Slam Diego 2021 and Beyond

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Introduction

America’s finest city. The birthplace of California. The eighth biggest city in the country. A city rich in beauty and history. However, San Diego’s history with sports has been less than glamorous.

Many teams have called San Diego home over the years, with most owners giving the city the short end of the stick. Financial woes led to the abrupt sale of the Rockets in 1971. More financial troubles and a desire to flee the city saw the Clippers defy the NBA and relocate to Los Angeles in 1984. At odds with the city over a new stadium, the Chargers eventually left San Diego, also for Los Angeles, in 2017.

The San Diego Padres stand alone as the last major professional team in the city. Armed with young talent and no small amount of swag, the Padres seek to bring a long awaited championship to one of the country’s most miserable sports fan bases.

Welcome to Slam Diego

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This series is most likely going to move pretty fast, and the format will certainly evolve over time. If there's anything specific you'd like to see more of, just let me know.

Settings

Complete Scouting - On
Batter Aging Speed - 1.000
Batter Dev. Speed - 1.000
Pitcher Aging Speed - 1.000
Pitcher Dev. Speed - 1.000
Talent Change Randomness - 100
Trading Difficulty - Average
Leagues - MLB + Minors

2024: International Scouting Discoveries change to "More (20 per year)"
2024-2025: Generate International Amateur Free Agents changed to "A Lot (128 per year)"
2024-2025: Generate International Established Free Agents changed to "A Lot (44 per year)"
2024-2025: Generate Free Agents from Independent Leagues changed to "A Lot (30 per year)"

Season Links

2021 - https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...57&postcount=3
2022 - https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...4&postcount=16
2023 - https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...1&postcount=26
2024 - https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...5&postcount=35
2025 - https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...0&postcount=45
2026 - https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...9&postcount=56 Format Change

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Fernando Tatis Jr. - SS - 22

Is there anyone else who could lead this list? Tatis is one of the faces of the league, and should be for years to come. What more could possibly be said about El Nino that hasn’t been said already? Power, speed, flair - Nando has everything you could want in a budding superstar.

Manny Machado - 3B - 28

Machado is a player that has all the tools to be a bonafide superstar in the league. At his best, he’s a gold glove defender, a silver slugger at the plate, and a surefire All-Star. And even at his worst, he’s more than serviceable and serves as a legitimate threat every time he steps into the box.

Eric Hosmer - 1B - 31

When the Padres’ front office decided that they wanted to put together a team that could contend, Hosmer was one of the first key acquisitions. Unfortunately, he hasn’t quite lived up to his price tag. Hosmer has found his transition to San Diego difficult and has yet to recapture the form he showed with the Royals. If there’s one thing that’s encouraging, it’s that Hosmer has seen improvements to his slash line every year that he’s been in San Diego. Now entering his fourth season with the team, it’s clear that Hosmer won’t ever be the player that he once was. Still, there’s enough talent there to be a big contributor to this lineup.

Yu Darvish - SP - 34

You’d be hard-pressed to find another pitcher with the repertoire of Darvish. Featuring one of the best sliders in the game, Darvish can also toss his plus fastball, plus curveball, plus splitter, plus cutter, and solid sinker in any count.

Blake Snell - SP - 28

Another high profile acquisition by the Padres, San Diego will be hoping that Snell recaptures his 2018 form, which saw him post a 21-5 record with a 1.8 ERA and sub-1.00 WHIP. Snell brings a plus, plus fastball, a devastating curveball, and solid slider and changeup options to the table. Entering his 6th season in the MLB, Snell brings some much needed experience to a very young starting rotation.

Drew Pomeranz - CL - 32

After being traded away in 2016, Pomeranz found his way back to San Diego for the 2020 season. Pomeranz brings an elite knuckle curve to the table with a plus fastball, plus changeup, and plus cutter. He has electric stuff with plus movement, although his control can let him down at times. The lefty closer is a bit of an anomaly, fairing slighting better against right handed hitters than against lefties. The Padres will be looking for him to anchor what should be a very good bullpen.

Dinelson Lamet - SP - 28

Lamet starts the 2021 season on the IL. He’s likely to miss the first month of the season after developing soreness in his elbow. Once he returns, Lamet should slot into the starting rotation. He has elite stuff that would make him a front-end starter on most teams. The biggest knock against Lamet is that he tends to struggle against lefties. Lineups that feature a heavy dose of left handed batters might see Lamet get skipped in the rotation.

