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The San Diego Padres have gone from one of the best teams in Major League Baseball over the first two months of the season to just .500 after losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday for the team’s sixth consecutive loss.
After being embarrassed 23-3 by the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday, the Padres got out to a 6-0 lead over the Dodgers by the second inning but coughed it up, allowing Los Angeles to score 11 unanswered runs by the sixth inning. San Diego went on to lose 12-7 and fell 13 games back in the National League West and three games back from the final NL wild card spot.
Coming into the season, the Padres were thin at starting pitching and didn’t do much to address it. San Diego lost right-hander Dylan Cease to the Toronto Blue Jays, which signed the strikeout specialist to a seven-year, $210 million deal, and re-signed righty Michael King to a three-year, $75 million contract.
San Diego went bargain shopping to fill in the rest of the rotation and while some pitchers like Randy Vasquez, who was on the wrong end of last night’s game, have pitched well at times, the lack of quality starters is catching up to the Friars.
Signing Cease may not have been feasible given the situation with ownership and the impending sale of the franchise, but the organization must have known what it was losing in Cease.
Over the last five seasons, Cease has recorded over 200 strikeouts and has made 32 or more starts – durability and strikeouts, two of the most highly coveted traits for a starting pitcher.
This year, he is on pace to strike out 238 batters in 154.2 innings. He missed a few starts due to injury and still might strike out nearly 240 batters. Cease’s 128 punchouts are first in the American League and third in MLB.
According to ESPN’s AXE model, Cease is sixth in the publication’s midseason AL Cy Young rankings and tells readers to keep an eye on him in the race.
“Cease has been one of the AL's most dominant starters, leading the league in strikeouts (128) while fanning a career-best 13.8 batters per nine innings,” Bradford Doolittle wrote Friday. “In June, that strikeout ratio went up to 15.2, and he didn't allow a home run all month. Cease posted a 2.95 ERA during that span, a mark that would have been better if not for a few too many walks and some lousy BABIP luck.
“Things appear to be coming together for Cease in his first season with the Blue Jays, and he seems poised for a big second half. He'll be in the AL Cy Young mix.”
Although a lot of the Padres’ struggles can be attributed to the offense, who knows how good the team would be if Cease was still toeing the rubber for them every fifth day.
Continue reading...
After being embarrassed 23-3 by the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday, the Padres got out to a 6-0 lead over the Dodgers by the second inning but coughed it up, allowing Los Angeles to score 11 unanswered runs by the sixth inning. San Diego went on to lose 12-7 and fell 13 games back in the National League West and three games back from the final NL wild card spot.
Coming into the season, the Padres were thin at starting pitching and didn’t do much to address it. San Diego lost right-hander Dylan Cease to the Toronto Blue Jays, which signed the strikeout specialist to a seven-year, $210 million deal, and re-signed righty Michael King to a three-year, $75 million contract.
San Diego went bargain shopping to fill in the rest of the rotation and while some pitchers like Randy Vasquez, who was on the wrong end of last night’s game, have pitched well at times, the lack of quality starters is catching up to the Friars.
Signing Cease may not have been feasible given the situation with ownership and the impending sale of the franchise, but the organization must have known what it was losing in Cease.
Over the last five seasons, Cease has recorded over 200 strikeouts and has made 32 or more starts – durability and strikeouts, two of the most highly coveted traits for a starting pitcher.
This year, he is on pace to strike out 238 batters in 154.2 innings. He missed a few starts due to injury and still might strike out nearly 240 batters. Cease’s 128 punchouts are first in the American League and third in MLB.
According to ESPN’s AXE model, Cease is sixth in the publication’s midseason AL Cy Young rankings and tells readers to keep an eye on him in the race.
“Cease has been one of the AL's most dominant starters, leading the league in strikeouts (128) while fanning a career-best 13.8 batters per nine innings,” Bradford Doolittle wrote Friday. “In June, that strikeout ratio went up to 15.2, and he didn't allow a home run all month. Cease posted a 2.95 ERA during that span, a mark that would have been better if not for a few too many walks and some lousy BABIP luck.
“Things appear to be coming together for Cease in his first season with the Blue Jays, and he seems poised for a big second half. He'll be in the AL Cy Young mix.”
Although a lot of the Padres’ struggles can be attributed to the offense, who knows how good the team would be if Cease was still toeing the rubber for them every fifth day.
Continue reading...
