Quote from Randy Manese on July 13, 2020, 2:28 pm

If we can get that kind of pitching efficiency from Paddack, Lamet and possibly Davies the bullpen will be in very good shape!  Glad to hear that Campy had a good AB versus Paddack - bodes well for where his mindset should be as a developing hitter.

Quote from fenn68 on July 13, 2020, 4:52 pm

Probably a "motivational" comment by Tingler ... but the underlying theme probably sets out Tingler's desire for a more well rounded catcher:

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Jeff Sanders:

Also, this was Hedges saying what Tingler told him. That wasn’t clear in the original tweet.

Quote Tweet

Austin Hedges, a good catcher, has had one thing made clear to him by #Padres manager Jayce Tingler: "If you want to make this team, you have to get on base."

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Given Hedges history ... and his age / ML time ... going to be very hard for him to change ... maybe not in 2020 but puts him a more shaky ground for 2021 considering his salary / control.

Quote from MrPadre19 on July 13, 2020, 7:13 pm

If we don’t get offense from 3 other positions the difference between Mejia and Hedges isn’t going to be enough anyway.

Are we expecting All Star offense from Mejia?

As usual I think we are discrediting what Hedges defense brings and more importantly...what his handling of the pitching staff brings.

Mejia cant hold a candle defensively to Hedges and I can assure you the Starters would prefer Hedges’ defense over Mejia’s offense.

With eight guys to provide offense I think we’re gonna see Hedges behind the plate more than it seems everyone else does.

How many defensive runs saved did he have last year?

Quote from Randy Manese on July 13, 2020, 10:30 pm

Ever since SD signed Hedges away from my alma mater, UCLA, I've been pulling for him to be successful.  If the formula for a winning season for SD this year is to get ahead early and then bring on the strong pen, then having a less than .180 hitter, even at the bottom of a line-up, will probably not get us there.  This spring, he even hit less (.150) and as much as I want to believe he could at least get on board or move runners over enough times to get Tatis more ABs, weak fly balls and strikeouts won't do it.   Not expecting Mejia to bring All Star offense but do expect him to be a whole lot more productive offensively than Hedges.  If we do get the lead, then that's the time I would bring in Hedges as the catcher "closer".   That is not to say he shouldn't start some games, but I think the majority of starts at catcher are going to go to Mejia.  The bar is not that high for catchers to contribute to an offense and I'm hoping Hedges has a hot streak in there somewhere so we can take full advantage of his defensive prowess.  I think if Hedges can get anywhere close to .220 BA or a .300 on-base percentage, then he becomes the majority starter for the reasons you mentioned - too much to expect?

Quote from Ben Davey on July 13, 2020, 11:44 pm

Quote from MrPadre19 on July 13, 2020, 7:13 pm

If we don’t get offense from 3 other positions the difference between Mejia and Hedges isn’t going to be enough anyway.

Are we expecting All Star offense from Mejia?

As usual I think we are discrediting what Hedges defense brings and more importantly...what his handling of the pitching staff brings.

Mejia cant hold a candle defensively to Hedges and I can assure you the Starters would prefer Hedges’ defense over Mejia’s offense.

With eight guys to provide offense I think we’re gonna see Hedges behind the plate more than it seems everyone else does.

How many defensive runs saved did he have last year?

Disagree.  I think there is a huge difference between a .563 OPS and a .810 OPS.  Heck, even if Mejia hits closer to his .754 OPS that he had last year, thats still a 200 point difference.  That is a HUGE difference

I am not saying Hedges is not a + defensive catcher, but if he cant even come close to league average OPS, he honestly cant be a starter on a MLB team no matter the defense.  I have faith that Mejia can be an average defensive catcher, combined with the offense and he still has the potential to be an All-Star catcher.  I cant see any circumstance where Hedges is an All-Star.

Yes, if the Padres can have 8 really good offensive pieces they can hide Hedges, but outside of Tatis/Pham/Machado I dont see any guarantees.

My guess is Mejia only starts 2 of 5 games, then DH 1-2 other games.  If Hedges cant hit, that number might swing to 3 or 4 starts out of 5 for Mejia.

Quote from MrPadre19 on July 14, 2020, 3:20 am

So you’re predicting an .810 OPS from Mejia?

Thats a .050 pt increase from what he did last year.

Can he?

Maybe.......but we only have 60 games.But what if he doesn’t?

What if it’s closer to .650?

There has to be a number that Mejia has to be better offensively to make up for the loss of defense.

I hope we don’t have to find this number out but I think we will.
If we had a veteran pitching staff I think Hedges starts the majority of games(they would request it)....but we don’t.

So I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

 

 

 

Quote from hoffy51 on July 14, 2020, 5:26 am

I know I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but by next year I think Campy will make this all irrelevant IMHO.

Hedges will be gone.

Meja will be the backup catcher, reserve 3B, LF, and DH

Campy will be the starter.

Just sayin we are all waiting on Campy to arrive

Quote from fenn68 on July 14, 2020, 7:12 am

Catching is likely to be a fluid position .... in this day and age rare for a catcher to catch every day, more like a 60-40 split. Plus the Padres play a lot of consecutive games in August when it is hot to wear down a catcher.

Expect in August both Hedges and Mejia will catch and likely one will earn and one will lose playing time by September. Part of that will be how the rest of the team performs creating a need for more offense (or not).

IF the Padres fall out of contention .... could see Torrens take on a role as one of the two starting catchers to gauge his performance level for 2021 decision making.

For reference ... 2019 wRC+ vs RHP/LHP:

100/87 .... Mejia

52/34 .... Hedges

---/--- .... Torrens

That is a lot of offense left on the table by Hedges ...

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IF I recall the rules .... if Mejia DHs and then has to come in a catch ... Padres loose the DH (pitcher has to hit). So, either the Padres carry Torrens (or France) as the emergency catcher or Mejia has a field position (LF/1B) and someone else DHs (Pham / Hosmer). That may limit the use of PR/PH for Hedges early in a game and will have a ripple effect on who is kept on the bench (only can keep so many).

Quote from fenn68 on July 14, 2020, 7:29 am

Beginning to pull off Cordero making the 30 man roster after looking at some of his ML stats over the past two years ... limited because he did not play much ... which if the Padres want to win out of the blocks creates a reason not to include him. There are alternatives with track records.

Cordero record against LHP is .. just abysmal with a 56 wRC+ but more worrisome is a K% in the mid-40s. That may be 40-50% of the starts and would force use of PH if a LHP comes in relief.

Even against RHP with a good 110 wRC+ he still has a K% in the high 30s. For a team that is beginning to focus more on OBP / contact to move players along ... not good for Cordero all or nothing profile.

Added issue ... this splits show his best work is low leverage / bases empty situations and gets worse through medium leverage / men on base to absolutely ugly in high leverage / men in scoring position with a K% greater than 50%.

Basically poor ML performance in limited playing time is not the recipe to gamble on some image of what Cordero could become if the intent is to start winning on Day 1.