginning of a massive overhaul the Padres need remains to be seen. Team ownership has been adamant they expect to compete this year, and Fowler mentioned adjusting his own expectations to even a .400 winning percentage team. The question is if it is worth fighting to be a .400 team this year and .500 team next year – or do the full overhaul and be .300 this season but maybe .550 next season?

Matt Kemp is hoping his June can rebound his batting average as after a .283 April his sub-.200 May dropped it down to around .220. So far early on he is hitting in June and he is on a great home run pace – but can the Padres get someone else to take on the large contract demands the Dodgers passed along to them before last season?

Next: James Shields Traded to White Sox

The good news for the Padres is that they get to play the Braves this week, a team with some familiar faces and one of the absolute worst in baseball. On top of that the Padres have a good history of beating the Braves even when the Braves were really good which they had been for the better part of two decades until the end of last season and this one. Can they get a sweep?

After the Braves play three, they head to Colorado where the team early in the season put up some gawdy offensive numbers early in the season. The Padres had a rough week – and are hoping to put it behind them this week.