Padres 2018 Season: This Is What Was Expected
(Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images)
Coming into each and every new baseball season there is a sense of enthusiasm; a sense that your team can compete. After all, each and every team starts out with the same record and there is no last place when Opening Day hits.
For the 2018 San Diego Padres, there was sense of excitement heading out of the spring. Eric Hosmer was added to the team for a franchise-record amount of money. Bringing in a player worth $144 million surely does give the fan base a sense of excitement, especially when you are the San Diego Padres, a team that historically has not gone the extra mile when it comes to adding talent to the team.
Even with the addition of Hosmer and the youth that surrounds him offensively, most of the experts knew the Padres had a severe lack of pitching to compete. The relief corps was adequate, but getting them a lead consistently late in the game was going to be a difficult mission. Clayton Richard was awarded the Opening Day nod, but he is far from a typical ace pitcher. Richard is a great leader, but his pitching skill is more in the lines of a mid-rotation starter.
Dinelson Lamet was arguably viewed as the ace of the staff early in the spring, despite his inexperience. The right-hander has nasty, strikeout-caliber stuff that dictated he could have been a top-of-the-rotation starter for the team this year. Unfortunately, he went down right before the season started and ultimately was diagnosed with a torn elbow ligament. Lamet will undergo surgery soon and miss most of the 2019 season as well as the entire current one.
The loss of Lamet was huge, but Joey Lucchesi arrived from the minors and the team has not missed a beat in that regard. Beyond Clayton Richard, Lucchesi, and a very solid Tyson Ross, the Padres have gotten little else from the rotation. Bryan Mitchell has been a hot mess early in each and every one of his starts. His season could still turn the corner, but his early exits have been frustrating for Padres fans to witness each start. Especially when you factor in that Chase Headley and his $13 million is on the roster because of Mitchell and the trade that was made with the New York Yankees for Jabari Blash.
At the fifth starter position, Luis Perdomo was shelled. He has since been demoted and the spot is now in the hands of young Eric Lauer. The Padres will get a great look at Lauer as he should be given an opportunity to make at least a handful of starts at the major league level moving forward. Lauer was rouged up in his major league debut, but the game at Colorado was an uphill battle from the very start for the young hurler. He could not get comfortable on the mound, and that was evident. There will be better time for this young pitcher.
This group will not eat up innings. There will be several times when the bullpen is overworked and simply gassed from the starter’s inability to go deep. That is an issue that is not going to go away. Luckily, the Padres have depth in terms of minor league arms and there will be plenty of trips to El Paso this season for relief help.
Currently, the Padres are 9-17 and nine games out of first. I would not expect a .346 winning percentage when it is all said and done, but this could be a very long year. The Padres have so much young talent, but with their inexperience comes ugly baseball. The team has already been dominated by teams in multiple series as they attempt to find their stride. Manage Andy Green is surely feeling the pressure as he envisioned a better start for this group. Injuries have been an issue for the team offensively as each of the major hitting stars have missed games this year.
Things look bad now, but we all must realize that it is only April. There is plenty of time for this team to turn it around. As far as their inconsistent play, what else did you expect from this young group? There will be growing pains and there will be times when this team is downright frustrating to watch. Fans must focus beyond the bad play and dissect who is playing hard during blowouts, who gives it all no matter what the score is, and which player pushes their teammates when the times are tough. Those are the men you want on a championship-caliber team – not selfish players with a “me” attitude.
You learn more in life from situations that keep you down. The Padres are in that learning mode now. The team is playing inconsistently, and that is exactly what was to be expected. Focus on the good and reflect on the bad. That is all you can do at times like this.
James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.
What’s the good?
I guess we expected them to not be good, but I did not expect them to be this bad. 16 K’s, only 4 hits, in hitter’s heaven, against a bad pitcher. Just one game, but relatively indicative of the team. Stairs clearly has not had a good impact, which is not to say he should be fired … yet. Green still does not impress. Preller’s roster continues to be weak, even more so after Preller’s Folly.
Fire the “Voice of the Padres” Ted Leitner now. He’s a jinx for this team. Keep Andy Green. He’s still green but hungry. I think he will instill that hunger in his young players. Bring young players up throughout the year. Give them a taste. Remove the waste Chase Headley and Brian Mitchell. That was a very bad deal (to add to a very long list over the years). Oh how I wish Merv Rettenmund was back as the hitting coach. Sweet and Sour on this ” team “. Mostly sour. Why wait until 2020? Let’s play “baseball”!!!
13M over four years for a reclamation project who is 27 is peanuts. Headley will be gone soon enough. It’s 20 games in and it’s not like they have a better option. Odorizzi, Lynn, Chatwood, Darvish have had their struggles and all would have costed a ton more and a draft pick. Everyone was saying that about Solarte and he actually turned out pretty nice once he got his chance and was able to find consistency. Bryan is no different and Balsley just needs time. If they can give Luis Perdomo two seasons, they can let Bryan go the distance in 2018.
13 million (over 4 years or 40 years) for a player who stinks is foolish. The more he plays the more he hurts the team.