Turning The San Diego Padres Luck Around (The Show ’15)

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The San Diego Padres…….Let’s face it, this franchise, from the years of 1984 through 1998, looked to always be in position to win SOMETHING with all the talent they’ve had/acquired through those years. In two World Series appearances, it seems as if they ran into bad luck both times, as well as just flat out dominant teams (Tiger and Yankees)

First in 1984, their first of two pennants, they had to face the Detroit Tigers who won 104 games that year. In 1998 they ran into a New York Yankees dynasty that swept the Padres and their hopes for a first world series title away from them.

Similar to the years after their first pennant, the years that followed 1998 were a complete struggle. San Diego had a tough time keeping the players they had for the 1998 Pennant run.

And Tony Gwynn (RIP), what more can you say about him....a true professional and a pretty good baseball player at that. It's been a while since the Padres had a player like Gwynn....

In 2005, you can say they were the worst division winner ever....in baseball atleast. Going 82-80 and winning the NL West overshadowed three teams with better records in NL East, which failed to make the playoffs.

In 2006, another division title but like in the past, the Padres came up short in the playoffs.

In the 80’s and early part of the 90’s, the Padres had great future talent. As the Padres have not won a World Series, EVER……I will attempt to turn their luck around…..

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Reserved for Season Awards

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Reserved For Postseason Results

2015: Missed Playoffs

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Reserved for Notable Team Transactions

April 30, 2015
-Optioned SP Josh Johnson to AAA El-Paso
-Recalled RP Cory Mazzoni from AAA El-Paso



June 30, 2015
Promoted LF Hunter Renfroe to AAA
Promoted SS Jake Lemmerman to AAA

Placed RP Cory Mazzoni on the 15-day DL w/ a Broken Arm

Activated LF Justin Upton from the DL


July 31, 2015
Traded SP James Shields to Cleveland for
2B Jason Kipnis and SS Zach Walters


November 2015
Signed Brian Cashman as new General Manager
Signed Buck Showalter as new Manager



February, 2016
Traded SS Marwin Gonzalez to New York Yankees for
RP Nick Rumbelow

Traded 2B Jason Kipnis, SP Casey Kelly and LF Hunter Renfroe to Washington for
SP Stephen Strasburg and LF Derrick Robinson


April 30, 2016
Traded OF Melvin Upton Jr to the St. Louis Cardinals for OF Rowan Wick


June 1. 2016
Placed RP Jason Frasor on Waivers.

Called up RP Corey Mazzoni

Placed RP Joaquin Benoit on 15- day DL w/ Shoulder Tear



July 31, 2016
San Diego Padres get: RP Tony Sipp & RF Tyler Austin

Houston Astros get: SP Walker Weickel


San Diego Padres get: C Josh Thole

Toronto Blue Jays get: SP Aaron Northcraft



Promoted C Parker Morin & RF Rowan Wick to AAA
Send down C Robert Kral & RF Tyler Austin

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2015 Spring Training has come and gone for the San Diego Padres and the rest of the league. The Padres finished 19-9 this spring, but we know championships are not won in spring training.

But that is not to say that a good finish in spring can't lead to a good start once the the season gets under way.

For starters, Ian Kennedy and Corey Luebke impressed in spring training. Kennedy had 4 wins and pitched great and with tons of confidence. Luebke pitched a total of 26.1 innings, and finished 5-0 with a 3.46 ERA. Both will be at the back end of the rotation ( 4 & 5 respectively).

The front end? Not so tough. James Shields will be getting the nod on opening day against the Los Angeles Dodgers, followed by Andrew Cashner and Tyson Ross. All three pitchers had shaky springs and a first round matchup to start the season against division rivals could point to the way this season might go.

As for the bats, they were quite awake during the spring but again how much of that translates to the regular season waits to be seen.

Which takes us around the roster for a minute. If there is one thing for sure about the San Diego Padres roster is that there is very little home grown players on the major league level. We could go position for position, starter and bench and most came over to the Padres via trade......of course there is always Matt Kemp and is huge contract.


1B Yonder Alonso - acquired via trade w/ Reds
-set to become a free agent after this season
-will he have good numbers since he will be playing for a contract??

