SAN DIEGO -- Nine days ago, the Padres began their homestand by competing for first place in the National League West. On Wednesday, they wrapped it up four games back of the Dodgers -- and tied with the Diamondbacks in second -- having won just three of their last nine games.
Here's some instant reaction from Petco Park, where the Padres couldn't solve Cristopher Sánchez and dropped their fourth straight game, a 3-0 loss to the Phillies:
The right call? Or a quick hook?
Walker Buehler hadn’t allowed a run over the first five innings, but he put two Phillies aboard with one out in the sixth. Although Buehler had only thrown 58 pitches, Padres manager Craig Stammen wasn’t going to let him face Kyle Schwarber, MLB’s home run leader, for a third time.
With an off-day on Thursday, Stammen got aggressive. He called for Adrian Morejon, the bullpen’s top lefty weapon.
“[Buehler] pitched great,” Stammen said. “We got there, the third time through the lineup -- and their big left-handed hitters that have kind of given us trouble this year and over the years -- and we felt like we needed to bring in one of our best guys in from the bullpen to try to shut that inning down.”
But for a second straight night, Schwarber got the best of Morejon. He shot an RBI single through the right side, and the Phillies would tack on another run in the frame.
It was, perhaps, an unjust ending for Buehler, who was charged with two runs over 5 1/3 innings. Still, the matchup clearly called for Morejon. (A few feet either way, and Schwarber’s grounder might’ve been an inning-ending double play instead.)
“We trust our bullpen as much as anyone in baseball,” Buehler said of the decision. “So it is what it is.”
Padres put Sánchez’s streak to the test
Sánchez made some club history on Wednesday, surpassing Grover Alexander for the longest scoreless streak in Phillies history. The Padres, at least, made it tough on the left-hander.
Manny Machado hit two balls to the warning track, just missing a pair of home runs. The Padres put runners in scoring position in three of the first four innings and four times overall. But Sánchez wriggled out of jams, as the Padres’ RISP woes continued.
“We had him, dude,” Machado said. “We had really good at-bats. Overall, great at-bats. Just a better pitcher.”
They wrapped up their homestand a remarkable 2-for-46 with runners in scoring position. Across their past five games, they’re 0-for-33.
Those RISP woes are new. Until this homestand, the Padres were one of the best in baseball in those situations. But overall, they’ve been poor offensively this year.
Sure, they turned in some high quality at-bats against one of the sport’s toughest pitchers. But they didn’t score. And, as such, the questions will persist about this offense.
“There’s a little credit to their pitching,” Stammen said. “But we’ve also got to figure out a way to be better in those situations. Runners in scoring position, we’re searching for that big hit. Maybe sometimes we’re trying to do a little bit too much. But we’ve got to stay within our approach and hit some line drives.”
Tatis shining at second base
“You could put him anywhere,” Stammen said last month, “and he’d be a great defender.”
Fernando Tatis Jr. is proving his manager right.
Tatis has essentially emerged as the everyday second baseman, with Jake Cronenworth on the IL. That wasn’t the Padres’ plan when they began playing him there in early April. But Tatis has given them every reason to continue the experiment.
He’s been outstanding at second. He started a couple double plays behind Buehler on Wednesday. In the fifth, he recorded all three assists. In the seventh, he made a brilliant running basket catch, over his shoulder.
“It’s fun to see him over there at second base making some plays that he made look easy today that are very difficult,” Stammen said. “He’s definitely turning into one of the best second basemen in all of baseball.”
The metrics back that up. Tatis has still only spent about 40% of his innings at second base. Yet he entered play Wednesday worth three Outs Above Average, tied for eighth in the Majors at the position.
The problem with putting Tatis at second is that you no longer have a Platinum Glover in right field, but you still have a pretty darn good defender in the infield.