Padres Organization Players of the Week: September 23-29

Here are the standout performers in the Padres organization for the last week of the season.

MLB Batter: Manny Machado

This was a fitting end to Machado’s first season in a Padres uniform. When he was signed, excitement exploded across the Padres fan base and the city of San Diego. He put his abilities on full display one last time this season with a solid week to end the year. He hit .545 with two home runs and a double in the weekend series against the Diamondbacks. Despite the Padres finishing the season with a flop and a six-game losing streak, Machado was still putting up numbers and playing solid defense.

He went deep last night.

He just went deep again.

No. 3️⃣2️⃣ for Manny Machado!#FriarFaithful pic.twitter.com/JZvRqwmaFP

— Bally Sports San Diego (@BallySportsSD) September 29, 2019

Machado finishes his first year with the Padres with numbers that are not up to his standard, and he even admitted such. He finished with 32 home runs, a .256 average and .796 OPS. He is poised for a big year in 2020 after taking a year to adjust to a new ballpark, a new league, and new opponents. He is one of the clear leaders on this team and this week; he showed the team that despite the losing season, that’s no excuse to quit and mail it in.

MLB Pitcher: Joey Lucchesi

Lucchesi ended his season on a high note. This was supposed to be a year where Lucchesi took a step forward and by most accounts, he did. According to the Baseball-Reference Game Score metric, this week was Lucchesi’s seventh-best start among his 30 starts this year. He finished the year with a 4.18 ERA, a 4.17 FIP and a 101 ERA+. He improved from his 4.31 FIP and 94 ERA+ last season. He went toe-to-toe with Clayton Kershaw in his final start, holding the two-time defending N.L. champion Dodgers to one run over six innings.

Close the book on Joey Lucchesi's 2019:

6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 Ks (79 pitches, 50 strikes)

He would not have given up a run had Hedges held onto Urias' relay from shortstop in the top of the sixth.

— Jeff Sanders (@sdutSanders) September 26, 2019

In his last two starts of the year, he struck out 13 in 10 total innings while allowing four runs. He allowed three runs or less in eight of his final nine starts this year. Lucchesi will be part of the Padres rotation going forward, especially if he shows he can take an additional step forward next year.

With that, the Padres season ends. It was not what the Padres hoped, but overall, it was an improvement from 2018. The veteran players on this team are hungry for this franchise to take a big leap in 2020.

Nick Lee

Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.