3B Yangervis Solarte - acquired via trade w/ Yankees
3B Will Middlebrooks - acquired via trade w/ Red Sox
-both are due for new contracts at the end of the year
-Solarte had the better spring, Middlebrooks will come off the bench

SS Alexi Armista - acquired via trade w/ Angels
-hits lefties well and plays multiple positions

LF Justin Upton - acquired via trade w/ Braves
-Upton is making 16.1M this year
-Multiple reports out of San Diego are that the team is not willing to re-sign Upton. They believe the asking price will be very high

CF Wil Myers - acquired via trade w/ Rays
-young (24 yrs old) and the potential is there
-out of the players the Padres have traded for the last few years, Myers is probably the lone player we are going to do our best to keep

C Derek Norris - acquired via trade w/ Athletics
C Tim Federowicz - acquired via trade w/ Dodgers (Matt Kemp trade)
-Norris will more than likely get the starting job here
-Neither will blow you away

Catcher Austin Hedges awaits his call-up to the show while AAA. Hedges is rated a B potential player and is a Top 100 prospect.

As well as LF Hunter Renfoe, only he will be starting the season in AA.

Other than that, the Padres will be playing with house money in 2015. At best, we're projected to finish 3rd in the division.......if we completely fall to the basement, there is not much talent in the minors to bring up.

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What more can we ask for? If the Padres were going to make a mark in the NL west, then the start of the season was the right time to do it. 2015 would start off with a series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

San Diego would end up going 4-6 in those games and did take 2 of 3 against the Dodgers. Notable was James Shields early exit from the season opener where he lasted only four innings.

The rest of the month of April was mediocre and we finished with a 12-11 record, tied for first with the Giants. After splitting four games with the Colorado Rockies, the Padres swept a weekend series versus the Dodgers. We took over first at the end of April after taking two of three against the Houston Astros.

A Brother’s Keeper

We talked about Justin Upton and his hefty contrct, even though it’s only for this year. But brother Melvin Upton has a hefty contract himself for the next three years…….

Melvin Upton would be inserted to the daily starting lineup after Justin Upton went down with a broken forearm. Justin will be out for 1-2 months. Justin was batting .366 // 3 HR // 16 RBI // 7 BB // 18 K before getting injured in April

Meanwhile, Melvin has filled in nicely getting hits in half of his 28 at-bats. Melvin’s contract calls for him to make 9.5M in each of the next three years.

NL WEST STANDINGS – Through the end of April 2015
SF 12-11
SD 12-11
COL 11-11
ARI 10-11
LAD 10-11

James Shields Struggles

SP James Shields struggled in April, going 0-3 in 25.1 innings pitched and a 4.97 ERA. In 5 starts, Shields has not gone past the 6th inning……As a matter of fact, his total innings pitcher per each game thus far….4 IP, 5 IP, 6 IP, 6 IP, and 4.1 IP…..Not an impressive start to his first year with the San Diego Padres….

News and Notes Around the Division

OF Hunter Pence (SFG) – has been out with a Broken Forearm, he’ll miss 1-2months

SP Brandon McCarthy (LAD) – has not given up and earned run in four starts in April (26.1 IP), with a 1-1 record and 15K/2BB

Starting pitchers Brandon McCarthy (LAD), Ian Kennedy (SD) and Kyle Kendrick (COL) are the top three pitchers in the national league in ERA

San Francisco Giants reeled off 7 wins in a row in the middle of April, only to lose 7 of 8 to end the month.

April 2015 MLB Trades.PNG

***UPDATED OUR TEAM TRASNACTION POST***

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The Padres once again continued the start of May against divisional opponents…..3-game sets against the Rockies (Home) and Giants (Away) and a 4-game series on the road against the Diamondbacks.

We got the series win against the Rockies thanks to back to back complete games by James Shields and Ian Kennedy. Shields pitched his best game of the young season thus far, a 3-hit shutout.

The 2 out of 3 wins against Colorado earned us sole possession of first place.
We headed out on the road and took 2 out of 3 against the Giants and 3 out of 4 against Arizona.

After splitting a two game series against the Seattle Mariners, we buckled up and played the 25-10 Washington Nationals, who we also ended up splitting with.

We followed that with a series against the Cubs and lost 2 out of 3……including a 13-5 beating thanks to another poor performance from James Shields…..Shields fell to 1-4 and lasted only 3 innings against the Cubs while giving up 8 hits and 7 runs….5 of which were earned.

