San Diego Padres: Way Back Wednesday/Climbing From The Sewer

It’s Wednesday, so we’re taking you way back to a time when the San Diego Padres weren’t in the cellar of the NL West.

Happy Wednesday, San Diego Padres faithful! It’s now June 27th and the Padres find themselves 10 games below .500 and at the very bottom of the NL West standings. The delusions of grandeur some fans had earlier this month are quickly turning back into realistic expectations, as San Diego falls further and further away from the top of the division.

Since it’s Wednesday, let’s take you way back in time, back to when the San Diego Padres entered June 27th, not in fourth or fifth place in the division.

You have to go back to 2013 to find the last time the Padres weren’t in the cellar on June 27th. While they were sitting tied for second place in the NL West at this point in 2013, the Padres still found themselves with a losing record, 39-40. They finished 76-86, 16 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, who took the division by 11 games.

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Finishing four games better than their Pythagorean W/L (72 wins), San Diego hit .245 as a team, reaching base in just 31% of their plate appearances. Jedd Gyorko and Will Venable led the offense with 23 and 22 home runs, respectively. Starting shortstop Everth Cabrera led the team with a .284 batting average and 37 stolen bases.

Leading the pitching staff were dangerous names (I couldn’t type it without laughing) such as Eric Stults and Andrew Cashner. The two combined for 378 innings, posting a 259/87 K/BB ratio. Familiar names like Clayton Richard, Tyson Ross, and Robbie Erlin remember the glory days of that 2013 team, they were on it. The trio went 7-15 with a 4.30 ERA across 58 appearances.

The 2010 season was the only other year over the last decade that saw the Padres not in the cellar on June 27th. San Diego sat at 44-30 on June 27th, 2010, good enough for first place in the NL West. That 2010 team finished at 90-72, missing the Wild Card spot by one game.

The pitching staff from that season? Clayton Richard (14-9, 3.75 ERA), Jon Garland (14-12, 3.47 ERA), pre-Independent League fighter Mat Latos (14-10, 2.92 ERA), Wade LeBlanc (8-12, 4.25 ERA), and Kevin Correia (10-10, 5.40 ERA).

Next: Hudson Potts Showing Great Development In 2018

San Diego will go for a series win against the Texas Rangers this evening as lefties Clayton Richard and Mike Minor battle it out in the rubber match.