Will Padres make a run? And more…
The San Diego Padres were one of the most active teams of the offseason. After years of not being able to hit, the Padres aggressively upgraded their offense by acquiring Justin Upton, B.J. Upton, Derek Norris, Matt Kemp and Wil Myers. Additionally, San Diego signed James Shields, bolstering an already strong starting staff.
However, the Padres have gotten off to a slow start. The National League West is a tough division with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants in the mix, leaving San Diego to languish in fourth place behind both aforementioned teams and the mediocre Arizona Diamondbacks. At 21-24, the Padres are only six games back of the Dodgers but teetering on the brink of oblivion should Los Angeles make a run.
So why such a sluggish start? For starters, Ian Kennedy and Odrisamer Despaigne have been terrible at the back end of the rotation. Kennedy was supposed to be one of the better middle-of-the-staff starters in the league, but has struggled to the tune of a 6.11 earned run average with only three quality starts in seven chances. Despaigne has an identical ERA and has a brutal walk to strikeout ratio at 11:16.
The bullpen has also been a bit of an issue. The acquisition of closer Craig Kimbrel on the eve of Opening Day has proven to be a disappointing move by the front office to this point. The flamethrower formerly of the Atlanta Braves has 11 saves but also a bloated 5.74 ERA. Kimbrel has been perhaps the best closer of the last few years, but has not seen his success transfer over.
The lineup has seen Justin Upton perform to an MVP level, hitting 12 home runs and 35 RBI through 162 at-bats. Norris has also been a huge plus, hitting .284 with 27 RBI out of the catcher position. Myers is also productive with a .291 clip and five homers. However, Will Middlebrooks has been a black hole in the order, hitting .218 with a grizzly .255 on-base percentage.
Only three games under .500, the Padres have a chance to turn things around. The question is whether this team of new parts can gel quickly enough, or if Los Angeles and San Francisco will pull away in the meantime.
Twins surging
The Minnesota Twins were supposed to be the worst team in the American League. Instead, the Twins are rolling in second place of the American League Central, tied with the Detroit Tigers and three games behind the Kansas City Royals.
Can Minnesota continue to play as it has in a 25-18 start? Not likely. Still, the Twins have some young talent and a good, young manager in Paul Molitor. They also employ some quality leaders in Joe Mauer, Torii Hunter and Kurt Suzuki. If nothing else, baseball is relevant in the Twin Cities once again.