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Adrian Morejon - SP - 22

With both Clevinger and Lamet on the IL, the young Morejon finds himself in the starting rotation to start the season. His electric stuff is the envy of most major league pitchers. However, his young arm is prone to fatigue. As the season drags on, and especially as Lamet works his way back into the starting rotation, it’s incredibly likely that Morejon will see a move to the back end of the bullpen.

Mackenzie Gore - SP - 22

Gore is knocking on the big league door, and it’s only a matter of time before he breaks through. His list of pitches includes a plus, plus fastball and changeup, plus slider, and solid curveball. There’s still room for the young lefty to grow, with expectations that his movement and control will both increase over the season. As he reaches his potential, he should develop into an Ace-level pitcher.

Jordan Guerrero - RP - 24

Standing at 6-foot-5 and weighing 295 pounds, Guerrero is an absolute unit. He utilizes his large farm to pump velocity into fastball, throwing it in the high 90s consistently and being able to touch 100. It looks like he’ll develop solid stuff with plus, plus movement coming out of the pen. The big knock against him is his limited repertoire. His fastball and slider are reliable options, but his changeup needs a tremendous amount of work. He might be better off just dropping the pitch all together.

Mason Fox - CL - 24

With one of the best curveballs in baseball and a plus fastball, Fox has the potential to be a dominant closer in the future. His dominant stuff can sometimes be let down by his lack of control. However, the rare talent there is enough to warrant a high risk, high reward approach with him.

CJ Abrams - SS - 20

Elite speed, a developed eye, and the potential to put bat on ball make Abrams a tantalizing middle infield prospect. If he develops, it won’t be surprising to see him end up as a multi-time All-Star. The biggest problem? He’ll need a position change. With Tatis signed for the long term and just a couple of years older than him, there’s just no place for Abrams as a shortstop.

Robert Hassell III - LF - 19

Hassell has the making of an everyday outfielder. His above-average speed grants him decent range out in the field. He looks to have promising hand-eye coordination, which should allow him to make solid contact with the ball at the plate. He should also develop above-average power. The big thing to watch out for will be his strikeout numbers. Despite showing glimpses of having a good eye at the plate, he simply swings and misses too much.

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Expectation: Reach the Playoffs
2021: Achieve a winning record
2021: Upgrade first base
2026: Reach the World Series

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2021 Starting Roster

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Recap

Monthly Record: 12-15
Overall Record: 12-15
Position: 3rd
Games Back: 4.5

Transactions:

To Baltimore Orioles - RHP Craig Stammen, RHP Chase Johnson
To San Diego Padres - 3B Maikel Franco

The driving forces behind nearly every trade this month were players coming off of IL and a lack of minor league options. He was off to a hot start, hitting .343 at the time that we traded for him. We don’t expect him to keep that production up, but he’s a serviceable third baseman that can step into the lineup any time Machado needs a rest. I like him as an option coming off of the bench. He’s a tough out at the plate and will make pitchers work in big situations.

To Seattle Mariners - RHP Dan Altavilla, RHP Aaron Northcraft
To San Diego Padres - RHP Will Vest

Vest is a young arm with electric stuff. He should feature in the back end of our pen, and can even step into a closer role when needed. He’s got a dominant fastball with a plus changeup, and solid curveball. Pretty good (average) control for a reliever with stuff this electric. He should rack up plenty of strikeouts coming out of the pen. The one knock against him is that every once in a while he’ll hang a pitch and get punished for it. He’s not the most loyal of players, so he might be someone we look to move in subsequent years.

To Chicago Cubs - CF Jorge Mateo, LHP Daniel Camarena
To San Diego Padres - CF Ian Miller

Despite getting off to a productive start with a .320 average over the first 14 games, Mateo proved to be a negative impact in our clubhouse. Miller has a tendency to put the ball in play and his legs can put pressure on any defense. It’s doubtful that he’ll be an everyday starter, but he can fill a spot in a pinch, or serve as a spark plug coming off of the bench.

To Boston Red Sox - RHP Austin Adams, LHP Jerry Keel
To San Diego - 3B Yairo Munoz

More organization depth than anything. Munoz was hitting .333 for the Red Sox at the time that we traded for him, but with Machado starting and the addition of Franco as a back up, there isn’t much room for Munoz. He’s a line drive hitter with power to the gaps and plus speed. He’s an improvement for our minor league roster, but I don’t see much of a future for him.

