San Diego Padres Have High Hopes For Their Starters in 2018

What Clayton Richard has done for the San Diego Padres, and what’s to be expected in 2018

Clayton Richard was originally acquired by the San Diego Padres in the Jake Peavy trade in 2009. After leaving via free agency after the 2013 season Richard bounced around the majors for a couple of years.

Since returning to the Padres after being released by the Chicago Cubs in August 2016, Richard has rightfully earned his place atop the Friars starting rotation.

Since coming back to the San Diego Padres, Clayton Richard has been a dependable, effective stalwart in the Padres rotation. Richard made only nine starts after being picked up by the Padres in 2016. Over 53 2/3 IP Richard pitched to a 3-3 record with a 2.52 ERA.

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This was a huge improvement over the 6.43 ERA he posted out of the bullpen for the Cubs that year, up until he was released.

Though Clayton Richard’s K/BB ratio (1.42) and WHIP (1.53) after coming to the Padres were not impeccable, he improved in every facet in 2017.

His 8-15 record and 4.79 ERA don’t give a very rosy summary of Richard’s 2017 season. But even though his 240 hits allowed was the most in the NL, his groundball rate of 58% was among the league’s best.

Clayton Richard Stands To Benefit From San Diego Padres Additions

On the surface, Clayton Richard’s stats might not be so impressive. But considering that the San Diego Padres were not a very good team last year, the season Richard put together really wasn’t all that bad.

Delve a little deeper into his numbers from last year and you’ll see the incredible strides he took in improving his game. Clayton Richard’s statistics stand to improve a great deal with the offseason acquisition of Freddy Galvis and the pristine fielding skills of up-and-comer Carlos Asuaje. His penchant for inducing groundballs should play well with the upgraded Friars defense.

If he can improve, as he’s done consistently throughout his career, and take advantage of the increase in talent in comparison to last year’s team, Clayton Richard could be an unexpected force for the San Diego Padres this season.

Luis Perdomo & Dinelson Lamet Are Due For Breakout Seasons

The San Diego Padres have been nurturing the developing arms of highly-touted prospects Dinelson Lamet and Luis Perdomo with the hopes of bringing those processes to fruition at some point. It seems they have both come to the precipice of reaching those goals.

Though both are still extremely raw talents, there have been noticeable improvements made by both Lamet and Perdomo over their time in the major leagues.

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Though Luis Perdomo’s control seemed to wane a bit from 2016 to 2017 (46 BB in 146.2 IP in 2016 compared to 65 in 163.2 IP in 2017), he improved in ERA (5.71 to 4.67), WHIP (1.59 to 1.51) and K/BB ratio (2.28 to 1.82).

Dinelson Lamet made steady improvements over his 21 starts last season.  After making his debut May 25 in New York, Lamet’s first two starts were fantastic and his ERA after was a shiny 2.70.

June was not as kind to Lamet, as his ERA for the month was 6.33. July wasn’t much better but there was some progress made, including a nice start in Pittsburgh on July 29 (6 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 7 K, 2 BB).

During the month of August is when we started to see the real Dinelson Lamet begin to emerge. Lamet went 2-1 with a 2.54 ERA and looked outstanding over that span.

His 30 K and 16 BB while holding opponents to a .149 BA was the exact reason the San Diego Padres signed Lamet as a 21-year-old out of the Dominican Republic in 2014.

San Diego Padres Starting Five Could Be a Strength For This Team

For the San Diego Padres to shock the baseball world and contend in what should be a very competitive NL West, they’ll need consistent productivity from their starting rotation. This group has a nice mixture of talented youngsters and capable veterans that could prove to be the Padres saving grace as the dog days of summer roll around.

With the group of Padres hurlers that are either coming through the pipeline or returning from injury this season, there should be more than enough arms to keep the entire staff well-rested throughout the year.

Clayton Richard is undoubtedly the ace of the Padres staff. While there is not much disparity between the projected numbers of him and young hurlers Dinelson Lamet and Luis Perdomo, it’s Richards’ experience and leadership that sets him apart from the other two.

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If Dinelson Lamet and Luis Perdomo can continue their transformation into top-end starters in the San Diego Padres rotation, along with the guiding hand of Clayton Richard leading the way, we could be in for a wild ride in 2018.