With addition of Pagan and Pomeranz, Padres shorten game
Credit: USA Today Sports
The San Diego Padres may have the most dominant bullpen in all of Major League Baseball.
In the ever-evolving sport of baseball, you must be creative.
Winning teams think outside the box and do things that are deemed strange at the time. A.J. Preller thinks about the game in a different way than most. The young GM is always after an angle or a winning edge to get an advantage over his opponent.
His latest quest is to stockpile as many relief pitchers as possible.
San Diego signed Drew Pomeranz this winter via free agency and also traded for Emilio Pagan to add to a unit that was already a strength for the youthful squad. The Padres have several young relievers on the roster and even more starting pitchers who are currently major league ready. The problem (which is an excellent issue to have) is the starting rotation is full in most regards, and there are no open spots for young arms.
Here is a list of players who will compete for a bullpen spot this spring. Kirby Yates, Drew Pomeranz, Emilio Pagan, Andres Munoz, Craig Stammen, Matt Strahm, Jose Castillo, Pierce Johnson, Cal Quantrill, Michel Baez, Trey Wingenter, Luis Perdomo, David Bednar, Gerardo Reyes, Adrian Morejon, Ronald Bolanos, Javier Guerra, Jake Cronenworth, Kyle Barraclough, Jerad Eickhoff, Miguel Diaz, Pedro Avila, Travis Radke, Evan Miller, and Steven Wilson. There are also a few names that will likely be added in the coming weeks, and I might have missed a name or two in the system. This unit is deep and full of unproven young arms. The bullpen will be a strength for the 2020 San Diego Padres.
Chris Paddack, Dinelson Lamet and the rest of the rotation is not a group that will go traditionally deep into games. In 2019, the Padres only had a few starters make it past the seventh inning during their start. More often than not, games were given away in the middle innings.
For San Diego and their young rotation, the nine-inning game is now shortened. If a starting pitcher holds his opponent and gathers a lead in the contest, he will likely earn a win that day. Six innings with a lead will almost assuredly result in a victory for the Padres, and that will improve their overall record.
A.J. Preller and his staff created a competitive edge for the San Diego Padres. With such a competent bullpen and an extraordinary amount of depth, the 2020 season will be a year in which the Padres showcase their dominant bullpen to the baseball community.
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.
Yes the bullpen has been improved. Although if we had just kept Kimbrel, Hand and Cimber we might have been better off, especially as the players we received in those trades have mostly bombed.
The problem is defense, as Preller does not appreciate, or apparently even understand, defense. Over the last couple of years his moves have made us worse at 1B (Myers > Hosmer), 2B (Garcia/Kinsler > Profar), LF (Myers > Pham), RF ( Renfroe > Myers, although this one is iffy),CF (Margot/Jankowski > Grisham) and C (Hedges > Mejia).
I do believe we have the strongest and deepest bullpen in baseball. Between it and our up and coming starters, this good be a very interesting year. I believe the experience of our new pitching coach will help them better compete and grow.
We have the players in place to be a great infield and an adequate outfield. I hope they will be focused each inning to provide the support our pitching staff needs to excel. The offense hasn’t lived up to expectations. I hope the new manager and clubhouse presences will help pull everyone together and push them to a better and surprising competitive season.
I do like getting Pagán but am worried about OF defense. Good D is so important especially with SP who an use all the help they can get (and the confidence of a good D behind them).