San Diego Padres: Predicting statistical leaders for 2020 season

Zach Davies will lead the team in earned run average

The easy choice here would have been Chris Paddack. The 24-year-old led the rotation with a 3.33 ERA in 26 starts. However, I believe there will be some league adjustment for Paddack in 2020, but I am not saying he’s going to post a clunker.

Fangraphs has him pegged for a 3.68 ERA in 28 starts this season. Those are very good numbers, but something about Zach Davies really intrigues me, especially displaying as much success in a hitters’ park in Miller Park.

He’s not going to blow anyone away with a blazing fastball, but Davies knows how to get batters out utilizing his off-speed pitches and deception. And outside of an injury-plagued 2018, he’s never posted a 4.00+ ERA season.

Now in a pitchers’ park in Petco Park, Davies also has a strong track record pitching within the divisional opponents’ home turf:

• Petco Park: four starts, 3.80 ERA
• Chase Field: two starts, 3.00 ERA
• Coors Field: one starts, 1.80 ERA
• Dodger Stadium: three starts, 0.86 ERA
• AT&T Park: two starts, 2.45 ERA

Davies is penciled in as the fourth starter, but I expect him to pitch like a number two starter in the Padres’ rotation. This is an excellent problem to have, and one that fans necessarily aren’t used to from previous seasons.