Padres have an obvious reason not to bury JP Sears after ugly Cubs outing

What a difference one start can make. JP Sears played the hero in the San Diego Padres' sweep of the Atlanta Braves, filling in for an injured Lucas Giolito and delivering one heck of a performance (two runs allowed in 5.2 innings). There was hope that the "other" guy in the Mason Miller trade could slot in and help patch up the Friars' patchwork rotation.

Then, he took his next turn through in Chicago and... well, the vibes aren't as great. The Padres were tortured by the Cubs' hot bats all series long, surrendering 12 runs in the first two games before being on the wrong end of a comical 23-run outburst in the sweep-clinching finale.

Sears certainly played his part in that effort as well, giving up seven runs (six earned) and three homers during the middle contest of the set. He looked more or less hopeless on the mound, as his 11.31 xERA and 11.68 FIP can attest.

Now, we're all left with one question: Will the real JP Sears please stand up?

JP Sears' horrendous start against Cubs shouldn't define his season with Padres

While the stats from Sears' second start look ugly, context is required. The Wrigley winds were whipping out all series, and the heat and humidity only added to the danger posed by fly balls. In that game alone, there were nine home runs hit by both teams (four by the Padres, five by the Cubs), and then the Cubs blasted eight more in the finale.

Those are hardly favorable conditions to pitch in; you know things are favoring the batters when the 2026 Padres are hitting four homers in a single game.

Likewise, underneath all the long balls, Sears has some things to build on from that start. He got whiffs on one-quarter of his fastballs and one-third of his sweepers, which is nice proof that he was still controlling the game when batters didn't barrel the ball. And though he gave up 10 hard-hit balls, his fastball held the Cubs to an average exit velocity of only 87.8 miles per hour.

None of that excuses his slightly diminished velocity nor his inability to find the strike zone (he issued three walks and threw a first-pitch strike only 40% of the time), but Sears isn't an ace. There will be starts where he doesn't have his best stuff; hopefully, in such outings in the future, the conditions won't be so primed to punish his mistakes.

Just two starts into his 2026 season in San Diego, it's too early to tell if the southpaw can be a reliable option for Craig Stammen. However, seeing as the Padres' rotation isn't exactly crowded with viable options these days, it'd behoove the team to give Sears a few more chances to find a sustainable middle ground.

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