Padres’ depth needs some time to mature
On Wednesday against the Giants, the Padres trotted out reminders that their current house is built of maturing timber. Not balsa wood. Not sturdy oak.
There’s certainly more than one or two central beams propping up the structure swaying a bit in baseball’s uncertain winds. The early lesson, though, is that the burgeoning depth the franchise assembled is starved for time and touches.
Promise flashed itself up and down the lineup as the Padres tinkered following a left shoulder injury to shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. in a 3-2, 10-inning loss at Petco Park.
Shaky defense and offensive sputters, though, signaled that blending all these moving parts will not always resemble gallerylevel art.
“I know the guys are frustrated, just not being able to get him some runs on the board,” manager Jayce Tingler said of pitcher Blake Snell and his wasted two-hit, eight-strikeout start, before pivoting to what was happening behind him. “… (And) I think we’ve got a chance to be a really good defensive team. Unfortunately, we didn’t see it on this homestand.”
The loss showcased how hit-and-miss infusing and shaping franchise depth could be.
In baseball, the margin for error always proves painfully thin. Instead of digging out a win against the underwhelming Giants to secure both series and push the homestand to 5-2, the Padres split and will be shaking their heads on the way to the airport at 4-3.
Start with developing chess piece Jorge Mateo, who played center field.
The 25-year-old with 26
games under his belt gobbled ground to rush in, slide and snare a slicing ball off the bat of Wilmer Flores in the second inning. One hitter later, Darin Ruf smacked a ball to the fence in deep center. Mateo made the run, timed the leap … and the ball tipped off his glove for a two-run homer.
With the offense snoozing, Mateo picked up a two-out, RBI single to cut the Giants lead in half in the fifth. When Tatis fill-in Ha-seong Kim moved the runner to third by hitting to the right side in the bottom of the 10th inning and the Padres trailing 3-2, Mateo struck out looking on four pitches.
Progress, sometimes pretty, sometimes painful —
and undoubtedly in progress.
“I felt like I did everything right, except catch the ball,” Mateo said on the unintended assist on the home run ball, via interpreter David Longley. “When I hit up against the wall, the ball came out. I’ve got to make sure next time I make the play.”
Good instincts, good reaction, good hustle, faulty finish. Just as in gymnastics, it only matters if you stick the landing.
Kim offered a mixed bag, as well.
The Korean star hit a couple of balls hard at increased velocity — a goal as he adjusts to Major League Baseball’s stable of stronger arms — but finished without a hit. As Snell worked quickly in the fifth, notching two outs in three pitches, Kim collected an error on a
routine ball to shortstop that extended the inning as the starter’s pitch count crept into the 80s.
Even in the at-bat where Kim moved the potential tying run to third in the 10th, he found himself there because he fouled off a pair of bunt attempts.
Third baseman Manny Machado picked up an error of his own on a hard-hit ball in the fourth. Then in the 10th, pitcher Tim Hill let a dribbler off the bat of Mike Yastrzemski roll arrowstraight down the first-base line with inserted extrainnings runner Alex Dickerson on third.
The timing of the play was tricky, but Hill hesitated and failed to collect the out, leading to the gamewinning sacrifice fly from Donovan Solano.
“They are going to make mistakes every now and
then, but they’re going to help me, too,” said Snell, who also walked four in his five innings — and has a sterling 1.86 ERA across two starts. “… You get upset, you’re just going to dig yourself a deeper hole.”
That reinforces another necessity of building experience with those who became part of GM A.J. Preller’s Plan Bs, Cs and Ds. Patience. To a point. “We’ve got to start winning,” Snell said. “That’s the focal point here.”
The flip side of the emerging depth is the quality innings being piled up across the pitching staff. Taylor Williams, good. Ryan Weathers, good. Drew Pomeranz, good. Mark Melancon, good. The stingy quartet did not surrender a run, allowed just three hits and walked one while striking out six.
The Padres, the youngest team on average in the National League, felt even younger with Mateo, Kim (25) and catcher Luis Campusano (22) in the lineup.
As experience rises, reinforcements are on the way. The Padres expect to activate injured center fielder and reigning Gold Glove winner Trent Grisham on the road trip. Primary catcher Austin Nola is expected to be close behind.
Many feel the roster and its light-speed overhaul in a little more than a year positions the Padres to more successfully weather storm clouds.
“This is not the 2019 team,” outfielder Wil Myers said this week. “This is the 2021 team.”
Knock on wood.