To St. Louis Cardinals - RHP Pierce Johnson, LHP Kyle McGrath
To San Diego - RHP Seth Elledge

Elledge is a project. It looks like he’ll have plus stuff once he fully develops, but his control is lacking. He aims to be a starter, but it looks more likely that he’ll end up in the pen - assuming he even makes it to the big leagues. There’s talent there, but it needs to be nurtured.

To San Francisco Giants - C Victor Caratini, LHP Matt Strahm
To San Diego Padres - 1B Wilmer Flores

It’s amazing just how many players started this season on the IL. Strahm was yet another pitcher coming off of injury, and in addition to him, C Austion Nola was also coming off the IL. One of our goals this season is to improve at first base. While not a pure upgrade, the acquisition of Flores allows us to platoon the position with Hosmer facing righties and Flores facing lefties.

The Good

Wilmer Flores has adjusted quickly to his move down the coast. In 15 games with the club he’s hitting .333/.400/.500. 2B Ha-Seong Kim is off to a good start, hitting .273/.310/.44. He’s currently tied for the club lead in RBIs and is tied for second on the club in WAR among the hitters. SS Fernando Tatis Jr. continues to impress. He’s hitting .311/.376/.447 and leads the club in hits, doubles, batting WAR, and stolen bases.

SP Chris Paddack leads the way for our starting staff. He’s posted a 2.55 ERA over 5 starts with a 0.96 WHIP and is second on the staff in strikeouts. The bullpen has also been exceptionally strong over the first month of the season, ranking 2nd in the NL with a 2.61 ERA.

The Bad

A number of key players are off to a slow start. 1B Eric Hosmer, 3B Manny Machado, and RF Wil Myers all struggled at the plate over the first month of the season.

The Ugly

Unfortunately, our starting rotation has the (dis)honor of being the first to make this list. Outside of Paddack and Snell, our starters have really struggled. SP Adrian Morejon struggled mightily and was sent back down to AAA. SP Yu Darvish and SP Joe Musgrove have left a lot to be desired, and SP Dinelson Lamet is just returning from injury. He went just 3.2 innings in his first start. The starters rank 9th in the NL in ERA at 3.97.

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Recap

Monthly Record: 18-10
Overall Record: 30-25
Position: 2nd
Games Back: 6.5

Transactions

To New York Yankees - RHP Javy Guerra
To San Diego Padres - CF Greg Allen

The juggling of pitchers coming off of the IL continues. Allen will most likely just be organizational depth, but there are a few tools there that could come in handy in a pinch. He has fantastic speed and is a natural defender. He could provide a spark as a pinch runner or serve as a late inning defensive substitution.

The Good

After a very slow first month, Manny Machado seems to have found his swing. The third baseman hit .312/.347/.560 for the month with 10 doubles and 5 home runs. Tatis continued to impress at the plate with a .291/.352/.482 line for the month. He also added another 6 stolen bases to his tally. LF Jurickson Profar had a monster month going .368/.439/.568 and leading the team in hits (35) and RBIs (19).

Among the pitchers, Paddack continues to lead the way. He logged a 4-1 record with a 2.82 ERA and 0.94 WHIP for the month. Dinelson Lamet has been strong since coming off of the IL. He went 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA and 0.97 WHIP. He also led the club in strikeouts with 42 for the month.

The pitching staff as a whole has been much improved this month. We now rank among the top 4 staffs in every major category.

The Bad

C Austin Nola’s return from the IL was short lived. A fractured foot put him back on the list for another 4 weeks. That leaves us with just Luis Campusano behind the plate and no real options to call up from the minors. Campusano is only hitting .208 for the year, so we aren’t expecting much from him.

Ha-Seong Kim cooled off in a big way, hitting just .239 for the month with 28 strikeouts.

The Ugly

RP Tim Hill has had a month to forget. After a short stint on the IL, he came back and got rocked. 3 innings of work over 4 games with a 12.00 ERA and a negative WAR - ouch.

Wil Myers continues to struggle at the plate. He hit just .172 for the month, bringing his overall BA down to .197 for the season.

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Recap

Monthly Record: 11-16
Overall Record: 41-41
Position: 3rd
Games Back: 13

Transactions

To Boston Red Sox - RF Trent Grisham
To San Diego Padres - RF Alex Verdugo

Despite being, what I would consider, a clear upgrade for us, this was a controversial decision. Grisham is popular both in and out of the clubhouse, while Verdugo comes with a reputation of being a disruptive player. Our clubhouse atmosphere is pretty strong, so I don’t think his influence will have a massive impact on the team.

