The San Diego Padres surpassed all expectations a year ago and became baseball’s Cinderella story before falling short on the season’s final day. Will we see the same storyline play out this year with a less talented roster consistently outperforming the “experts” opinions? Let’s look at the San Diego Padres season preview.
Projected Lineup:
- Cameron Maybin (CF)
- Orlando Hudson (2B)
- Chase Headley (3B)
- Ryan Ludwick (LF)
- Brad Hawpe (1B)
- Jason Bartlett (SS)
- Nick Hundley (C)
- Will Venable (RF)
Projected Rotation
- Matt Latos
- Clayton Richard
- Tim Stauffer
- Wade LeBlanc
- Aaron Harang
Strengths:
Youth: San Diego sports a good mix of unproven young players and average, hard-nosed veterans. With Cameron Maybin (career 548 ABs), Will Venable (career 795 ABs) and Nick Hundley (career 727 ABs) the Padres have room to grow in their lineup and look to suprise us again. Hawpe hit .288 and averaged 25 homers and 93 RBIs per year from 2006-09, but looked lost in Tampa after a mid-season trade. Should Hawpe prove incapable of hitting outside of Coors, Kyle Blanks may get a shot. Blanks has as much raw power as Willy Mo Pena but, with only 250 Major League at bats and having grown into first base, he may be stuck behind a veteran with little to offer.
Latos: Matt Latos is a strength of this team regardless of the depth of the other starting pitchers. We knew Latos would have a good 2010 but, no one expected a 2.92 ERA (10th in NL), 1.08 WHIP (T-4th in NL), or over a SO/IP. Latos is young, just turned 23, and promises to be at the top of the Padres rotation for the forseeable future.
Bullpen: The Padres bullpen surprised us all in 2010. Heath Bell held down the closer’s role with 47 saves and a 1.93 ERA. Luke Gregorson (3.22 ERA) and Mike Adams (1.76 ERA) proved capable set up men for a bullpen which ranked as the majors best. They return much of the same cast and look to maintain the momentum from a year ago.
Weaknesses:
ADRIAN!!!!!: Excuse the Rocky reference but, much like the boxer, the Padres are nothing without Adrian. There is no pop in this lineup, and nobody that opposing pitchers will pitch around. This lineup has a chance to be really, historically bad without a true middle of the order threat.
Pitching Depth: Beyond Latos, the Padres have little in the way of starting pitching. Clayton Richard is a very tall left handed pitcher which is nice but, when he pitches ineffectively in 2011, I won’t be surprised. Who is Wade LeBlanc? And points go to the one who can figure out Tim Stauffer’s best pitch.
Did I mention that an Adrian Gonzalez-less lineup could be really really bad?
The Padres may want to read up on Lindsay Lohan by mid summer to make themselves feel better
Storylines:
Magic: With a look at the amazingly average lineup and below average starting pitching, why is this team still on some people’s radar? They surprised us all in 2010 and to make us experts (yes, I’m an expert now. When you start your own blog you can call yourself an expert) look foolish again in 2011 would bring great satisfaction to manager Bud Black. Look for them to capture some of the magic that had them inexplicably in first place through much of the summer.
No longer a Puppy: Latos is no longer the young pup the Padres protected at times last year. Remember the phantom elbow injury in early July? Latos looks to move into a fully dominant Major League ace who takes the ball every fifth day and gives his team a great chance to win.
Superstar: The Padres could be really really bad on offense in 2010 without Adrian Gonzalez …o…. right…. I already said that.
Prediction:
77-85, 4th Place, NL West. The Padres have the pitching staff to compete and win close games and enough veteran predictable production to avoid being really bad but I look for them to have no spark or excitement around the team. I think 77 wins is a fair estimate for a team who won 90 a year ago but lost their best player. The Padres will be out of the NL West race shortly after the All-Star break and may turn to their younger prospects or trade away Heath Bell as they fall out of contention.
Bold Prediction:
- Cameron Maybin will finally check in on his immense talent and prove a serviceable Major Leaguer. Not Bold you say? I say serviceable is a major upgrade over a career .692 OPS and losing your job to a 20 year old RF.
- Kyle Blanks will get a chance to prove what he can do. He will not disappoint. Slugging 24 home runs and 92 RBIs.
- They do an anti-humidor in San Diego. Actually, they will just move the fences in.
- Tim Stauffer figures out what his best pitch is. He settles on the gyroball. Throwing exclusively gyroballs, Stauffer shuts down the Rockies in the now smaller PetCo Park for a 53 pitch no hitter.
And Now for Something Completely Different:
I watched the opening quarter of the Knicks game last night. I was really more impressed with Walt “Clyde” Frazier’s jacket than the reception ‘Melo got. Though the montage they
Where do you buy something like this? Is this like Seinfeld's puffy shirt?
played for Melo to I’m Coming Home did get me ready to play. The Knicks looked both lost and really good at times last night, which should be expected as Chauncey Billups and Anthony started hours after meeting their new teammates.
P.S. What ever happened to Andrew Bogut? And since when are the Bucks a basketball team? I thought they were a football team. Oh, they’re both and the Milwaukee Bucks haven’t been good in a long time? Oh, they have won zero division title since I’ve been alive? Oh, ok.
Jerry Seinfeld really makes me laugh. Who knew socks could be this funny?
Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan are completely crazy.
Keep up with your current events.
Do you have boils?
-Sean Morash
As always questions, comments and concerns can be sent to offthebench@offthebenchbaseball.com
