Padres head to Texas for first road trip in 2021
Credit: MLB Logos
After starting the season with a record of 4-3, the San Diego Padres will begin their first road trip of the year by traveling to Arlington, Texas, where they’ll face the Rangers.
Globe Life Park in Arlington is where Slam Diego began with the 3-0 grand slam off the bat of Fernando Tatis Jr., He will not be playing this series while he is on the injured list with a shoulder subluxation. On a worse note, Globe Life Park is also where the Padres’ season ended in the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
An interesting note about Globe Life Park this season is that they are allowing 100% fan capacity for all home games. Not only will this be the first time the Padres play in front of opposing fans in a regular-season game since 2019, but there is also a chance it will be at full capacity. The Rangers sold-out opening day, but their next game only saw an attendance of 18,000 fans, which is still more than most ballparks are allowing as of now.
Many experts and fans projected the Rangers to finish with the worst record in the American League before the season. Texas finished with one of the worst records in the AL in 2020 and then traded away their ace, Lance Lynn, this offseason.
Despite the projections, the Rangers are 3-3 to start the season. In their first series, they took one of three from the Kansas City Royals. They followed that up by taking the series against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The projected pitchers for the San Diego Padres will be Joe Musgrove(6 IP, 0 ER), Chris Paddack(4 IP, 2 ER), and Adrian Morejon(4 IP, 2 ER).
They will be going up against RHP Kohei Arihara(5 IP, 6 ER), RHP Jordan Lyles(5.2 IP, 2 ER), and RHP Mike Foltynewicz(4 IP, 4 ER), respectively.
Each pitcher for both teams will be making their second starts of 2021.
A struggling Padres’ offense will certainly be looking to take advantage of the weak Rangers’ pitching staff. In the last four games, the Padres only scored a combined eight runs. In the Rangers’ first four games, they allowed at least six runs each time. However, the Rangers only allowed a combined five runs in their two most recent games.
Both teams will get the day off on Thursday before beginning the series on Friday.
First pitch on Friday will be at 5:05 PT, Saturday will be at 4:05 PT, while Sunday’s early start time will be at 11:35 a.m. PT.
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Saturday’s broadcast will also be on ESPN+ if you prefer.
Dominic is a graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, with a bachelor’s degree in Sports Journalism. He also is the producer and co-host of the “Padres EVT Podcast.”
We sure aren’t playing like a World Series contending team. Maybe a road trip will get us going. Was our approach to spring training not good? We’re we not ready for the start of the regular season?
Overall, I’ve liked our pitching. I wish we’d pitch to contact more and get our starters deeper into the games. Strikeouts are great but all of our pitchers are above 80 pitches by the 4th and 5th innings. Talk about wearing out the bullpen.
Our hitters have not been good overall. We are watching way too many good pitches until they’re behind and swinging at the pitches they shouldn’t. I understand being selective and making the other pitchers throw strikes. But, when they are throwing strikes, you can’t let that first pitch fastball go down the middle of the plate only to battle from behind the rest of the at bat. Selective means swinging at the good pitches whenever they’re thrown and laying off the bad pitches. Streaky hitting has plagued us. I hope the coaches will work with the youngsters and teach them how to cut down on their swings. A single with runners in scoring position is a great thing. Always swinging for the fences will get you a substandard batting average and a trip to the minors.
The patient approach definitely bailed the Padres after the first three games. Same thing happened last year early, but the boys rebounded. They have also been hitting the ball hard. XBA(expected batting average) was way higher than the Giants this week, but the ball never found the ground. They’ll be fine.