To Seattle Mariners - RF Wil Myers, 2B Jake Cronenworth
To San Diego Padres - RHP Mychal Givens

It’s pretty clear that our offense isn’t getting the job done. I figure if we’re going to win this season, it’s going to have to be with our pitching staff. Myers and Cronenworth have struggled so far this season, but they should both feature as starters for the Mariners. Perhaps a change of scenery will do both of them some good. Givens brings some of the best stuff in the game to our staff. He should help bolster our solid bullpen.

The Good

With Cronenworth being shipped out, a spot on the roster opened up for 2b Tucupita Marcano to be promoted from AAA. The young infielder has adapted well to the big show, hitting .370/.414/.556 in his first month with the club.

Alex Verdugo has also adjusted quite well to his new surroundings. He posted a .340/.402/.495 line for the month while leading the club in doubles (9) and co-leading in RBIs (15)

The Bad

Dinelson Lamet has once again found himself on the IL. He’ll likely spend 4-5 weeks there as he recovers from elbow inflammation in his throwing arm.

The Ugly

Remember how I mentioned that we were going to win with our pitching? Well, June had other plans for us. It was a rough month for our staff, with 5 different pitchers posting ERA above 6.00. The worst of the bunch was RP Mark Melancon, who gave up 11 runs in 8.2 innings of work out of the pen. Oof.

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Recap

Monthly Record: 22-4
Overall Record: 63-45
Position: 2nd
Games Back: 7

Transactions

To Seattle Mariners - RHP Joe Musgrove, RHP Mark Melancon
To San Diego Padres - LHP James Paxton

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before - a Padres pitcher comes off the IL, minor league options are limited, so players are traded instead. Oh? You have heard that one before? Like 50 times already this season? Wow! With Lamet coming off of the IL once again, our only real option was to send Mackenzie Gore back down to AAA. However, I didn’t want this to be a long-term solution since Gore has pitched incredibly well so far this season. We needed to make room for him. The Mariners get a solid starter and an All-Star level reliever, and we get a front-end starter with some of the best stuff in the game.

To Chicago White Sox - RHP Yu Darvish
To San Diego Padres - 1B Jose Abreu

As the trading deadline began to creep up on us, I started to receive offers for Darvish. They were, in a word, awful. But the offers did give me an idea - I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to recall Gore from AAA. Darvish had posted some good numbers for us, but it was clear that he wasn’t matching the sort of seasons he’s had the last couple of years. So why not open up a spot for a young arm? On top of that, we get to address our issues at first base as well! At 34, Abreu isn’t going to be a long-term solution, but with the potential to hit for a decent average, hit 30+ home runs, and drive in 100+ RBIs, why wouldn’t we take a chance on him? As young as this team is, we’re still trying to win now. Now I just need to figure out what to do about the three first basemen on our roster.

To Chicago White Sox - 1B Eric Hosmer (Retaining 45%), LF Tommy Pham, RHP Justin Lange
To San Diego Padres - RHP Tyler Johnson

How convenient that there just happens to be an opening at first base in Chicago! This was a tough deal to orchestrate due to Hosmer’s price tag. We ended up having to retain 45%, which wasn’t ideal. Still, it gets part of his contract off the books, we clear up part of the log jam at first, and the White Sox get to fill their vacancy at the position.

To Miami Marlins - 1B Wilmer Flores
To San Diego Padres - LF Corey Dickerson

Since I was forced to throw in Pham to get the Hosmer deal done, we now had a vacancy of our own. Dickerson is a player with the potential to be a solid contributor. The biggest issue is that his best days might just be behind him, as he hasn’t been able to match the previous production he displayed for the Pirates. There’s a lot to like about his game. I just hope that he can adjust quickly to his new surroundings.

The Good

Would it be cheating if I just said the team as a whole? With a 22-4 record for the month, there’s not much to complain about.

Ha-Seong Kim hit .291/.348/.437. Machado posted a .348/.425/.652 line with 6 home runs and 20 RBIs. Tatis Jr. logged a .308/.351/.551 line with 7 home runs, 23 RBIs, and added another 5 steals to his tally. Jurickson Profar hit .340 for the month, and Tucupita Marcano continues to be a spark plug coming off the bench, hitting .500 in July.