We finished of May with a series in Los Angeles and took 2 out of 3 from the Dodgers to keep our division lead at 2.5 games.

Finished May with a 29-22 record.

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The Cleveland Indians having a surprising start to the 2015 season are up five games in the AL Central despite being without SP Corey Kluber, he's out for 1-2 months with a Broken Hand......all while the Orioles and Yankees are tied for first in the East. Oakland in the driver seat so far out West.

In the National League Central it's as tight as it could be for the moment...4 teams within 2.5 games of each other, The Reds are the odd team out, in last by 7.5 games. Washington looks to run away in the East, up 8.5 games on the second place Marlins.....[/center]

Team Leaders

Batting Average – Justin Upton (.366) Currently on the DL w/ Broken Forearm
Hits – Matt Kemp (51)
Runs – Yonder Alonso (23)
Doubles – Will Venable (13)
Triples – Matt Kemp (3)
Home Runs – Will Middlebrooks (9)
RBI’s – Matt Kemp (28)
Stolen Bases – Will Venable (6)
Walks – Yonder Alonso (25)
Strikeouts – Matt Kemp (51)


Wins- Andrew Cashner (7)
Losses – James Shields/Tyson Ross (Tied w/ 4)
ERA – Craig Kimbrel (1.04 in 18 appearances)
Quality Starts – Ian Kennedy (9)
Complete Games – Ian Kennedy (2)
Shutouts – James Shields/Ian Kennedy (1)
Saves – Craig Kimbrel (18)
Holds – Joaquin Benoit (9)
Innings Pitched – Andrew Cashner (70.1)
HR Allowed – James Shields (7)
BB – Tyson Ross (24)
Strikeouts – Tyson Ross (62)

Team Rankings

Batting Average – 10th - .259
Runs – 18th – 177
HR – 16th – 48
SB – 17th – 22
BB – 8th – 166
Errors – 29th – 29
ERA – 8th – 3.15
ER – 9th – 163
HR Allowed – 6th – 41
Strikeouts – 2nd – 403

The Padres have a good balance of hitting and pitching going on right now. James Shields is the question mark.....his struggles continued in May, while Andrew Cashner has shined. Bullpen has also been good....Let's hope it continues on through June.

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Aaron Northcraft Minor league stats.jpg

Starting pitcher Aaron Northcraft (AAA Chihuahuas) has been rolling lately in the minors

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NL League Leaders - Updated: May 31, 2015
Batting Average		BA	Home Runs		HR
	1. Ian Desmond	.358		1. Anthony Rizzo	15
	2. Ender Inciarte	.354		2. Matt Adams	13
	3. Will Venable	.329		3. Andrew McCutchen	12
	4.			4.
	5.			5.
Runs Batted In		RBI	Wins		W
	1. Anthony Rizzo	36		1. Andrew Cashner	7
	2. Matt Adams	35		2. Hyun-Jin Ryu	6
	3. Ryan Zimmerman	34		3. Kyle Hendricks	6
	4.			4.
	5.			5.
Earned Run Average		ERA	Strikeouts		K
	1. Jose Fernandez	1.06		1. Stephen Strasburg	80
	2. Jordan Zimmerman	1.38		2. Johnny Cueto	77
	3. Cole Hamels	1.68		3. Archie Bradley	77
	4.			4.
	5.			5.
Stolen Bases		SB	Saves		SV
	1. Jean Segura	18		1. Drew Storen	18
	2. Dee Gordon	15		2. Craig Kimbrel	18
	3. Starling Marte	14		3. Francisco Rodriguez	16
	4.			4.
	5.			5.

AL League Leaders - Updated: May 31, 2015
Batting Average		BA	Home Runs		HR
	1. Carlos Santana	.372		1. Jose Abreu	19
	2. Brian McCann	.353		2. Brandon Moss	15
	3. Victor Martinez	.351		3. Evan Gattis	14
	4.			4.
	5.			5.
Runs Batted In		RBI	Wins		W
	1. Brandon Moss	48		1. Sonny Gray	7
	2. Jose Abreu	39		2. Felix Hernandez	6
	3. Adam Jones	36		3. Jered Weaver	6
	4.			4.
	5.			5.
Earned Run Average		ERA	Strikeouts		K
	1. Corey Kluber	1.15		1. Sonny Gray	73
	2. Chris Sale	1.62		2. Bud Norris	64
	3. Jeremy Guthrie	1.79		3. David Price	63
	4.			4.
	5.			5.
Stolen Bases		SB	Saves		SV
	1. Craig Gentry	20		1. Sean Doolittle	18
	2. Jordan Schafer	20		2. Huston Street	18
	3. Rajai Davis	13		3. Neftali Perez	16
	4.			4.
	5.			5.

