Quote from fenn68 on April 10, 2023, 1:06 pm

Apparently Machado has changed his reported pre-season desire to be the #3 hitter permanently since we have been seeing him in the #2 hole. That opens the door on moving Soto to #3 (if that is where he is better and #2 is not a problem for Machado).

Would not be surprised to see the “regular” line-up set up as Tatis - Machado - Soto (L) -  Bogaerts - Cronenworth (L) - Carpenter (L)/Cruz - Kim - Grisham (L) - Nola/Campusano … with minimal juggling.

Clustering the best 4 hitters at the top of the line-up not only gets them more AB but does not open an “easier out” in that sequence … an out that can destroy a rally.

As for Cronenworth, Kim, or Grisham … need to see a lot more (over a longer time) to move them into the top four bumping one to #5 in the line-up.

Quote from BoosterSD on April 10, 2023, 1:31 pm

Quote from Henry Silvestre on April 10, 2023, 12:49 pm

Should we go after a Catcher sooner vs later... someone like Grandal would be a huge upgrade... even at the cost of 6 yrs of control for Campy... Grandal could catch everyday except for Yu/Snell days when Nola can catch.. If anything we would get that Veteran presence ..Campy/Severino nor Sullivan have...

Grandal is FA after this season.. and WhiteSox are sort of in between being a good team and a bad one.. so why not get cheaper and at least get a controllable asset behind the dish?. Thoughts?

Grandal did have a down year last year, but is starting off decent this season. He is owed a lot of money this season, $18.25M AAV. So that might be the only move that SD could make this season. And if we are giving up decent prospects, I would like to see if we could upgrade SP instead of C, especially one that walks after the season.

Plus, I doubt that CWS are ready to throw in the towel for the season.

Quote from BoosterSD on April 10, 2023, 1:40 pm

Quote from fenn68 on April 10, 2023, 1:06 pm

Clustering the best 4 hitters at the top of the line-up not only gets them more AB but does not open an “easier out” in that sequence … an out that can destroy a rally.

I prefer to see it another way. Putting all four together, allows the P to bear down for those four and then get a breather. If you spread those four out just slightly, it forces the P to concentrate longer, and wear out quicker. Yes, eventually they will get to the "weaker" hitters, but both Crone and Grisham can handle the bat, and could benefit from being sandwiched between Tatis and Machado.

Quote from Notmyopic on April 10, 2023, 3:42 pm

Quote from BoosterSD on April 10, 2023, 1:40 pm

Quote from fenn68 on April 10, 2023, 1:06 pm

Clustering the best 4 hitters at the top of the line-up not only gets them more AB but does not open an “easier out” in that sequence … an out that can destroy a rally.

I prefer to see it another way. Putting all four together, allows the P to bear down for those four and then get a breather. If you spread those four out just slightly, it forces the P to concentrate longer, and wear out quicker. Yes, eventually they will get to the "weaker" hitters, but both Crone and Grisham can handle the bat, and could benefit from being sandwiched between Tatis and Machado.

For all of baseball history this has been a fringe theory. Never has become mainstream or successful.  There is a reason why.

Quote from fenn68 on April 10, 2023, 4:55 pm

Quote from Henry Silvestre on April 10, 2023, 12:49 pm

Should we go after a Catcher sooner vs later... someone like Grandal would be a huge upgrade... even at the cost of 6 yrs of control for Campy... Grandal could catch everyday except for Yu/Snell days when Nola can catch.. If anything we would get that Veteran presence ..Campy/Severino nor Sullivan have...

Grandal is FA after this season.. and WhiteSox are sort of in between being a good team and a bad one.. so why not get cheaper and at least get a controllable asset behind the dish?. Thoughts?

I could see Grandal moved at the trade deadline IF CWS are clearly out of contention but in a division with no great team … not sooner. Given his salary … and a FA after the season … would not take a premium prospect and would only pick up about $6MM.

If you are thinking signing him as a FA after the season … remember he will be 35 (not a great age for a catcher) but will still demand a large contract at a point when when the Padres will need to address 3-4 SP, RP (Hader, Garcia FA), and a DH/upgrade bench.

I would add that somewhere in my memory banks … the Padres front office and some issues with Grandal before they traded him.

I expect Nola to get his hitting together at some point and hit to his history. What I really need to see is Campusano play more to get a definitive read on his ML quality at the bat … showing up sparingly does little to let a young player develop any offensive rhythm. For 2023 … at least the first four months … Nola/Campusano is it with likely Severino or Sullivan the call-up.

With the rest of the offense … at this point the catching should be just a “do no harm” strategy.

Quote from fenn68 on April 10, 2023, 6:21 pm

SMALL SAMPLE SIZE WARNNG! Looking at Machado v Soto in the #2 v #3 debate prior to tonight's game:

Batting 2nd:

278/316/278 (18 AB) ... Machado

138/296/318 (22 AB) ... Soto

Batting 3rd:

333/348/429 (21 AB) ... Machado

333/444/600 (15 AB) ... Soto

So for the Machado 2nd / Soto 3rd seems the preferred if combined production is factor. Note: none of the other candidates really have been in either of those slots.

I guess the question that should be asked is why the output in the #2 slot is much lower for BOTH Machado and Soto? Would think with a big hitter sitting at #3 they would get better pitches to hit and being elite hitters would capitalize. Maybe that changes with Tatis leading off.

Quote from BoosterSD on April 10, 2023, 9:03 pm

Listened briefly at lunch to the start of a show on MLB on XM, and they were talking about Padres pitching. They were playing devils advocate talking about Nick Martinez.

They were weighing the fact that Martinez is probably better suited for the bullpen, yet was promised a spot in the rotation.

Would SD be better off with Martinez in the bull pen, locking things down like last season, especially with Suarez out for an extended time. And then giving either Groome or Honeywell a rotation spot.

Or does SD keep Martinez happy, even though Martinez cant really get through 5 innings as SP.

Quote from Henry Silvestre on April 10, 2023, 10:33 pm

Quote from BoosterSD on April 10, 2023, 9:03 pm

Listened briefly at lunch to the start of a show on MLB on XM, and they were talking about Padres pitching. They were playing devils advocate talking about Nick Martinez.

They were weighing the fact that Martinez is probably better suited for the bullpen, yet was promised a spot in the rotation.

Would SD be better off with Martinez in the bull pen, locking things down like last season, especially with Suarez out for an extended time. And then giving either Groome or Honeywell a rotation spot.

Or does SD keep Martinez happy, even though Martinez cant really get through 5 innings as SP.

I'd give him 10 starts (8more) like in 2022 and see where he is at.. But if Suarez thing is a legit concern into say June.. perhaps Nick to the BP sooner.. or give Felipe/Tapia or even Moises Lugo a crack at Suarez spot until he returns.. Wilson probably the front runner to leap frog Garcia ...Pomz is starting a rehab assigment tomorrow so maybe he can help as well

Quote from Jeremy Hill on April 10, 2023, 10:38 pm

Martinez clearly wants to be a starter and signed a contract that rewards him for being one. Melvin indicated that he would probably move back to a traditional 5 man rotation after this current stretch of consecutive games. I think that means they'll give him at least 2 more starts to prove he can function effectively as a starter. His first start wasn't bad. He went 7 and would have only given up 2 runs if not for a blown double play ball. Starts like that have been the exception when he's been in the rotation. Starts like the last one have been much more common. I think he's probably the odd man out if Musgrove is back and they go to a 5 man. I think Martinez and Lugo might take turns bouncing between the rotation and the bullpen though. They'll probably want to manage Lugo's workload to keep him available and effective later in the year as he transitions back to starting.