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The Opposing Viewpoint: San Diego Padres

By Jessica Bader | June 5th, 2008

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Welcome back to The Opposing Viewpoint, the place to learn more about the Mets’ opponents from the bloggers who write about them. The Mets began their West Coast road trip by taking two out of three from the Giants and now head down to San Diego for four games. The Padres were expected to be in the thick of a highly competitive NL West, but this has not been the case. Today’s guest, Geoff Young of Ducksnorts (and various other baseball sites), explores some of the reasons why and tells us what he hopes to see the team do in order to build for the future.

Last year, San Diego’s offense performed quite well away from Petco (the Padres were one of only four NL teams to score more than five runs per game on the road). This year, there’s little difference between the offense’s home and road performance, and when the home games are at baseball’s most pitcher-friendly park, that’s a bad thing. Why is this year’s team failing where its predecessor succeeded?

I’ve been asking myself the same question for two months now. Jim Edmonds is a broken-down old man — or at least he was while the Padres were burning $6 million in his honor — but even the most conservative projections had him producing at least something. Also, we’ve got a few guys in their physical prime — notably Josh Bard and Khalil Greene — who went from slightly better than league average to complete sinkholes for no discernible reason. I’m at a loss to explain it. No team in baseball had more extra-base hits on the road in 2007, and now the Padres effectively are running a two-man offense, with Adrian Gonzalez and Brian Giles being the only real contributors. I wish I had a better answer but I’m still baffled by the whole thing.

Injuries have been a significant problem for the Padres this year, especially the ones that have landed their top two starting pitchers on the DL. What’s the latest news on Jake Peavy and Chris Young?

Peavy threw 45 pitches off a mound on Wednesday and reported no pain. The current plan, as I understand it, is to have him throw again on Saturday either in a simulated game or a minor-league rehab start and then get him back in the rotation before the end of the homestand. Young’s situation is much less certain. Anytime you start talking about skull fractures and preventing brain infection, that’s not good. I’m not aware of any timetable for his return.

Trevor Hoffman has excellent strikeout and walk rates this year, but his ERA is rather high and he already has three blown saves. Is this a stretch of bad luck, or is the 40-year-old all-time saves leader nearing the end of the line?

Some of it has been bad luck — he gave up four runs in his second appearance of the year after a ball glanced off Adrian Gonzalez’s glove that would have ended the game — but mostly it’s been a case of diminished command. He just isn’t as consistent now as he’s been over the past 15 years. He has stretches where he pitches very well, but the hiccups in between are a little more pronounced these days. Also, left-handed hitters are destroying him, which is a bad sign for a guy whose trademark pitch is his change-up. It’s a credit to Hoffman that he’s managed to survive almost exclusively on guile for years, but I’m afraid the end is near.

Before the start of the season, many pundits saw the NL West as one of the stronger divisions in baseball, with four of the five teams expected to be in the playoff hunt. We’re a little more than a third of the way through the season, and only one team in the division currently has a winning record. How surprised are you by the division’s struggles as a whole?

I’m very surprised. We all knew the Giants weren’t going anywhere, but the rest of these teams looked legit. Sure, maybe the Rockies played over their heads toward the end of ‘07, but I don’t think anyone could have foreseen them having the worst record in baseball just seven months after playing in the World Series. Last year, 89 games was good enough for third place in the NL West. This year, that total will probably win the division with room to spare.

What moves would you like to see the Padres make over the remainder of the season to improve the team for the future?

I’d like to see Chase Headley up at some point. People locally are getting a little carried away with their expectations of him — desperation will do that — but he’s a solid prospect who doesn’t have much left to prove in the minors. Beyond that, I’m not sure there’s a lot to do right now. Maybe move some veterans who could help a contending team in the short term, but I wouldn’t expect a lot in return. I’d really like to see a strong draft.

Bonus question: What is your favorite baseball food?