San Diego Padres: Checking In On Former Friars

Let’s spend a minute on this Memorial Day taking a look at what some former members of the San Diego Padres are up to across Major League Baseball.

Good Memorial Day, San Diego Padres fans! While today is all about remembering and honoring those who dedicated their lives to protecting and defending the United States (a special thanks to my grandad who I never met but served proudly in the US Marine Corps), hopefully, you are enjoying the holiday with family, friends, and day baseball across the league.

Before the Padres take the field for their series opener against the Miami Marlins, let’s take a second to look back at some former Padres who have moved on and see how they are performing on their new teams. For the purpose of this article, we will be using the 2017 roster.

Yangervis Solarte, Toronto Blue Jays

Yangervis Solarte is having a career year in Toronto. Through 50 games with the Jays, Solarte is hitting .267 with a .330 on-base percentage. He is well-above pace to set new career-highs in home runs (11) and doubles (11).

Solarte leads the Blue Jays in home runs and slugging percentage while sitting near the top in WAR and wOBA. The only knock on him is his defense. Playing mostly second base and third base, Solarte has committed one error, however, his defensive metrics say that his defense is the worst it’s been in three years. His DRS numbers are -3 and -2 at second and third, respectively.

Jhoulys Chacin, Milwaukee Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers are playing fantastic baseball right now (34-20). While their rotation has been hit with injuries, Jhoulys Chacin has remained a constant force for the Brewers. Working more as a pitch-to-contact pitcher, Chacin is 3-1 with a 3.69 ERA in 12 starts.

His average velocity is down one-two mph on his fastball and slider, however, he is generating more movement on his pitches and producing a high number of fly ball outs. The biggest improvement he has made has been limiting the long ball. After allowing 19 with the Padres last season, Chacin has surrendered only five this year, thus far.

Other former San Diego Padres around the league.

More from Friars on Base

Jabari Blash continues to do what he does best, destroy minor league baseballs. In 135 at-bats with the Salt Lake Bees (Los Angeles Angels), Blash has 15 home runs and a 1.247 OPS. He does have three games under his belt with the Angles, hitting just two for nine.

After appearing in 99 games at shortstop for the Padres last season, Erik Aybar remains a free agent, as is Jarred Cosart (0-2, 4.88 ERA in seven appearances) and Travis Wood.

Both Ryan Buchter and Trevor Cahill are having mildly successful seasons with the Oakland Athletics. Before hitting the disabled list with a shoulder strain, Buchter was pitching to a 1.69 ERA in 13 relief appearances. Cahill has six starts under his belt with a 1-2 record, 2.75 ERA, and a 0.97 WHIP. He has 35 strikeouts in 36 innings of work.

Brandon Maurer has yet to find any success since the Padres traded him to the Kansas City Royals. This season, Maurer has appeared in five games and has given up eight hits, six runs, and three walks in 4.1 innings.

Lastly, we have Ryan Schimpf and Kevin Quackenbush. Quackenbush has struggled with the Cincinnati Reds, pitching to an 11.00 ERA in 10 appearances. In nine innings, he has given up 11 runs and 13 hits, three of them home runs.

Schimpf may appear for half of the teams in the league by the end of the year. After being traded from the Padres to Tampa Bay Rays in the offseason, Schimpf was designated for assignment and then traded to the Atlanta Braves. A few weeks later he was traded to the Los Angeles Angels who released him just over a week ago.

Next: Padres Acquire Phil Hughes

Hopefully, this doesn’t bring up too many bad memories. Enjoy the rest of your long weekend, folks.

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