Padres Series Preview: Padres Take On Dodgers in Last Home Series of 2016
The 2016 MLB season is winding down to it’s last few days. As a San Diego Padres fan that really is quite a relief.
Let’s face it this season is not what any team would hope for.
Ironically enough now with the organization’s top higher-level prospects up it is actually quite a let down that the season is coming to a close. Especially when they have been performing quite. The Padres themselves have been looking solid as of late. In their most recent series they would take two out of three games from the San Francisco Giants.
While the Giants are a crumbling organization, I would still consider it quite a feat. Especially when you consider that the Friars would start off the season 0-9 against them. Well the Padres now move on to face the Giants biggest rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Padres and Dodgers will square off in the last series at Petco Park in 2016. These two teams started the 2016 season with a series at Petco Park in April. The Dodgers would of course obliterate the Padres and outscore them 25-0 throughout that series.
Since then the teams have split four series. The Padres do actually have quite a nice chance to cap off this 2016 with some hope for the fans. The Dodgers have absolutely no pressure in this series. They have already clinched the National League West title. Because of this we could be seeing some unfamiliar faces getting the nod for the Dodgers in the next few days. This could make way for quite an exciting series between the division rivals. I would highly encourage anyone to head out and catch a game in person.
Pitching Matchups
Jose De Leon vs Paul Clemens 7:10 p.m.
Kenta Maeda vs Luis Perdomo 7:10 p.m.
TBA vs Christian Friedrich 6:10 p.m.
The pitching matchups for this series are quite interesting. First we will see rookie Jose De Leon take on Paul Clemens. De Leon is one of the Dodgers top pitching prospects as of right now. He has looked solid in his first few MLB starts going undefeated at 2-0. However his ERA is not really impressive at 5.52. Paul Clemens and the Padres will have a solid chance in this first game. While De Leon has pitched well, he has definitely proven to be hitable. If Paul Clemens can stay consistent with his recent performances the Padres will most certainly be in line for a W. Clemens has not allowed an earned run in his last two starts. He has also held a 3.07 ERA in his last three performances. While Clemens is highly unstable, I feel like he can give the Padres a fighting chance in the series opener. Overall though I do see a lot of runs coming to kick off this series.
The second game of the series should bring us the best pitching matchup of the series. Who would have thought that after the 2016 opening series between these two teams. Kenta Maeda of course made an absolute joke of the Padres in his first MLB outing. Maeda even manage to hit his first major league home run in that game. Luis Perdomo was then a struggling relief pitcher who looked like he would not last on the team. Now Perdomo has proven to be one of the better rule-5 draft picks of 2016. Since becoming a starter, the sinker ball pitcher has had one of the best ground ball rates in MLB. He has also looked solid in his last three starts posting a 3.60 ERA. Overall Perdomo has proven to be one of the best Padres pitchers this season, posting a 3.99 ERA in the second half of the season. We could be in for a nice low scoring pitching duel in this one.
Christian Friedrich will take the mound in the series finale. The lefty will be facing an unknown opponent as of right now. Friedrich has been great as of late to much surprise. The former Rockie had surpassed his innings limit on the season and seems to have gotten better after that. The lefty has really looked sharp in his last three starts. Going 1-1 with a solid 2.84 ERA and 21 strikeouts. Hopefully Friedrich and the Padres can send the fans home happy to cap off this season at Petco Park. This should be a competitive and exciting series.
Players To Watch
Friars Future
The future is now Friar faithful. The Padres core three are up and running in the major leagues. The potential future of the franchise has started their journey in the show. All of them have looked solid so far except for Carlos Asuaje. Asuaje has struggled in his first few at bats. Hopefully he can pick it up and get off to a nice start to his career. Hunter Renfroe really seems to have found his groove, already having picked up his first MLB home run. Manuel Margot would come a dinger shy of hitting for the cycle in his last game. Margot really seems to be off to a great start as well. I really think that he will pick up his first home run in this series. These kids seemed to be destined for greatness in this organization. Let’s also not forget that there are still some gems within the organization like Luis Urias. Be excited to be a Padres fan, there are great times ahead of us. This is the beginning of the rebirth of this franchise, this is where the Padres will start their path to success. With these three just the beginning of what is to come. Make sure to go out to the ballpark, or at the very least catch the games on T.V. to see what lies ahead for this franchise.
Besides the future franchise stars, definitely keep your eye on the current one. Wil Myers is ever so close to making history and becoming a member of the 30/30 club. Myers is just two stolen bases and two home runs away from accomplishing that feat. I definitely believe that Myers is capable of doing this. But he will need to at least get one of those dingers here at Petco Park. Myers has managed to turn Petco Park into his own little paradise. It’ll be interesting to see what Wil’s home numbers will be once the season concludes. As of now the Padres all-star is batting .314 at home with 18 home runs, 57 RBI, 17 SB’s and a killler .978 OPS. I expect Myers to improve on that mark in this next series. I also expect Myers to close in on those 30/30 numbers. You can really tell that Wil Myers wants this. Myers is even stealing third base and putting in a ton of effort in order to achieve this. Hopefully Myers can get into the 30/30 club in this series. But we will have to wait and see how Wil will perform. Expect great things from Myers and the Padres within this last home series. Enjoy this last series at Petco Park, Padres fans. Remember to go out to the ball park and enjoy the last series in person. Go Padres!
Francisco, 26, Chula Vista/Tijuana. I have been a Padres fan all my life, did most of the series previews and recaps in the Padres’ 2016 season for EVT. Now I focus more on the local soccer scene. Tijuana Xolos, San Diego Loyal, San Diego Wave.