Padres’ Chris Paddack Emerging as Potential Star
The San Diego Padres are excited with the growth of Chris Paddack as he has the stuff to be very special.
Although the San Diego Padres had several breakout seasons from minor leaguers this year, one pitcher emerged as a potential star.
Chris Paddack, a 22-year-old RHP from Austin, Texas, took the league (and Lake Elsinore) by “Storm” in 2018.
Padres general manager A.J. Preller made one of his best trades in 2016, sending closer Fernando Rodney to the Marlins in exchange for Paddack.
To be honest, this season wasn’t much of a breakout for Paddack, since he’s been dealing throughout his professional career. Since Paddack’s first minor league season in 2015, he has posted an absurd 1.82 ERA.
After missing nearly 21 months due to Tommy John surgery in 2017, Paddack returned stronger than ever. The 22-year-old gave up one run or less in 12 of 17 starts in 2018. Paddack also struck out at least seven batters in his first nine starts of 2018.In three of those games he struck out a total of 10 batters.
The most impressive thing about Paddack’s season?
Since he was promoted to Double-A San Antonio, he got even better. Although his strikeout rate dropped, Paddack posted a 1.91 ERA since his promotion. The young right hander gave up only one home run in seven Double-A starts this 2018 season.
Personally, my favorite aspect of Paddack’s game is his absurdly low number of walks allowed. In 17 starts, and 90 innings, Paddack walked only eight batters in 2018. Paddack has a career WHIP of 0.800, which is unprecedented in this time. This stellar command is rare for someone who’s fastball can reach up to 96 mph. Paddack’s best pitch is his changeup, which has been known to fool hitters at 82 mph.
Paddack will be 23 years old in January, and possibly competing for a spot in the Padres 2019 rotation at some point.
After an awful 2018 season, the San Diego Padres missed the postseason for the 12th straight year. The time has come to avoid signing mediocre veterans and migrate towards youth. Imagine a Padres 2019 rotation consisting of Dinelson Lamet, Joey Lucchesi, Matt Strahm, Eric Lauer, and Chris Paddack. Hot lava talent is coming sooner than Padres fans expected.
Gavin is a San Diego native and former collegiate baseball player. He recently graduated from the University of Arizona and has followed the Padres his entire life. Gavin’s writing style emphasizes statistical analysis and player development. He looks forward to covering the Padres and their bright future.
We have enough good young pitchers to fill a rotation. There is no need to trade away top farm talent (or spend huge $$) to get a Chris Archer type. I hope Preller doesn’t make this mistake. As a Padres fan, I would love to see Paddack, Allen, and Quantrill pitch in 2019.
Hey James, below William mentions Anderson Espinoza, I haven’t heard any news on him in quite a while. Do you know how is recovery from TJS is going?
If Anderson Espinosa is able to join the ranks and pitch next year, wow. It’s inevitable that some of these “can’t miss” prospects just don’t pan out. But a superstar pitcher, or 2 or 3, is just as likely at this point. Praying for health and success for all these kids.
The best part of Paddack is that he already has the inevitable Tommy John surgery out of the way. For him to pitch the way he did this season in his 1st year back from Tommy John was crazy. If he “gets stronger” as most pitchers say in year two after the surgery, sky is the limit for this guy!
Lamet won’t be ready in 2019. He wasn’t that great (ERA 4.57). Logan Allen and Quantril and Nix will be in the mix.
Looks like the padres will have a great future ahead of them in terms of young talent . Excited to see what Chris Paddack has to offer for the new season. Should be a good year.
Avoid signing mediocre veterans? Too late! Hosmer is here for another 7 years.