The starting rotation was magnificent. Lamet bounced back from injury and posted a sub-1 ERA and WHIP for the month. James Paxton had no trouble adjusting to southern California as he went 3-0 with a 2.34 ERA and 0.87 WHIP in his first 5 starts for the club. Snell looked like an absolute beast with a 3-0 record of his own to go along with a 0.81 ERA and 0.93 WHIP.

Chris Paddack, Blake Snell, Manny Machado, and Fernando Tatis Jr. were all rewarded for their fine play by being selected to the All-Star Game. In addition, Blake Snell was also named the NL Pitcher of the Month for July!

The Bad

The draft wasn’t anything to write home about, as this year’s pool didn’t seem particularly exciting. We ended up going with 21 year old SP Will Bednar out of Mississippi State University with our first pick (28th overall). He has good stuff with a plus, plus curveball. He should maintain pretty average control over his pitches, but it looks like he struggles with giving up home runs. He should develop into a mid to back end starter.

The Ugly

We continue to have no production coming out of our catchers. We might as well just write in an automatic out whenever the eight-spot comes up to bat. But that’s me being picky this month. I can’t complain when the team is playing this well.

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Recap

Monthly Record: 15-11
Overall Record: 78-56
Position: 2nd
Games Back: 12.5

The Good

It’s no surprise that we couldn’t maintain last month’s pace, but the team is still winning. At 78 wins, we would be leading almost any other division in baseball. It sucks that we happen to be in the same division as the Dodgers at the moment. They are the best team in baseball right now and it’s not even close. Our magic number currently sits at 23.

Machado continues to swing a hot stick, although his power numbers dipped a bit this month. Still, he hit .319 and was second on the team in RBIs with 19. Dickerson took no time at all to adjust to his new surroundings. In his first full month with the team he posted a .358/.380/.611 line and led the team in home runs and RBIs.

Gore has looked fantastic on the hill since being recalled from AAA. He went 2-0 over 5 starts with a 1.09 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, and held batters to just a .120 average. Creating room for him in the rotation was definitely the right move.

The Bad

August saw quite a few of our hitters regress towards the mean. Kim, Marcano, and Profar all had subpar months. And while Paddack, Paxton, and Snell all pitched well, they definitely looked human this month,

The Ugly

We lost Dinelson Lamet. Again. This time with a torn back muscle. There is the slimmest chance that he might be able to make a return if we make a deep run into the playoffs, but he is most likely done for the season. SP Ryan Weathers has been called up to replace him.

The bullpen also got knocked around this month, which is concerning. Crismatt, Hill, Pagan, and Williams all had months they’d rather forget. Hopefully they’ll have a short memory and will bounce back as we make our way through the back half of the season. Our bullpen ERA now sits at 3.77, ranked 7th in the NL.

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Recap

Monthly Record: 16-9
Overall Record: 94-65
Position: 2nd
Games Back: 13

The Good

We clinched the Wild Card! Fun fact, with 94 wins we have now secured the second best record in Padres’ history. Another fun fact, the two seasons that we are sandwiched between are 1984 (92-70) and 1998 (98-64), which just happen to be the two years that the team made it to the World Series. We definitely aren’t going to get ahead of ourselves. A deep run in the playoffs means eventually going through L.A., which is no small task. The Dodgers are 107-52 with three games to go. Still, beating them isn’t out of the question. They got the best of us over the course of the season, but we did manage to go 8-11 against them this year.

There’s a number of batters who will be carrying momentum into the playoffs. Abreu, Kim, Marcano, and Dickerson all had great months. Tatis Jr. was the cream of the crop with a .316/.409/.694 line and 10 home runs for the month. There was also the little matter of a 22 game hitting streak by Verdugo.

The Bad

Gore came back to earth with a very pedestrian month on the mound. Crismatt was serviceable, if uninspiring, filling in for the injured Weathers. But honestly, I’m just nitpicking at this point. I can’t be too mad at anyone this month

The Ugly

Because there has to be one, newly called up RP Jordan Guerrero makes the list. He struggled with his first big league experience, giving up 6 runs in just 3.2 innings of work out of the pen.

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Recap

Overall Record: 96-65
Position: 2nd (Wildcard)
Games Back: 13 (+5 in Wildcard)

It’s incredible to see how far this team has come. I was definitely in panic mode those first few months on the job. Hitters who got off to slow starts. A team that was getting mediocre results. For the first three months of the season it looked like this year might slip away from us. I might have gone a little overboard with the transactions, but sometimes being a madman in the front office pays off.

