San Diego Padres: 3 April numbers to concern Padres fans

6.75 ERA – Michael Wacha has not delivered so far for San Diego Padres

When Michael Wacha signed with the Padres, the purpose of his signing was to bolster the starting pitcher rotation. With Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish, and Blake Snell making the top three positions, Wacha fit into the number slot as a veteran pitcher who had delivered a 3.32 ERA for the Boston Red Sox in 2022 with an 11-2 record.

The reality is that Wacha’s pitching has not met his 2022 numbers. Looking at his velocity, care of Baseball Savant, both fastball (-1.3 mph) and offspeed (-2.5 mph) pitches have dropped noticeably. Batters have taken advantage with sweet spot percentage up 10 percentage points and barrel percentage up by two points. Interestingly, Wacha has relied more on his changeup in 2023 with 31 percent of pitches coming that way.

Wacha’s first two outings for the Padres produced wins and his performance against the Braves, 6.0 IP with two hits and 10 strikeouts, was exactly the return that he was signed to produce. Since then, Wacha has given up 15 runs in three outings with 15.1 innings pitched.

The return of Joe Musgrove has helped the Padres’ rotation while Wacha, and Blake Snell’s well-documented slow start, have exerted undue pressure.

1.9% - Manny Machado’s home run percentage is at a career low

Although Manny Machado has managed to get past the Mendoza line (.221), his home run percentage is sitting at an uncharacteristic 1.9%. For illustration, the MLB average is 3% and Machado’s career average is 4.5%. Consequentially, Machado has seen his strikeout rate increase from 20.7% in 2022 to 22.2% in 2023.

When Machado has batted balls into play, his numbers are also anaemic compared to the 6-time All-Star’s career averages. Firstly, the exit velocity is down to 88.6mph from a career average of 91.8mph. The hard hit % has dropped to 34.2% from his career average of 49.4%. Perhaps Machado has tried to tweak his swing mechanics, which has caused an opposite-field hit percentage to increase to 26.6% from a 19.4% career average.

Whatever has caused Machado to be the shadow of his formal self, the result has been to stunt the Padres’ offensive capabilities. The Padres have decided to drop Machado down the order and time will tell if this tactic works. Like Soto’s batting challenges, Machado is not solely to blame. However, when someone of Machado’s capabilities catches cold it is a given that the Padres will sneeze.