San Diego Padres Lose After Questionable Call to Stick with Hand

Things didn’t get off to a great start last night for the San Diego Padres. Things got better, but then got immediately much, much worse. Another day at the office for this team, apparently.

I’m not one to get overly critical of one decision or one game or even one bad stretch of games, but the San Diego Padres just can’t seem to stop shooting themselves in the foot.

Last week, taking out Clayton Richard for Craig Stammen, while it was and still is the right move to make at the time, ended up backfiring on Andy Green and the Friars lost that one to the Mets.

Letting Brad Hand stay in the game after walking Buster Posey last night in the ninth inning, was likely a move that Green would like to take back.

Although his options for a replacement weren’t all that appealing, it was clear that Hand didn’t have control of all of his pitches but was battling his way through, and admirably I might add.

Then it all came falling down for the San Diego Padres

As well as Hand pitched in the eighth retiring Brandon Crawford and Alen Hanson on two pitches and his nice recovery to strike out Gorkys Hernandez and Andrew McCutchen after hitting Austin Slater with a pitch to start the ninth, was great.

The minute Posey stepped on first, we cringed. After Evan Longoria‘s single made it 5-4, we strongly voiced our displeasure with the choice to keep Hand in. After he walked Belt, I think I heard the sound of stuff breaking all the way in New York at 1 AM.

We all knew what was coming after that. Our old friend Nick Hundley simply had to walk it off for the Giants. There was no doubt in our collective minds that it would at that point.

And he did, and it was like a gut-punch. And it won’t be the last one.

More from Friars on Base

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• 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

All hope is not lost, folks

I was most certainly one of the people whose hopes were maybe a little too high up after the Eric Hosmer signing and the offensive outburst to start the season. I’ll own that.

Even the bullpen, who has been by leaps and bounds the strength, heart, and soul of this team (along with some kid named Frenchy? Did I get that right?), may have overachieved a bit over the first month of the season. They’re still a solid group, though, no doubt.

As maddening as the continuous stream of facepalms have been over the first month of the season for the Friars, it doesn’t mean that all hope is lost for a competitive year.

The youth movement, as sluggishly as it is developing, is most certainly making progress. Franchy Cordero, Manuel Margot, Christian Villanueva, and cogs like Travis Jankowski and Carlos Asuaje, are all going to be solid players.

Next: Getting a Glimpse of a Talented Padres Outfield

Will the San Diego Padres contend for a wild-card spot this season? Probably not. But there’s no reason to think that one bad loss or a tough week or a head-scratcher of a decision will shake the (albeit, tarnished) shine off of this young, exciting team. Onward and upward, once again.