What can I say about a season that will go down as one of the club’s best? Let’s start with some of the big bats.

SS Fernando Tatis Jr. - .274/.345/.502, 33 HR, 95 RBI, 26 SB, 8.1 WAR

With the eyes of the baseball world watching his every move, El Nino did not disappoint. Whether it’s with his bat, his legs, or his glove, Tatis Jr. always entertains. He finished the season 3rd among NL hitters in WAR. The best part? He’s still improving.

3B Manny Machado - .286/.347/.495, 28 HR, 101 RBI, 17 SB, 5.4 WAR

This is the $30 million player we expected. In a season in which a lot of our hitters bounced back and forth between hot and cold, Machado was, for the most part, a consistent threat at the plate. The 17 stolen bases are especially surprising. Who knew he was still so crafty on the bases?

Now let’s take a look at our three big offensive acquisitions.

1B Jose Abreu

2021 Totals - .297/.352/.502, 46 doubles, 26 HR, 101 RBI, 4.7 WAR
2021 Padres - .286/.337/.481, 19 doubles, 8 HR, 33 RBI, 1.5 WAR

Abreu saw a slight dip in performance after moving to San Diego, but still put together a very solid season. His full season projection would have put him at 59 doubles, 23 HR, 93 RBI, 4.2 WAR.

LF Cory Dickerson

2021 Totals - .289/.328/.485, 24 doubles, 24 HR, 81 RBI, 2.9 WAR
2021 Padres - .327/.344/.558, 13 doubles, 11 HR, 44 RBI, 1.6 WAR

The move to the west coast definitely did Dickerson some good. If we project his stats with the club over a full season we would expect 36 Doubles, 31 HR, 124 RBI, 4.5 WAR. If we compare this to his yearly averages, the power numbers are actually pretty reasonable, although he likely would have seen some regression in his batting average and WAR total, as both would have either set or matched career highs.

CF Alex Verdugo

2021 Totals - .310/.383/.481, 51 Doubles, 13 HR, 75 RBI, 4.9 WAR
2021 Padres - .298/.376/.432, 29 Doubles, 6 HR, 45 RBI, 2.3 WAR

Verdugo performed just about as expected, although there was a minor dip in performance. At first glance you can see that his slash line was less impressive after the move to San Diego. Over a full season this would account -1 difference in WAR if we compare it to his full season projection. However, a lot of the numbers line up pretty closely with his projections coming in at 49 Doubles, 10 HR, and 76 RBI.

Now let’s take a look at some of the standout pitching performances.

SP Chris Paddack - 15-9, 199.2 IP, 205 K, 3.43 ERA, 1.14 WHIP. 4.4 WAR

The 25 year old took some big strides forward in his third season in the pros. He set career highs in wins (And ironically, losses as well), innings pitched, strikeouts, and WAR. He was rewarded for his fine play with his first All-Star selection

SP Blake Snell - 13-10, 206.0 IP, 204 K, 2.93 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 4.5 WAR

It was honestly a toss up between Snell and Paddack for who was the best pitcher on the staff this season. 2021 will go down as the second best season of Snell’s six year career. Snell ranked 2nd in the NL in ERA, 2nd in IP, 5th in Ks, and 1st in rWAR. Snell was rewarded with his second All-Star selection this season.

CL Drew Pomeranz - 35 SV, 72 K, 2.67 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 2.8 WAR

2021 was Pomeranz’s best year as a reliever. He went 25 straight games without giving up a run, which was tops in the NL. If there’s a fault to be found in his season, it was that he blew 5 saves, the majority of which can be attributed to some early season struggles.

And just like the batters, we have to take a look at our big acquisition on the mound.

SP James Paxton

2021 Totals - 18-7, 213.0 IP, 217 K, 2.70 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 5.0 WAR
2021 Padres - 3-0, 75.0 IP, 74 K, 2.88 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 1.5 WAR

Paxton was obviously successful in his 12 starts with the club. However, if we project his stats over a full season, we see that the move south caused a slight dip in performance - 200.0 IP, 197 K, 4 WAR. Still, even with that slight dip, those numbers are nothing to scoff at.

[Sundance]

Playoff Bracket 2021

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NL Wild Card

New York Mets at San Diego Padres
Jacob DeGrom (14-12) vs Blake Snell (13-10)

Both pitchers started off strong, but it was the Mets who struck first. After striking out the first two batters in the top of the 3rd, Snell walked 3B J.D. Davis. SS Francisco Lindor stepped up to the plate next and hit an RBI double.

