Meet the “New” Padres Starting Staff

The trades of James Shields, Drew Pomeranz , Andrew Cashner and Colin Rea have decimated the Padres starting staff. Only Tyson Ross, who has not pitched since April, is left. Thus a big opportunity for some less than household names to make their mark. I think it is time to see “Who are these Guys?” and “How did they get here?

My first comment is that TOO BAD the hitters are having the best hitting streak in many a year, only to have AJ Preller pull the “rug” out by slicing the starting staff like KINGs from Game of Thrones. The pitchers traded represent 62 starts of the 103 games the Padres have played this year. WOW!

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So FOR SURE it is good bye 2016 and possibly 2017, hello 2018. Do not get me wrong, I am in favor of all the “pitching” trades. The good news is now there are “tons” of arms in the minors. Almost half of the top 30 San Diego prospects are pitchers. Many recently added. The bad news is that none are even close to being ready.  In triple A El Paso the team’s ERA is 5.05, near the bottom of the league.  The sad news this current starting staff is what we get to finish out 2016. Only AJ knows what we are going to do for 2017.

Meet our starting staff:

Edwin Jackson (32)  a true journeyman pitcher as San Diego is his 11th team since breaking into the big leagues with the LA Dodgers in 2003. Overall stats 89-108 W/L with an era of 4.58. Padres picked him up after he was released In June of 2016 by Miami. He got crushed last night in CINCY. Padre stats for 2016: 11 games (3 starts) 1-2 W/L 5.46 ERA.  He was making $13 Mil a year with the Cubs in 2015 and the Cubs are on the hook for most of $12.5 mil of this his last year of a 4 year contract. Since his release by the Cubs in July 2015, he has pitched for Atlanta and Miami. He also has been traded 5 times in his career. A free agent next year. Yeah lets build a staff around this guy!

Luis Perdomo (23) was signed from the Dominican Republic in 2010 by St. Louis. The Rockies claimed off him off waivers from the Cardinals in Dec 2015 and then immediately traded him to the Padres for “future considerations”.  This is his first year in the Major Leagues. Stats for 2016: In 25 games (10 starts) 5-4 W/L 6.89 ERA.

Christian Friedrich (29) was drafted with the12th pick of the first round in 2008 by the Rockies. The Padres signed him to a minor league contract March 3, 2016, soon after the Rockies released him. His totals in the Major Leagues for Colorado was 5-16 and an ERA of 5.80.  Stats for the Padre in 2016: 13 starts 4-6 W/L 5.00 ERA. He is arbitration eligible through 2019.

Jarred Cosart (P) is a 26 yr old right handed pitcher who just came over in the Andrew Cashner trade. He was drafted in the 38th rd (wow) by the Phillies in 2008. He has been traded twice before: to Houston July 2011 then to Miami July 2014. His four year ML total has 57 starts and a 16-18 W/L 3.69 era. However not so good this year. In his four starts with the Marlins, he is 0-1 and a 5.95 ERA. Spent most of this year at Triple A. He is arbitration eligible 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Tyson Ross (29) has been on the DL since April 9th. Some reports say he will be back soon. Ross was acquired in a trade with Oakland in Nov 2012 for two players. One is out of baseball and the other has been awful in his three short trips to the bigs. Tyson has one more year of arbitration (2017), before becoming a free agent. Since the pitching staff does not seem to be ready for a competitive 2017 and AJ looking more towards 2018, Tyson looks like a strong candidate for an off season trade.

Next: Prospect Profile from Andrew Cashner Trade

Erik Johnson (26) was a 2nd rd pick by the Chicago White Sox in 2011. Came to the Padres in the James Shields trade (June 2016). Johnson in four short trips to the bigs with the White Sox was 7-6 and a 4.50 ERA. He is currently on the DL (June 29th) with a right elbow strain. His Padres stats for 2016 are AWFUL.  In 4 starts 0-4  W/L 9.15 ERA.

In summary : YIKES!!!!!!! The quality of this starting staff is less than that of a good triple A farm team.  Is this what we get for the rest of the year? Right now it has to be the worst starting staff in the Majors and maybe the worst Padre staff in a decade or more. Baseball Gods please help us.