Quote from Jeremy Hill on June 20, 2023, 3:39 pm

Quote from fenn68 on June 20, 2023, 10:31 am

Quote from fenn68 on June 20, 2023, 3:19 am

Quote from Alex Tamayo on June 19, 2023, 9:14 pm

This game is so over, García has become a real piece of garbage.

Garcia … old, ineffective, and a FA after the season is making his case to be the next DFA ahead of Crismatt.

Did hear a comment (think Melvin) that the Padres need another RH pitcher in the pen. Said trying to get Garcia going but not working yet (no minor league options). Not said was that Honeywell has struggled recently (also has no minor league options). Should we expect a move soon?

IL for either Garcia or Honeywell? DFA of either? Who is added from EP ... Tapia / Knehr? Do they make a gamble on a non-roster RP ... maybe Jacob in AA? Not a lot of good options at hand.

Also, they need an offset move to add Lugo today ... so more pressure on moving Garcia / Honeywell and should add Crismatt ... that before the desire to add a RHRP upgrade. Maybe two players removed from the 26 man.

Well one question has been answered. Crismatt was DFAd to make room for Lugo. I was thinking about Melvin's comments as well. It seems like Jacob or Kopps would be the likely internal options. Maybe a few sleeper candidates in Jose Espada or Nick Hernandez, but I agree it's not the most inspiring group.

Quote from fenn68 on June 20, 2023, 4:54 pm

Given the lack of proven upgrades from Garcia (and too easy to just jump on the most recent poor performance) think the Padres have no better choice to see if they can work to get Garcia back to an effective level. Consider:

2021 (STL) ... 34 games ... 3.24 ERA / 0.99 WHIP

2022 (SD) ... 64 games ...  3.39 ERA / 1.21 WHIP

decent numbers for a "set-up" RP and

2023 (SD) ... 24 games in which 19 games where he allowed no runs ... got pretty smashed in the other 5.

So, makes some sense to see if they can get him through this rough patch ... but he is not a closer so a set-up man only please. Can't use Hader, Martinez,Hill, and Wilson every day and alternatives to Garcia, Kerr, Honeywell, Carlton are not abundant (internally or externally) ... so make it work.

Quote from sportwarrior on June 20, 2023, 6:23 pm

I have no problem letting Garcia work his way back in low leverage situations. I believe he's got the stuff to be useful again. But to use him last night, in that situation, absolutely blew my f*cking mind. Following him up with Carlton didn't help, either. Losing Cosgrove to the DL hurt us there, but I find it very hard to believe that we couldn't use Hader there. He gave up one hit and no walks in his two previous appearances, totaling 31 pitches. Sure, we're not even to the halfway point in the season. However, given our immense struggles so far, not to mention how hot (*ahem* lucky *ahem*) the Giants have been, this series is too important to be leaving 2 runs leads up to Luis Garcia to protect.

I seriously question the game calling there, and feel that the loss last night can truly be chalked up to Melvin playing way too conservatively.

Ugh, I'm still furious about it.

Quote from Jeremy Hill on June 20, 2023, 7:06 pm

Acee was on with Darren Smith today. From what he described it sounds like Niebla is the one determining who is available on any given day. Apparently he uses a system that considers a bunch of factors to determine who is available.

Quote from 3fingersplit on June 20, 2023, 9:36 pm

Snake Bit....Damn

Quote from Jeremy Hill on June 20, 2023, 10:36 pm

Feels like deja vu. We grab an early lead, give up a great run scoring opportunity on the bases, and the bullpen blows the game. I swear the bullpen is lights out when we're losing, but with a lead in a low scoring game they blow it way too often.

Quote from fenn68 on June 21, 2023, 2:45 am

I will keep my focus on the lack of scoring runs … and taking some pressure off the pen to deliver every night and allowing a better use / rest pattern on those arms. Let us not forget a couple of years ago the Padres had a pen that kept them in contention early in the season only to get over used … burnt out … and floundered in the 2nd half. Could be heading down the same path in 2023.

SP are doing their jobs keeping the opposition at bay for 6 innings but would like to see the RP at some point come in with more than a two run or less lead.

Quote from fenn68 on June 21, 2023, 2:54 am

Need to praise Lugo and his performance coming off the IL … he pitched a fine game against a hot hitting team for not having pitched for weeks.

At this point the starting staff of Musgrove, Wacha, Snell, Darvish, and Lugo may be the best 1 - 5 we have seen for the Padres. Credit to Niebia whose reputation from Cleveland as a top line pitching coach seems to be justified.

Can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear … so some pitchers will not succeed … but looking at the overall pitching performance … better than projected for 2023.

Quote from fenn68 on June 21, 2023, 3:09 am

On the flip side, beginning to worry about a Machado rebound to his norm … pretty deep into the season.

Other than a couple of games … he just is not making good contact with a lot of weak ground balls (think he is leading the ML in hitting into double plays) and clearly he is one of the main culprits in failing to hit with runners in scoring position … not what you want from the #3 hitter when you have Tatis / Soto on base ahead of him.

I know it is easy to pick on small stuff when a player is going bad but it seems that Manny … who has never appeared to be an enthusiastic player on the field as his norm … seems to be even less so during this slump. We know the measures when he runs hard based on game situations normally but just as an observation seems to not be running hard even in more critical situations (maybe just my biased observation but that is how I am seeing it). Less zip when on base and almost without energy in his AB.

Maybe the standard being set by Tatis (and even Kim) of enthusiasm / engagement is being unfair to Machado’s personna … or is there something more?