San Diego Padres: 3 takeaways after being swept by the Atlanta Braves

Pitching depth a clear concern

Let’s be honest; the rotation and bullpen as they currently stand won’t get this team into the playoffs.

The bullpen once again allowed a three-run inning to give the Braves the win. Otherwise effective in his last four games, Trey Wingenter surrendered a three-run homer to Freddie Freeman in the top of the eighth, followed by a single to Nick Markakis. The game-winning home run was Freeman’s first hit of the entire series. In Game 2, the Padres had two leads that they lost thanks to the bullpen.

For most of Sunday, the pitching felt like an anomaly for the Padres. It was a pitcher’s duel between Mike Soroka and Cal Quantrill, as the score was 0-0 through eight innings.

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Cal Quantrill was fantastic in his second start since being moved to the bullpen. He tossed six scoreless inning with three hits, three strikeouts, and one walk. However, he’s been pushed back into a starting role only because of the Padres’ thin rotational depth.

While the starting rotation has shown promise, it has faltered in one major area — being able to go deep into games.

Lasting only five innings puts immense pressure on the bullpen to eat innings and get to Kirby Yates — more often than not, they end up exacerbating the problem that pulled the starter in the first place.

There’s also been some questionable decision-making and management from Andy Green — but I’ll let the readers hash that one out.

Fortunately for the Padres they play in the National League, where the wild card race has turned out to be a free-for-all this season. Sitting at 45-48, the Friars are 3.0 games back from a playoff spot but falling quickly. They’ll need to bounce back soon, and they’ll have the chance to do so against the Miami Marlins starting on Tuesday.

Let’s see how this team responds to adversity.

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