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At this point we are feeling a bit comfortable going into June. Sitting in first place. We weren’t blowing teams out the water and our lead wasn’t huge but thanks to the rest of the division not playing great either, for the time being, the division is ours to lose.
A nice start to June by sweeping the New York Mets in a 3 game set….Two of the games were won by walk-offs. We followed that up by losing 2 out of 3 to the last place Cincinnati Reds. James Shields would take the series opener loss.
After we split 4 games with the Braves in Atlanta, we headed back home for three games against the Dodgers and end up getting swept!! The sweep would shrink our lead to 2.5 games of the Giants.
The good news out of this trip back home was the Justin Upton returned from the DL.
The bad news: Relief pitcher Cory Mazzoni broke his arm and will be out 1-2 months. Mazzoni was called up in April and has played a big role in our bullpen……With a record of 4-1 in 19 innings pitched, he has a 3.32 ERA // 15 K // 6 BB……..
Al West leaders, Oakland Athletics, visited Petco for 4 games and a split was good enough to keep us in first place but only by half a game.

At 38-31, we headed towards the final days of June against games vs the Diamondbacks and Giants…….we took care of business against Arizona, sweeping the 3 game set…….The Giants would be next as we held a 2.5 game lead over them.

Lincecum took the mound in game one and pitched 8 strong innings, holding us to 3 hits and striking out ten as they beat us 1-0. We went on to lose the next two games as the Giants completed the sweep of us….Poor hitting was the story for these Padres.

We play the Diamondbacks afterwards, this time in Arizona…….and lose 2 out of 3. The one win was the middle game, thanks to Andrew Cashner who pitched us a complete game shutout and improved to 9-3 on the season.
We closed out June losing 4-3 to the Mariners…..the bullpen let us down again when Seattle scored 2 runs in the 8th and 9th innings.




Manager Bud Black indicated he has made a change to the lineup inserting Melvin Upton in CF over Wil Myers.....Myers has been struggling as of late, hitting .182 with runners in scoring position and .191 at home.

Melvin Upton in his brothers absence has batted .314....only 3 homeruns and 9 RBI's but his on-bas and slugging stands out a lot more. Melvin will move over to center now that Justin Upton has returned from the disabled list, as he will play in left.

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NL League Leaders - Updated: Jun 30, 2015
Batting Average		BA	Home Runs		HR
	1. Ender Inciarte	.330		1. Anthony Rizzo	20
	2. Carlos Gomez	.329		2. Giancarlo Stanton	19
	3. Ian Desmond	.322		3. Carlos Gomez	17
	4.			4.
	5.			5.
Runs Batted In		RBI	Stolen Bases		SB
	1. Anthony Rizzo	48		1. Jean Segura	27
	2. Paul Goldschmidt	47		2. Dee Gordon	23
	3. Adam Lind	46		3. Starling Marte	21
	4.			4.
	5.			5.
Wins		W	Earned Run Average		ERA
	1. Jordan Zimmerman	10		1. Jordan Zimmerman	1.51
	2. Hyun-Jin Ryu	9		2. Jose Fernandez	2.15
	3. Andrew Cashner	9		3. Ian Kennedy	2.22
	4.			4.
	5.			5.
Strikeouts		K	Saves		SV
	1. Johnny Cueto	116		1. Francisco Rodriguez	25
	2. Max Scherzer	112		2. Kenley Jansen	25
	3. Archie Bradley	111		3. Craig Kimbrel	25
	4.			4.
	5.			5.

