SAN DIEGO — The Padres trailed by as many as six runs and lost by one in Sunday’s 7-6 series decider against the San Francisco Giants. It was a seemingly rare game in which San Diego did not complete a comeback. And it was an outcome that tightened an already-crowded wild-card race. Here are three takeaways on the state of the Padres as they approach crunch time, if they’re not already in it.
Starting pitching issues continue to loom
Joe Musgrove entered Sunday with a 1.30 ERA in his first five starts off the injured list. Then, he retired the first 10 batters he faced, striking out six of them. “In the back of my head, you’re thinking this has got a chance to be a pretty special day,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. Then, the Giants blitzed Musgrove for seven hits — including three homers — and six runs in a span of 12 pitches.
Musgrove said afterward he did not believe he was tipping those pitches.
“I didn’t do anything different out of the stretch,” he said. “I have guys that watch that stuff outing to outing, so I’m very aware of what my tips and tells are. I’ll get more information (Monday) after they look at it a little bit closer, but I really don’t think they had anything other than me being a little bit more over the middle of the plate and them just riding that energy.”
After Musgrove’s Jekyll-and-Hyde outing and a lackluster performance Saturday from Dylan Cease, Padres starting pitchers have combined for a 5.37 ERA since Aug. 16. Only two teams, the Miami Marlins and Cincinnati Reds, have a higher rotation ERA in that span.
Matt Chapman crushes a 2-run shot to get the @SFGiants on the board 💪 pic.twitter.com/xxw5jjafkF
— MLB (@MLB) September 8, 2024
It’s a good thing, of course, that the Padres also have what might be baseball’s best bullpen. But they have recently placed a heavy burden on that unit, as evidenced by the decisive grand slam closer Robert Suarez surrendered Thursday. (For the first time since the first half of the season, San Diego lost a game in which its starting pitcher left with a lead.)
So, the Padres need consistency from someone, anyone, in their rotation. The leading candidate might be Michael King, who, despite some concerns about his workload, is scheduled to start on four days’ rest Wednesday at Seattle. Since May 16, King has pitched to a 2.46 ERA and tied rookie ace Paul Skenes in FanGraphs’ version of wins above replacement.
Kim will be out a while longer
Injured starting shortstop Ha-Seong Kim jammed his right shoulder Aug. 18, and in the time since, he has not thrown across the diamond with full intensity. He tried to Saturday but “just wasn’t able to move forward” in his progression, according to Shildt. Kim is “not as close as we’d like” to returning, Shildt said.
Sunday, the Padres hinted at their willingness to try something new while Kim remains without a timetable. Second baseman Xander Bogaerts moved to his old position in the sixth and played a season-high four innings at shortstop. After all the time Bogaerts spent transitioning to second (and dealing with hip issues early on), the Padres had previously signaled that they did not see him as more than an occasional late-inning option at short.
“We’re gonna play this thing by ear,” Shildt said. “Kind of easing Bogey back into the possibility of (more time at shortstop). … He was comfortable in a down game going over and getting his feet under him a little bit and seeing what it looked like.”
Sunday’s shift also allowed Shildt to pinch-hit Donovan Solano in the fifth and keep the veteran infielder in the game for two more plate appearances while he played first base. Despite losing most of his playing time after Bogaerts’ July return from a shoulder fracture, Solano was hitting .314 on Aug. 7. He has since gone 7-for-42 (.167) with two extra-base hits.
Still, he represents a clear offensive upgrade over Mason McCoy, who has been the primary substitute at shortstop since Kim went on the injured list.
“Obviously, it sucks very much that Solano is out of the lineup,” said Bogaerts, who homered in the eighth and handled a routine 6-3 grounder in the top of the ninth. “He’s still having an awesome year, but … I think it really sucks for Solano not being able to play every day and also knowing what a quality at-bat he gives you every at-bat pretty much. So, if we can get him in there, it would be nice.”
Arraez looks back to being himself
From June 28 through the end of July, Luis Arraez hit .295 with a paltry .315 on-base percentage while playing with a thumb injury that turned out to be a torn ligament. Since then, he has hit .341 with a .378 on-base percentage. Arraez told reporters Friday that his thumb is “way better.”
Perhaps the clearest sign that Arraez, who notched back-to-back three-hit games over the weekend, is back to being the most automatic singles machine in baseball: He has struck out just twice since the All-Star break. And he has not struck out in his past 115 plate appearances, the longest such streak since Juan Pierre went 147 consecutive plate appearances without striking out in 2004.
Luis Arraez hits tonight (3)
Luis Arraez strikeouts the ENTIRE second half (2) pic.twitter.com/IdgIjqDi8x
— MLB (@MLB) September 8, 2024
This is obviously good news for a Padres offense that has gotten weeks-long hot streaks from Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill but, of late, less steady production from Bogaerts and Jurickson Profar. And it seems clear that the team, at least for the rest of this month, should not bank on star-level play from Fernando Tatis Jr.
Tatis, who returned last week from a stress fracture in his left leg that is not fully healed, still appears limited at times, especially when he decelerates from a full sprint. He went 0-for-5 Sunday, striking out three times and grounding into an inning-ending double play. Near the start of Musgrove’s nightmarish fourth inning, he lost a fly ball in the sun.
(Tatis was wearing eye black but not sunglasses. “Sunglasses, for me, are worse when you have the sun right on top of you because it just goes, like, way darker,” Tatis said. “I have tried everything, especially my second year in right field. I’ve played with sunglasses and without sunglasses, and it’s definitely better without them.”)
“I feel good,” Tatis said when asked about his leg. “Obviously, there was a lot of pitches today that didn’t go my way. That’s stuff we can’t control as a player.”
(Photo of Ha-Seong Kim: Orlando Ramirez / USA Today)