SAN DIEGO -- The Padres’ losing streak hit six on Friday night, as they dropped a disheartening series opener to the Mets, 5-0.
Here’s some instant reaction from Petco Park, where the Padres have now been held scoreless in three of their last four home games:
What is going on with this offense?
A day after Manny Machado expressed his belief that he didn’t think it could get any worse … it got worse. The Padres were shut out for the seventh time this season -- only the Giants have more. They mustered just three hits -- all singles -- against the Mets’ Christian Scott.
By now, the Padres’ offensive struggles have been well documented. They’ve scored the fewest runs in the Majors. Per wRC+, an all-encompassing hitting metric, only the Rockies ranked lower entering play Friday.
This lineup is too good to have numbers that bad. Or, at least, the individual players are, in theory, more talented than this. But 62 games into the season, the sample is no longer small. One hundred games left to set that right.
“It’s going to come,” said Jackson Merrill, who popped out with an ill-advised bunt attempt in the second inning. “One of these days we’re going to put up, like, eight runs and we’ll be out of it. … We’re all frustrated, losing six straight. But you come back and fight another day tomorrow.”
King was not the stopper he wants to be
Right now, the burden on this Padres pitching staff is outsized. Their offense is not scoring enough. Their pitching staff, as a result, is being asked to do too much.
But Michael King has made it clear he wants that burden. He wants the role of ace. When the team is struggling, he wants to be the stopper.
And he just wasn’t on Friday night. King surrendered homers to Jared Young and Luis Torrens, both on pitches that were far too hittable. He allowed four runs on six hits across six innings.
That’s not terrible. And the Padres will certainly take the length, considering the way their bullpen has been taxed. But the way this offense is going right now, it wasn’t nearly good enough.
“We’re obviously grinding,” King said. “Both sides of the ball. We’ve just got to lean on each other, lean on the talent in this room, make the adjustments and know that tomorrow’s another day. And hopefully that’s when we start a run in the positive direction.”
Without Laureano, one of these role players needs to step up
With Ramón Laureano (hip surgery) and Nick Castellanos (released Friday) no longer options in left field, the Padres essentially have two choices for their daily lineup:
- They can play Gavin Sheets in left, Ty France at first and Miguel Andujar at DH, or …
- They can play two of those guys at 1B/DH, keeping one on the bench, while prioritizing defense in left with, say, Jase Bowen or Bryce Johnson.
In either scenario, they’re going to need someone from the fringe to step up offensively. If they go with the former, that gives the Padres their best offensive lineup. But it also gives them almost no help off the bench. Considering the struggles from the two spots at the bottom of the order, they could really use a potent bench bat.
Someone needs to step up here -- be it Bowen or Johnson, or maybe Sung-Mun Song or Samad Taylor at second base, so the Padres aren’t so desperate to pinch-hit in the first place.
Miller gets the ninth anyway
They played Korn at Petco Park on Friday night. But this time, Mason Miller’s entrance song started only after he’d ascended the mound. It came without the usual light show and accompanying theatrics.
Entering Friday, Miller had pitched just once in the previous 12 days. He needed work, so the Padres got it for him in the ninth inning, even as they found themselves trailing 4-0.
Miller allowed a pair of singles, which plated a run, though it was hardly consequential. The Padres were already well on their way to another defeat. Miller was lifted with two outs after 17 pitches.
The Padres play five games in the next five days. It’s entirely possible that Miller’s usage on Friday could prove costly. But manager Craig Stammen weighed that and decided Miller needed the work. If the Padres find themselves with a bunch of save situations over the next few days … they’ll happily take it.