<hgroup>[h=1]http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/Jun/15/padres-diamondbacks-record-acee/?#article-copy
Padres have come a long way to get even[/h]</hgroup> By Kevin Acee9:31 p.m.June 15, 2013
Remember when the Padres were terrible?
Of course you do. It has happened too often, for too long.
But it’s not happening right now.
The only team in all of Major League Baseball better than the Padres since April 24 is the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Padres’ 29-19 mark in that span is tied with that of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds.
Sure, the season began on the first day of April.
And, ultimately, another horrid start could end up dooming the Padres, who on Saturday night won their fifth straight game, 6-4, over the Arizona Diamondbacks to reach .500 for the first time in more than two years.
Now, a 34-34 record, fourth place and three games back is not cause for a song.
But you must remember that the only team worse than the Padres on April 23 was the Miami Marlins, and watching the Padres play was tied with sticking a needle in your eye.
In fact, the only time the Padres had been worse after 20 games was never.
The 1987 version of the Padres — a franchise that has been much more sorry than sensational in its 45-year history — also began 5-15.
But where that team took until mid-May to reach double-digit victories, until July 12 to win its 30th game and finished 65-97, this Padres bunch is actually contending.
Yep, someone had to say it.
The National League West is ailing, and the Padres have proved as resilient as anyone.
“We experienced a lot last year,” Mark Kotsay said, alluding to the team’s horrid first half in ’12. “We fed off that. We got off to a slow start again; we had to get out of it sooner. ”
Indeed. What is most impressive about this team is that it’s not as if Chase Headley came back and started slugging or Yasmani Grandal arrived from Tucson and began bashing.
In fact, the team’s two most consistent offensive players are on the disabled list. Yonder Alonso hasn’t played since May 31 and still leads the team with 29 RBIs. Right behind him is Jedd Gyorko, who hasn’t played since June 9.
The three-person platoon starting in place of Alonso entered Saturday batting .306 with eight runs and six RBI in 13 games. Logan Forsythe has five RBIs in his four games filling in for Gyorko.
That’s almost as impressive as the .284 batting average, 36 runs and 29 RBIs those rotating in center field amassed entering Saturday while Cameron Maybin has played all of 14 games.
“What we’re learning and seeing right now is that everyone is doing their part,” Alonso said. “It’s not on two or three guys carrying the load like maybe it was.”
Now, for all that, the real basis for the Padres’ transformation is that the starting pitching has, by and large, been scorching.
It didn’t make Black a genius to say back in April that the Padres would be better when the starting pitching improved. But he certainly wasn’t wrong.
The starters were 3-11 and were lasting an average of less than five innings over the team’s first 20 games. Since then, Jason Marquis is 8-0, Edinson Volquez and Andrew Cashner are both 5-2, and Eric Stults is 4-3.
Volquez’s constant inconsistency and Clayton Richard’s penchant for getting bombed have kept the rotation’s collective ERA from dropping much. And the truth is it’s difficult to imagine the Padres can sustain a postseason run with Volquez and Richard being albatross.
Look, the season is a little more than a dozen games from being half over. Several players volunteered on Saturday that a perfectly mediocre record is not the goal.
“It’s nice to get to .500,” Kotsay said. “… Just getting there doesn’t mean we’ve arrived. We want to continue to win.”
Well, thank goodness. But it’s a nice marker.
The Padres have been below .500 at the 68-game mark in four of the previous five seasons. The last time the Padres were .500 at any point in a season was when they were 4-4 on April 10, 2011.
So even if we’re not celebrating yet, let’s at least appreciate.
Padres have come a long way to get even[/h]</hgroup> By Kevin Acee9:31 p.m.June 15, 2013
Remember when the Padres were terrible?
Of course you do. It has happened too often, for too long.
But it’s not happening right now.
The only team in all of Major League Baseball better than the Padres since April 24 is the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Padres’ 29-19 mark in that span is tied with that of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds.
Sure, the season began on the first day of April.
And, ultimately, another horrid start could end up dooming the Padres, who on Saturday night won their fifth straight game, 6-4, over the Arizona Diamondbacks to reach .500 for the first time in more than two years.
Now, a 34-34 record, fourth place and three games back is not cause for a song.
But you must remember that the only team worse than the Padres on April 23 was the Miami Marlins, and watching the Padres play was tied with sticking a needle in your eye.
In fact, the only time the Padres had been worse after 20 games was never.
The 1987 version of the Padres — a franchise that has been much more sorry than sensational in its 45-year history — also began 5-15.
But where that team took until mid-May to reach double-digit victories, until July 12 to win its 30th game and finished 65-97, this Padres bunch is actually contending.
Yep, someone had to say it.
The National League West is ailing, and the Padres have proved as resilient as anyone.
“We experienced a lot last year,” Mark Kotsay said, alluding to the team’s horrid first half in ’12. “We fed off that. We got off to a slow start again; we had to get out of it sooner. ”
Indeed. What is most impressive about this team is that it’s not as if Chase Headley came back and started slugging or Yasmani Grandal arrived from Tucson and began bashing.
In fact, the team’s two most consistent offensive players are on the disabled list. Yonder Alonso hasn’t played since May 31 and still leads the team with 29 RBIs. Right behind him is Jedd Gyorko, who hasn’t played since June 9.
The three-person platoon starting in place of Alonso entered Saturday batting .306 with eight runs and six RBI in 13 games. Logan Forsythe has five RBIs in his four games filling in for Gyorko.
That’s almost as impressive as the .284 batting average, 36 runs and 29 RBIs those rotating in center field amassed entering Saturday while Cameron Maybin has played all of 14 games.
“What we’re learning and seeing right now is that everyone is doing their part,” Alonso said. “It’s not on two or three guys carrying the load like maybe it was.”
Now, for all that, the real basis for the Padres’ transformation is that the starting pitching has, by and large, been scorching.
It didn’t make Black a genius to say back in April that the Padres would be better when the starting pitching improved. But he certainly wasn’t wrong.
The starters were 3-11 and were lasting an average of less than five innings over the team’s first 20 games. Since then, Jason Marquis is 8-0, Edinson Volquez and Andrew Cashner are both 5-2, and Eric Stults is 4-3.
Volquez’s constant inconsistency and Clayton Richard’s penchant for getting bombed have kept the rotation’s collective ERA from dropping much. And the truth is it’s difficult to imagine the Padres can sustain a postseason run with Volquez and Richard being albatross.
Look, the season is a little more than a dozen games from being half over. Several players volunteered on Saturday that a perfectly mediocre record is not the goal.
“It’s nice to get to .500,” Kotsay said. “… Just getting there doesn’t mean we’ve arrived. We want to continue to win.”
Well, thank goodness. But it’s a nice marker.
The Padres have been below .500 at the 68-game mark in four of the previous five seasons. The last time the Padres were .500 at any point in a season was when they were 4-4 on April 10, 2011.
So even if we’re not celebrating yet, let’s at least appreciate.