AL League Leaders - Updated: Jun 30, 2015
Batting Average		BA	Home Runs		HR
	1. Miguel Cabrera	.339		1. Jose Abreu	29
	2. Victor Martinez	.324		2. Mike Trout	21
	3. Carlos Santana	.317		3. Evan Gattis	19
	4.			4.
	5.			5.
Runs Batted In		RBI	Stolen Bases		SB
	1. Jose Abreu	67		1. Rajai Davis	31
	2. Brandon Moss	59		2. Jordan Schafer	25
	3. Mike Trout	54		3. Craig Gentry	22
	4.			4.
	5.			5.
Wins		W	Earned Run Average		ERA
	1. Sonny Gray	10		1. Rick Porcello	1.82
	2. Wade Miley	9		2. Sonny Gray	1.91
	3. Jason Vargas	9		3. Mark Buerhle	2.26
	4.			4.
	5.			5.
Strikeouts		K	Saves		SV
	1. Yu Darvish	108		1. Dellin Betances	29
	2. Sonny Gray	104		2. Sean Dolittle	24
	3. Danny Salazar	102		3. Koji Uehara	24
	4.			4.
	5.			5.

MLB Standings - Updated: Jun 30, 2015
AL EAST	W	L	GB	RS	RA
Yankees	47	31	-	306	280
Red Sox	47	32	0.5	324	234
Orioles	44	33	2.5	289	243
Rays	38	41	9.5	291	292
Blue Jays	35	44	12.5	247	322
AL CENTRAL	W	L	GB	RS	RA
Royals	42	35	-	279	282
Indians	38	39	4.0	276	306
White Sox	35	42	7.0	310	317
Twins	32	45	10.0	305	323
Tigers	32	46	10.5	283	338
AL WEST	W	L	GB	RS	RA
Athletics	47	33	-	339	279
Angels	40	38	6.0	314	292
Rangers	38	40	8.0	285	267
Astros // Mariners	38 // 33	42 // 44	9.0 // 12.5	300 // 294	341 // 319
AL WILD CARD RACE	W	L	GB	RS	RA
Red Sox	47	32	-
Orioles	44	33	-
Angels	40	38	4.5
Indians	38	39	6.0
Rangers	38	40	6.5
Rays	38	41	7.0
NL EAST	W	L	GB	RS	RA
Nationals	46	31	-	303	237
Marlins	35	43	11.5	268	292
Braves	34	43	12.0	274	295
Phillies	33	46	14.0	256	288
Mets	30	48	16.5	290	324
NL CENTRAL	W	L	GB	RS	RA
Brewers	47	32	-	329	293
Cardinals	44	34	2.5	310	292
Cubs	43	36	4.0	343	290
Reds	37	41	9.5	298	313
Pirates	36	40	9.5	289	305
NL WEST	W	L	GB	RS	RA
Giants	44	34	-	287	268
Padres	42	38	2.5	275	284
Dodgers	42	37	2.5	272	249
Rockies	36	42	8.0	285	312
Diamondbacks	36	42	8.0	260	298
NL WILD CARD RACE	W	L	GB	RS	RA
Cardinals	44	34	-
Cubs	43	36	-
Padres	42	37	1.0
Dodgers	42	37	1.0
Reds	37	41	5.5
Pirates	36	40	5.5

In the AL East, it is a 3-team race so far between the Yankees, Red Sox and Orioles. All of whom are on win streaks to end June. In the Central, the Indians are reeling a bit, currently on a 6 game losing streak, as the Royals have over-taken first place. Out West, the standings have not changed much, the A’s with a good grip on the division thus far……Wild Card leaders Red Sox and Orioles sit comfortably with the leads at the moment….

The National’s lead has grown in the East to 11.5 games up on the second place Marlins…..while the surprising Brewers remain in first in the Central.

In the West, the surging Giants have come all the way from 4th place to take the division lead over us (Padres) while we sit in second, only 2.5 game out. The San Francisco Giants had win streaks of 6 and 7 games in June to propel them to first.

Our bullpen struggles have been another reason we are behind the Giants now as they faltered in 5 games during June where they lost the games.



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SS jake lemmerman promote to AAA.jpg

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Both Renfroe and Lemmerman were promoted to Triple-A ball. Although Hunter Renroe's stats may not reflect it, he has huge upside, especially with 11 homeruns.....

Heading into July the Padres face teams like the Pirates, Marlins, Rockies, Mets and Rangers all of which are winnable considering their records.

***UPDATED TRANSACTION THREAD***