2023 San Diego Padres midseason report cards with letter grades: Pitchers

Seth Lugo

After seven years with the Mets (which I'm sure is not a good as "Seven Years in Tibet"), Seth Lugo is in his first of a two-year deal with the Padres. Lugo's first few months in San Diego has been the definition of up and down. Prior to an impressive outing against the Angels before the All-Star break, Lugo had not won a game since May 3. A main reason for that drought of victory was a month-long stint on the IL with a calf injury. Heading into the second half of the season, Lugo's record sits at 3-4 with a 3.39 ERA and carries a 1.24 WHIP. He's had some tough outings against weak teams like Kansas City and Washington, but has pitched well against top teams in Arizona, Atlanta and the Reds. Since coming back from injury, Lugo has one loss over four starts while only giving up four earned runs with 21 strikeouts to just two walks. Out of the veteran righty's 12 starts, seven of those count as quality ones so there's that. GRADE: C

Yu Darvish

Whatever the opposite of teacher's pet is, Yu Darvish is that. Before I schedule an emergency parent-teacher conference over him, let's get the particulars out of the way. Over 15 starts, Darvish is 5-6 with a 4.87 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. His numbers this season so far make last season's solid numbers feel as far away as his days as a Ranger. Darvish limped into the All-Star break with two losses over three poor starts that included giving up six earned runs to Tampa Bay and a five-inning, three-earned run, three-walk "effort" to the lowly Mets, both performances at home.

In June, Darvish was 2-2 with a 5.40 ERA and May wasn't any better as he also went 2-2 posting a subpar 5.74 ERA. Oddly enough, Darvish's season started out fairly decent as he went 1-2 with a 3.60 ERA over five starts and, in three of those games, he only gave up one earned run.

That's where Darvish's first half highlights stop. The 36 year-old has had poor outings against below average offenses like Kansas City, the Rays, the Rockies, Yankees and the Mets ... TWICE! Yikes. I'm not one to bad mouth in public, but it's really starting to feel like San Diego might choke a bit on the six-year/$108 million contract Darvish signed in February. GRADE: D+