San Diego Padres: Week #20 recap

Recapping all of the action from another week of San Diego Padres baseball, a week which saw the club earn a sweep and struggle against one of baseball’s best.

Thanks to the perfectly awful Philadelphia Phillies, the Padres ended the week with a winning record of 5 and 4. Sweeping the hapless Phils made the Padres look good while losing 3 of 4 to the  NL East leading Washington Nationals showed how far they still need to go.

Two stellar pitching performances highlighted the week with Clayton Richard throwing a 9 inning complete game shutout against the Phils and Travis Wood pitching seven innings of one run ball versus the Nats.

The young duo of Luis Perdomo and Dinelson Lamet show flashes of dominance and follow it with inconsistency. What they are capable of doing, especially Lamet, is impressive and promises more for the future.

From the hitters side, no one was able to produce more than 5 hits during the week with Cory Spangenberg having a big drop off in production while facing Nats pitching.

More from Friars on Base

• Jurickson Profar free agency update likely rules out Padres reunion
• Fernando Tatis Jr. may not take to outfield move after Xander Bogaerts addition
• Padres News: Fernando Tatis Jr. trade rumors, Seth Lugo chase, Manny Machado
• Padres barely missed out on high-end veteran starting pitcher
• This veteran DH target seems ideal for contending Padres roster

The Padres front office surprised many of us by demoting outfielder Hunter Renfroe to AAA El Paso after a dismal month of August and poor performance  over the last 2 months. His August production of 3 HR, 5 RBI and 27 K’s showcases just how badly he has struggled in his first major league season. It remains to be seen if he can develop the plate discipline needed to become a successful major league hitter for the Padres.

Renfroe was replaced in right field by Jabari Blash, who continues to mash in El Paso but still has not been able to sustain that production at the major league level. He will get a chance to show what he can do now that Renfroe is gone.

The majority of the Friars remaining schedule for this season are against winning teams. The Dog Days of Summer will test these inconsistent performers.

Next: Week #20 power rankings update

The week ahead is on the road against the St Louis Cardinals and the Miami Marlins, with 3 games against each club. While their season was decided long ago, manager Andy Green has spoken of creating a culture of winning inside the Padres clubhouse. The remaining weeks on their schedule should go a long way towards showing us what these young players are made of and if they continue to make strong efforts while finishing out their season.