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At 9-20, the San Diego Padres are currently the only thing keeping the 12-15 Rockies from the NL West cellar. Their record, combined with the fact that the Rockies always seem to play well at Petco, spells relief for the Rockies, who are coming off of a rough homestand. As was the case a few weeks ago when we last saw them, several gaping holes in the Padres' lineup are holding them back, and now they're also suffering from a new plague, and that is the injury bug. Recently, they lost their best starter (Cory Luebke, 133 ERA+) and best reliever (Huston Street, 385 ERA+) to injury, and traded their second best reliever (Ernesto Frieri, 154 ERA+) to the Angels. Tonight's starter is the best of the remaining rotation options for the Friars, but there's no telling how long he'll be able to stay on the mound.
Seemingly healthy for the first time since 2008 when he won 17 games for the Reds and struck out 206 batters in 196 innings, Volquez is maintaining a BB/9 ratio of less than five - something he also hasn't done since '08. While many predicted pitching in Petco would help him resurrect his career, his ability to limit the damage by keeping the ball in the zone at least somewhat effectively has resulted in a successful campaign, albeit only a month into the season. The biggest question going forward isn't his stuff, but rather whether or not he'll be able to stay healthy. He has only pitched 221 innings across 41 starts over the past three seasons, and while his control hasn't been good during that time (5.4 BB/9), he has still been able to strike out almost a batter per inning. If Volquez's arm stays firmly attached to his body, he should have a good season in San Diego. The fact that his control has been better may be a testament to his health, and that's good news for the Padres' future plans.
Chase Headley has continued to be a pain in the backside of his opponents, including but not limited to the Rockies. However, Headley hasn't been able to handle good pitching well. Consider this: in games against teams that are below .500, Headley's OPS+ is a healthy 159. However, against teams better than .500, he's sitting at a paltry 55 OPS+. Granted, there are a lot of players in baseball (good ones, as a matter of fact) that feast on bad teams, but Headley's splits are pretty egregious in that category. It may be something to watch going forward.
Other than Headley, Yonder Alonso is San Diego's only above-average player, and that's almost solely on the strength of his ten doubles, as he still hasn't hit a homer in a Padres uniform. They've gotten help off the bench from Chris Denorfia (137 OPS+ in 67 PA's) and Mark Kotsay (124 OPS+ in 32 PA's), but at least one of those guys is playing on borrowed time, and neither are likely to sustain that sort of production even in limited action.
The bullpen is getting interesting, with the injuries and trades that have occurred causing the team to shuffle some people around. They're currently deciding on who they want to close games while Street is on the DL, and the favorite appears to be Andrew Cashner, who throws unbelievably hard (repeatedly hitting triple digits). However, he doesn't strike out as many batters as a guy of his type should, and issues way too many walks to be a closer. Currently, his walk and strikeout rates are identical, each sitting at 7.9 per nine innings.
Head over to Gaslamp Ball for more on the Padres.
Projected starters and more after the jump...
Tonight at 8:05 PM MT: Drew Pomeranz (0-1, 4.05 ERA) vs. Edinson Volquez (0-2, 2.92 ERA)
Tomorrow at 8:05 PM MT: Alex White (0-0, 0.00) vs. Jeff Suppan (1-0, 0.00)
Wednesday at 1:35 PM MT: Christian Friedrich (0-0, 0.00) vs. Anthony Bass (1-3, 3.51)