Bill Center, longtime sportswriter for U-T San Diego, is an employee of the Padres.
Ryan Schimpf is one of the more intriguing Padres I've ever watched play.
Love the power. Schimpf has shown the ability to homer off any pitcher at any time. Example: Clayton Kershaw didn't give up a home run to a left-handed hitter in all of 2016. This season, he has already surrendered two -- both to Schimpf.
Since his promotion from Triple-A El Paso last June at the advanced age (for a rookie) of 28, Schimpf has played in 118 games for the Padres -- or roughly the equivalent of three-quarters of a season.
Schimpf has 28 homers and 77 RBIs over those 118 games. Good numbers. Extrapolated to cover a full season, that's roughly 37-38 homers and 105 RBIs. Solid. He would also have decent figures when it comes to on-base percentage (.329) and slugging percentage (.508).
But Schimpf's batting average as a Padre is .202. This season, it's only .156 after Saturday night's game -- in which he homered off Kershaw as a pinch-hitter before striking out. Schimpf's eight homers lead the Padres this season. Five have come in the last 10 games. Love it when a slugger gets hot.
Yes, he has drawn 62 walks (which would extrapolate to 83 for a full season). But he has also struck out 141 times -- which would extrapolate to roughly 189 times over a full campaign. That would be the Padres' single-season record by nearly 30 strikeouts.
Schimpf is hitting .329 when he puts the ball in play. He also has more extra-base hits (51) than singles (26).
I've honestly never seen numbers quite like this -- and I am constantly intrigued as the numbers head in stunningly opposite directions.
Game notes
• 1B-3B Jamie Romak was officially released by the Padres' Triple-A El Paso affiliate on Sunday so he could sign with a Korean team. Romak was the Pacific Coast League Player of the Month for April and was hitting .347 with 11 home runs and 25 RBIs for the Chihuahuas. He led the PCL in home runs, slugging percentage (.800) and OPS (1.192).
• Right-hander Miguel Diaz gave up five runs in an inning on Saturday, after giving up four runs in an inning on Friday night. He has allowed at least one run in nine of his last 10 appearances -- giving up a total of 17 runs on 16 hits (including five homers) and seven walks plus a hit batter with seven strikeouts over a total of 10 innings over the nine appearances. The Rule 5 Draft pick opened the season with 4 1/3 perfect innings. His ERA is now 10.67.
• Center fielder Manuel Margot was 3-for-4 with a walk on Saturday. It was his 11th multi-hit game of the season, tying him with Aaron Judge of the Yankees for the most by a Major League rookie. He also tied his career-high with the three hits. Margot is hitting .302 (19-for-63) over his last 15 games -- with a double, two triples, four RBIs and six runs scored -- to raise his average to .273.
• Right fielder Hunter Renfroe drew walks in his first two plate appearances against the Kershaw on Saturday night. Entering Saturday night's game, Kershaw had 44 strikeouts while issuing only three walks, while the rookie Renfroe had drawn only two walks while striking out 36 times. But in the bottom of the eighth, with the Dodgers leading, 5-1, Renfroe took a called third strike on a full-count pitch with the bases loaded and two out.