Good morning,
Sometimes there is a bad game that reminds you how many good games there have been.
You can read (here) in my game story about how the Padres just didn’t do much in last night’s 5-1 loss to the Mariners.
There have not been a lot of nights where the Padres have been unable to string together enough hits to score enough runs or where their starting pitcher didn’t keep them in the game.
Both happened last night.
It was just the seventh time the Padres have failed to score at least two runs, tied for ninth fewest such games in the major leagues.
It was just the sixth time their starting pitcher has allowed five or more runs in a game, which is tied for eighth-fewest in the majors.
As a result, they fell to 27-16, which is the third-best record in MLB.
Not so different
The results were drastically worse.
But it really did not seem Stephen Kolek was all that bad.
His first pitch of the game was hit into the seats by J.P. Crawford. In the fourth inning, Kolek sent a sweeper to the wrong side of the plate and a little high that Rowdy Tellez sent to the seats. And Cal Raleigh homered on a fastball that was probably a little high but on the edge of the plate in the sixth inning.
“I mean, they had three good swings,” Kolek said. “Ambushed the first one, hit a mistake on the second one, and thought I executed the third one but he put a good swing on and was able to hit it out.”
Save for those three balls, Kolek mostly went about his first start at Petco Park as he had in shutting out the Pirates for 5⅔ innings on May 4 and throwing a complete game shutout against the Rockies a week ago.
He seemed to be no worse for the wear after throwing 104 pitches against the Rockies, the most he had ever thrown in a professional game.
He allowed five other hits, was ahead most of the night and threw strikes 65% of the time last night.
He continued to work efficiently, though not as effectively. The Mariners were the best-hitting team (by far) of the three he has faced.
Kolek entered last night having finished 26 of the 52 plate appearances against him in three or fewer pitches. And all but three of those 26 batters made outs.
Last night, 11 of 23 plate appearances against him were over in three or fewer pitches. But the Mariners got a hit in six of those 11, including all three home runs.
Said Kolek: “They obviously probably had a plan coming in against me.”
J-Hey left out again
Jason Heyward was not the Padres left fielder for the second straight game against a right-handed starter.
He had sat just once in the 18 games for which he was healthy when the Padres faced a righty.
You can pretty much count on Heyward having started last night if he were hitting .250 instead of .173 and reaching base at, say a .330 clip instead of the .226 he is now.
But the past two opposing starters were also good pitchers to let Brandon Lockridge hit against.
Kyle Hendricks, the Angels’ starter on Wednesday, was not appreciably better against right-handed batters. And Logan Evans, who started for the Mariners last night, entered the game with severe reverse splits. (Right-handed batters had an average 93 points higher against Evans than left-handed batters did, and right-handers had a .908 OPS against him, which was 344 points higher than those that hit from the left side.)
Lockridge was 1-for-4 Wednesday and 0-for-3 last night. He still is batting .250 with a .300 on-base percentage against right-handers (versus .192/.250 against lefties). For a hint regarding as to whether the Padres think Lockridge currently is the full-time answer in left field, consider that Tyler Wade pinch-hit for him against a righty in the ninth inning last night.
Tonight’s Mariners starter, Emerson Hancock, has fairly even splits, though left-handed batters reach base and slug at a higher rate than right-handed batters. If Heyward were to sit tonight, then we have a story.
But for those thinking Heyward might be released sooner than later, here is a reminder that he is valued for a lot more than his ability to get on base. He cannot continue to be such a void in the lineup and remain a part of the roster for long, but the Padres are winning far more than losing and like what he adds to the team’s makeup.
Heyward has played in 1,819 games since his rookie year in 2010, and he has been to the postseason in 10 of his 15 seasons. Players volunteer regularly about bits of wisdom he provides in the clubhouse or nuggets about an opposing pitcher or a game situation he es on in the dugout.
“Effectively, this guy has been on a winning team ever since he was eight years old,” manager Mike Shildt said. “He has won a World Series. … He’s on our team, he’s contributing to our team in a lot of different ways and a lot of ways that people won’t see but I get the privilege to see, and those move the needle and help us win games. And ultimately that’s what he and we are here for.”
Did his job
I have pointed out when a reliever or multiple relievers have kept a game close in the middle innings of a game the Padres came back to win. I have written extensively about how good the back end of the bullpen has been. I often mention a reliever’s scoreless streak in the “Tidbits” section of the newsletter.
But by and large, we tend to overlook relief pitchers unless they blow or endanger a lead.
Relievers arguably have the hardest job in the sport, and we don’t pay much attention to them unless they stink or are a closer. (Even a good closer, we generally take for granted.)
So as part of an effort to be better about that, I talked with Sean Reynolds after his 2⅔ scoreless innings last night.
What Reynolds did was something that usually is appreciated only internally. But it is appreciated by coaches and teammates because it can have a lasting impact.
He saved his colleagues from having to work.
“I think it’s just a mentality thing, honestly,” Reynolds said after striking out four and walking two. “We might not win this specific game that I’m in, but your job is to throw up zeros in the bullpen no matter what the situation of the game is. And if I can help take some heat off the back-end guys for the next two days and still come out with a series win if we’re close tomorrow and Sunday, then I feel like I contributed to those two wins as well.
“And it was only 5-0. This lineup is more than capable of putting up a five-spot in the one inning. … You never know what happens in baseball. So it’s just about getting the guys back in the dugout as quick as possible and just try to pound the zone as much as I can and try to steal some of the momentum back our way. … I was just trying to do a job, give us a chance tomorrow. Now we got all four or five or six of our dudes up and ready.”
Last night was Reynolds’ third appearance since being activated off the injured list on May 7. The first two were at Coors Field, and he allowed five runs between them.
“I think it’ just getting back into the regular season flow,” he said. “That was, including the rehab outings, seven appearances now this season. It was kind of like had my spring training — quote, unquote — in Triple-A during my rehab assignment. So just getting back into a nice flow.”
Tidbits
- Jake Cronenworth doubled and tripled last night and is batting .355 (11-for-31) with a .500 on-base percentage during a 10-game on-base streak.
- Cronenworth’s triple was his first of the season but 25th of his career, sixth most in the majors since 2020. He moved into a tie with Tim Flannery and Brian Giles for eighth on the Padres’ all-time list.
- Manny Machado’s 14-game hitting streak, the second longest of his career, ended with his going 0-for-4 last night.
- Wandy Peralta relieved Kolek and stranded a runner in the sixth inning and went on to work 1⅓ innings without allowing a run. That ended a streak of three games in which he allowed at least two runs and surrendered a total of 10 (plus the four inherited runners he allowed to score).
- Luis Arraez had his league-leading eighth game with at least three hits. He is batting just .298 because he has had 14 hitless games. And that is partially explainable by the fact his .286 batting average on balls in play is almost 40 points lower than any other season.
- Jackson Merrill was 0-for-4 for the third consecutive game. This stretch s for three of the four games this season in which he doesn’t have a hit. He is still batting .389 (28-for-72) in 18 games.
- Tellez is a decent hitter — sort of dangerous but also not dangerous enough to prevent him from being let go each of the past two offseasons. Padres fans, however, might understandably think he is one of the best hitters in baseball. Last night was his fifth home run in 69 career at-bats against them. Tellez has a .233 average and .737 OPS in his career. He has hit .333 with a .990 OPS in 21 games against the Padres while playing for four teams.
All right, that’s it for me.
Yes, this was a shorter newsletter. There just wasn’t all that much interesting about last night. That happens from time to time over 162 games. Normally, we would dive into Cronenworth continuing to be hot. But we talked about that in Thursday’s newsletter.
So, talk to you tomorrow.
