San Diego Padres: Catching Up With Former Friars

The San Diego Padres traded or lost a few players on waivers this season. What have they been up to since leaving San Diego?

Players come and players go, it’s a part of the business and an unfortunate aspect of being a sports fan. We follow the San Diego Padres every night and become very close to certain players, even if they aren’t the greatest, however, a few of those players always hold a special place in our hearts, even after they move on.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at how a few former Padres have performed since being shipped off to other teams, beginning with two bullpen arms who played key roles for San Diego, during the first half of the season.

Adam Cimber and Brad Hand are playoff bound.

Yes, I have tuned into my fair share of Cleveland Indians games just to watch Adam Cimber pitch. Unfortunately, the Indians seemed to have broke Cimber. The unorthodox rookie pitched to a 3.17 ERA, a 51/10 K/BB ratio, and a 1.08 WHIP in 48.1 innings. He gave up just two home runs during that time with the Padres.

Since the trade, Cimber has appeared in just 18 games, logging 11.2 disappointing innings. He’s given up 17 hits, two home runs, and six earned runs total. The most shocking stat isn’t his 4.83 ERA or 1.80 WHIP, it’s his four walks and just two strikeouts in an Indians’ uniform.

The story isn’t quite the same for former San Diego Padres closer Brad Hand. Hand has continued to pitch well, putting up nearly identical numbers to his San Diego output, just in a different role (set-up man as compared to closer). The left-handed pitcher and his deadly slider have given up just four earned runs in 18 innings, striking out 25 in the process.

Both bullpen arms will get to experience the 2018 MLB playoffs, seeing as the Indians clinched after the first few weeks of the season.

Tyson Ross and Jordan Lyles serving in limited roles.

For much of the early part of the season, Tyson Ross was the only starting pitcher on the Padres roster who gave the fans and the team consistently good starts. Ross rebounded extremely well from his 2017 campaign and logged more innings as a Padre this season than he pitched in 2016 and 2017 combined (recovering from surgery).

The Padres allowed Ross to walk away via waivers, after the trade deadline, finding a new home with the St. Louis Cardinals. He hasn’t been used often (20 innings), but Ross has been pretty effective in his six outings (one start).

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His first appearance with the Cardinals went about as perfect as you could expect from your starting pitcher, giving up two runs on four hits and striking out four across six innings, against the Kansas City Royals (I know, I know). Since that outing, he has made five long-relief appearances, giving up just three earned runs across 14.1 innings. Walks have been an issue, however, shorter outings and more rest days seemed to have done the trick for Tyson Ross.

Lastly, there’s Jordan Lyles. With the Padres, bullpen Jordan Lyles was a pleasure to watch and an asset. Starting pitcher Jordan Lyles was a different story. The Milwaukee Brewers claimed Lyles off waivers from the Padres and have been using him out of the bullpen, since his acquisition.

After a rocky start (6 ER over 6 IP), Lyles has settled into his new surroundings and has perhaps caught the winning fever that has swept over the Brewers locker room. Over his last 4.1 innings, Lyles has surrendered just two hits and no earned runs, while striking out five in the process

Many expected the San Diego Padres to be more active this season, however, the team remained largely silent. While there was no return for Ross or Lyles, it gave the team enough flexibility to start bringing up the plethora of rookies we have witnessed over the last few weeks. Having the opportunity to evaluate these rookies was more than enough of a return for two arms who had no future role with the organization. Regardless, all four of these former Friars may very well find themselves in the playoffs at the end of this season and we here at Friars on Base wish them nothing but success.