San Diego Padres: First Month Player Report Card

Coming into the season, the San Diego Padres had hoped that their players would continue to develop over the course of this rebuilding year. Let’s take a look at how each player has fared so far this season.

Starting Pitching:

Clayton Richard, the San Diego Padres Opening Day starter, had a solid first outing, going a strong seven innings while giving up six hits and striking out four. Since then, however, Richard has struggled with his release point and has not managed to go farther than five innings in any of his outings, contributing to the high use of the bullpen early in the season.

Grade: C+

The first of the Hot Talent Lava to arrive at Petco Park this year, Joey Lucchesi has been the Padres most consistent starter throughout the first month of the season.  Lucchesi’s “churve” has been fooling hitters all season with its deceptive movement.  As evidenced by his 2.70 ERA over five starts in the big leagues, Joey “Fuego” and his delivery/pitch location is playing well in the major leagues. In addition, he has struck out 29 batters, while only walking eight this season.

Grade: A-

Bryan Mitchell, the prized asset from the Chase Headley trade that AJ Preller orchestrated over the offseason, has had a slow start to the year.  Over the course of five starts, Mitchell has walked 19 batters, while only striking out seven. He has struggled mightily with his command and has been getting hit hard all year (average exit velocity of 91 mph in his last start). He has pitched 25 innings in total, posting an abysmal 5.76 ERA. This will only go up if he continues to miss the strike zone as often as he does (16% walk rate).

Grade: D-

Luis Perdomo, once a rule-5 draft pick from the Cardinals, has had an up and down career with the San Diego Padres. He struggled during spring training and continued to struggle over the course of his four starts this year. In 14 innings of work he gave up 15 runs, walked nine, and posted an ERA of 8.36 before the Padres decided to send him to Triple-A to work on his mechanics and delivery.

Grade: F

Finally healthy again, Tyson Ross is starting to look like the Tyson Ross Padres fans fell in love with during his All-Star year of 2014. So far this season he has shutout the defending world series champions, Houston Astros, and almost no-hit the Arizona Diamondbacks, falling four outs shy.  His 2.81 ERA is second lowest for starting pitchers, and if he continues to pitch this well he should be in consideration for comeback player of the year.

Grade: A-

The San Diego Padres have been led by a dominant bullpen this season.

The San Diego Padres have had arguably the best bullpen in Major League Baseball this year, earning “Bullpen of the Week” on April 16th.

Phil Maton, a second-year man out of Louisiana Tech, has appeared in seven games for the Friars. He’s posted an incredible 0.00 ERA over 7.1 innings, giving up a combined five hits and three walks while striking out nine.

Grade: A

The 27-year-old rookie sidearmer, Adam Cimber had a rough opening day outing, but has since pitched well for the Padres. With a 2.40 ERA in 11 games and a K/BB ratio of 17/3, Cimber and his unorthodox delivery should be watched closely in 2018.

Grade: A

After coming off of Tommy-John surgery, Robbie Erlin has had an up and down season. Used as a spot starter and a long reliever, Erlin has pitched a total of 15 innings and has an ERA of 4.20 in six appearances. During his lone start of the year, he was roughed up by the Dodgers, giving up six runs over six innings. If he wants another shot at a start this year he will need to continue to be efficient out of the bullpen and prove that he deserves to start.

Grade B-

Jordan Lyles, another long relief pitcher, has pitched in nine games for the Padres this year, with a 2.35 ERA over 14 1/3 innings. Lyles has only had one bad outing, coming on April 9th where he gave up two runs on two hits during one inning of work. Other than that, his conversion from starter to long relief has gone about as well as the Padres could have hoped.

Grade B+

Kazuhisa Makita, the 33-year-old submarine pitcher from Japan has had an up and down start to his Padres career. His funky delivery fooled hitters early on but his command has prevented him from being more effective. His inability to hit his spots has contributed to his rise in ERA  to 5.40. Below is an example of his unique delivery and release point.

https://twitter.com/Padres/status/949823237873065985

Grade: C+

After coming off of a solid 2017 campaign, Craig Stammen has continued to dominate hitters. His 2.03 ERA over 10 games this season has been stellar, save for one bad outing against the Dodgers, where he gave up three runs on four hits during one inning of work. Over the course of his nine other appearances, Stammen has pitched lights out, working an ERA of 0.00 over those games, baffling hitters by mixing up his pitches.

Grade: A

Kirby Yates, the Padres setup man, had a great start to the year posting a 0.00 ERA and appearing in six games before going on the DL with right ankle tendonitis. He has continued to build on his impressive 2017 season. Let’s hope he continues his dominance once he comes off the DL.

Grade: A-

The Padres 2017 All-Star and closer, Brad Hand had a rough start to the season against the Milwaukee Brewers, blowing the save while giving up five runs on four hits. Since then, however, Hand has lowered his ERA to 1.59 and his slider is just as devastating as it was last year.

Grade: B+

Colten Brewer, Kyle McGrath, Tyler Webb, and Buddy Baumann have all been through the revolving door that is the eighth man in the bullpen this year. They have each showed promise in different outings, giving Andy Green confidence in his extremely deep bullpen options down in El Paso.

Combined grade: C

So many outfielders, not enough spots.

Manuel Margot entered the year with high expectations and has thus far fallen below those expectations. He started the year slowly, and then went on the DL with bruised ribs when he was pummeled by a fastball from Scott Oberg. Margot is hitting .135 with a .186 OBP and has been struggling mightily at the plate. Hopefully, Margot can get swinging a hot bat soon because he is a big part of the offense as the leadoff hitter.

Grade: D

Wil Myers has also been in and out of the lineup due to injury. He is hitting .346 with a home run and three runs driven in but has only had 26 at-bats due to being on the DL with back and arm tightness. Hopefully, now that he is fully recovered he can help jump-start a struggling Padres lineup and protect the hitters behind him such as Villaneuva and Hosmer. He showcased that ability Monday night against the Rockies, driving multiple balls into teh gaps.

Grade: B+

The most consistent outfielder so far this season has been Jose Pirela. His defense has improved, building on an experimental year in 2017. He has also been the Padres best hitter, positng seven doubles while hitting .260. He has hit all over the lineup, anywhere from leadoff to fifth in the order. His usefulness as a hitter cannot be underestimated on a Padres team that is struggling to hit the ball anywhere this season.

Grade B

Franchy Cordero is arguably the best prospect the Padres have in the outfield, with a rare combination of speed and power that have scouts raving about him. He is currently hitting .256 with 15 strikeouts and four monster home runs in 37 at-bats. He needs consistent at-bats in order to develop into the talent the Padres think he can be.

Grade B+

Hunter Renfroe, the most recent Padres outfielder to hit the DL, has struggled at the plate again this year in what is a crucial year in his development. It will be interesting to see how he responds to a platoon situation. In 50 at-bats, he has 16 strikeouts while hitting .200 with two home runs. He has lacked discipline at the plate in key situations at times for the Padres, coming up short throughout the year.

Grade: D+

Matt Szczur, the fifth outfielder on the roster, has mostly come off the bench as a defensive replacement or as a pinch hitter this season.  He has been extremely successful in that role hitting .304 while playing above average defense at all three outfield positions.

Grade: B-

Next: Michel Baez Was Highly Impressive In His 2018 Debut

If the Padres can improve their overall plate discipline, and the starting pitching improves, the Padres could surprise some people and start moving up in the standings.