After dropping their sixth straight game against the Colorado Rockies on April 14, the San Diego Padres sat in the cellar of the National League West with a 2-10 record and honestly looked like one of the worst teams in baseball.
Chase Headley was on the disabled list, and the team's other offensive threat, Carlos Quentin, was beginning a lengthy suspension for bull-rushing Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke in a fracas at Petco Park. Yasmani Grandal, who absolutely killed the Rockies a year ago, was at the beginning of a 50-game PED ban. Cameron Maybin, who showed such promise a couple of years ago, was mired in a 2-for-30 slump to start the season.
All of that basically left rookie infielder Jedd Gyorko -- whom Rockies pitchers, most notably Jeff Francis, were making look silly on a nightly basis -- and light-hitting shortstop Everth Cabrera as the team's best offensive threats.
Things have changed quite a bit since then.
The Padres have gone 26-22 since their awful start and, at 28-32, are only three and a half games behind the second-place Rockies and Giants in the division. Gyorko and Cabrera own two of the three highest OPS+ marks on the team (at 122 and 121, respectively), and Quentin is back and leading the charge offensively with a 132 OPS+.
San Diego has also received boosts from Headley, who has a 104 OPS+ and is still trying to get back to form, and Kyle Blanks, who has a 131 OPS+ in limited action. This is not a team that will out-homer anybody; their leading home run hitters are Gyorko and Will Venable, both of whom have hit seven long balls. However, they can small-ball teams to death and have a couple of very good bullpen options that come in handy in close games.
Leading the small-ball movement is Cabrera, who has turned into a legitimate on-base threat, which is significant because of his ability to steal bases. Cabrera is tied for the NL lead with 26 thefts after leading the circuit with 44 a year ago. He also leads the team in walks with 28 and is tied for the league lead with seven sacrifice hits. Cabrera does possess a little bit of pop, to his credit; he's slugging a respectable .402 thanks to 16 extra-base hits.
The bullpen is anchored by a couple of guys who have seemingly been Padres relievers for years. Luke Gregerson is pitching at an All-Star level, boasting a 0.94 ERA/385 ERA+ while allowing just 13 hits while striking out 23 batters in 28 ⅔ innings. Lefty specialist Joe Thatcher is still there and pitching well, too. He has 13 strikeouts and just two walks in 17 ⅓ innings en route to a 1.85 ERA/235 ERA+.
The performance of those guys has helped soften the blow of an uninspiring job done by the starting rotation, which doesn't have a single guy with an ERA+ of 100 or better. Padres starters have given up an alarming 55 home runs. Comparatively, Rockies starters have only surrendered 29 taters. Despite allowing 10 home runs and posting a very poor walk rate, former Rockie Jason Marquis has a 7-2 record. Guy just wins, I guess.
Andrew Cashner is probably the rotation's closest thing to a good pitcher, although another former Rockie, Eric Stults, has certainly cemented his claim as the staff's ace. Cashner, despite having a fastball that often clocks in at triple-digits, strikes out fewer than seven batters per nine innings, but does a good job of limiting walks and hits. Stults is the best of the bunch at keeping walks and home runs down and has a 3.74 ERA, second best on the staff, but all that is still only good for an ERA+ of 96.
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Probable pitchers
Game 1: Thursday, June 6 at 6:40 p.m. MT (ROOT Sports) -- Padres win, 6-5, in 10 innings
W: Luke Gregerson (4-2); L: Manny Corpas (0-1); S: Brad Boxberger (1)
Game 2: Friday, June 7 at 6:40 p.m. MT (ROOT Sports)
Edinson Volquez (4-5, 5.35 ERA) vs. Jorge De La Rosa (7-3, 3.10 ERA)
Game 3: Saturday, June 8 at 5:15 p.m. MT (FOX) -- click here for a coverage map
Eric Stults (4-5, 3.74) vs. TBA
Game 4: Sunday, June 9 at 2:10 p.m. MT (ROOT Sports)
Clayton Richard (1-5, 8.38) vs. Juan Nicasio (4-2, 4.76)
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