San Diego Padres

As of today, June 6, 2008 the San Diego Padres are 8 games out of first place. For those of you who have watched the team play this year hope is in a land far far away. However, I am here to try and bring some of that hope here to the present. Recently the Padres have been playing much better baseball. Hiding behind the bat of Adrian Gonzalez the team has shown some signs of life. This life has come with the two best starting pitchers sidelined with injuries (Jake Peavy and Chris Young). Randy Wolf and Greg Maddux have been pitching as if they were youngsters and Jody Gerut is finding his place in the leadoff spot. The trouble for this team lies in two places, scoring runs and the bullpen.
First of all, the runs will come. Adrian Gonzalez is an all-star caliber first basemen anchoring the middle of the lineup and Brian Giles is having a resurgent year. The production on the left side of the infield is less than stellar. Kevin Kouzmanoff’s .270 average is not terrible, but in multiple clutch situations he has failed to come through. Shortstop Khalil Greene is having one of the worst years in his professional career. His average is a depressing .211 and his on base percentage is a shocking .255. In order for the team to turn around Greene will have to start hitting and Kouzmanoff will need to start hitting with men on base.
The bullpen is another issue. There are proven pitchers in the pen, but the production is not there. Heath Bell and Cla Meredith have both been solid set up men, and Bell looks poised to take over as closer when Trevor Hoffman retires. Hoffman is the biggest issue in the bullpen. His main problem is his fastball. There is no control on his pitches. Watching the games one can see that too often the catcher will set up outside and the pitch will leak over the plate. His key is finding that first pitch strike because after that he can work his magic with his changeup, but if he falls behind he must rely on his below average fastball that has lost its control. If he can find control of his fastball his blown saves will become a distant memory. Trevor Hoffman’s performance will be the key to the bullpen’s success the rest of the season.
Even though the Padres are far out of first today do not be surprised if they take at least one more from the Mets and then win the series against the Dodgers, putting them within five games of Arizona by next week. A team that looked doomed from the beginning will see its two best starting pitchers rejoin the rotation with a chance to compete for a Western Division pennant.