We finally broke through ourselves in the bottom of the 5th. Ha-Seong Kim kicked off the inning with a lead off walk. He would advance to second on a fielder’s choice by Corey Dickerson. Austin Nola would follow up with an RBI single, advancing to second on the throw. Snell helped himself out with an RBI single of his own, also advancing to second on the throw. Back to back walks to Tatis Jr. and Alex Verdugo loaded up the bases, and Jose Abreu would knock in Snell with an RBI sac fly. The score would hold as we took the game 3-1

Final Score: Padres 3 - Mets 1
Player of the Game: SP Blake Snell - 6.1 IP, 1 R, 3 BB, 7 K

NL Division Series

Game 1
Los Angeles Dodgers vs San Diego Padres
Walker Buehler (22-5) vs James Paxton (18-7)

The downside of having such a young team is that sometimes the moment becomes too big for them. That seemed to be the case in Game 1 as we uncharacteristically committed three costly errors. A lead off double and an 0-2 single gave the Dodgers an early 1-0 lead to start the game. A lead off single to start the bottom of the 5th was followed by a 2-run homer by 1B Max Muncy to extend L.A.’s lead.

We would work at chipping away that lead and scored a run in each of the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings to tie the game up at 3. To extra innings we go!

Top of the 11th, 1 out. Ha-Seong Kim gets things started with a single. The next batter, Corey Dickerson strikes out. Austin Nola steps up to the plate and knocks a 2-out single. Runners on the corner. We go to the bench and call in Luis Campusano to pinch hit. The backup catcher wallops a 3-run homer to take the lead!
In the bottom of the 11th, Keone Kela took the mound for us. He got into trouble early, giving up a lead off walk, a first pitch single, and then a first pitch 3-run homer to RF Mookie Betts. Will Vest took over pitching during and soon found himself in trouble as well. With the bases loaded and 1 out, pinch hitter C Keibert Ruiz hit a flyball to left field. The Dodgers sent CF Cody Bellinger home on the tag up to try and win the game, but he was promptly thrown out at the plate by Cody Dickerson to end the inning.

The game remained tied until the 14th. With 2 outs and runners on the corners, Mookie Betts hit a routine ground ball to our pitcher, Mackenzie Gore. Remember how I mentioned that due to our youth, sometimes moments get too big for our players? Well, this was one of those moments. Gore’s throw to first sailed high and wide, and instead of ending the inning, his error allowed the Dodgers to walk off.

After the game we found out that we’ll be losing CL Drew Pomeranz (Sore Shoulder) and RP Emilio Pagan (Elbow Inflammation) for the rest of the playoffs. The baseball gods are just rubbing salt in our wounds.

Final Score: Padres 6 - Dodgers 7
Player of the Game: SP Walker Buehler - 6.2 IP, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K

Game 2
Los Angeles Dodgers vs San Diego Padres
Clayton Kershaw (13-9) vs Chris Paddack (15-9)

It’s never easy to win when you give up the lead first. The Dodgers struck early with a pair of solo home runs in the bottom of the first (Bellinger and Betts). The Dodgers would add runs in the 3rd and 7th innings, and that’s about it. There’s honestly not a lot to say about this game. Kershaw was great and they held us to 3 hits. We gave up 7 hits, but unfortunately for us, 3 of them left the yard.

Final Score: Padres 0 - Dodgers 4
Player of the Game: SP Clayton Kershaw - 7.2 IP, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K

Game 3
Los Angeles Dodgers at San Diego Padres
Julio Urias (15-0) vs Blake Snell (13-10)

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before - We give up the lead and then aren’t able to mount a comeback. Oh, you’ve heard that every single game this postseason? Yea, well it’s hard to find ways to win when you’re constantly playing from behind. Snell started off strong, but a lead off walk in the top of the 4th would come back to haunt him. We went to the pen early, which would prove to be a mistake as Mychal Givens would give up another two runs in the 6th. And that’s all it took to take us down. Our offense was nonexistent these past two games, as we mustered just 8 hits over the pair of them.

We knew the road through L.A. was going to be a difficult one. They were the best team in the league and it definitely showed this series. Their pitching staff just completely shut us down and we couldn’t keep the ball inside the fences. It’s a shame to see one of the club's all-time great seasons end this way, but this was just a case of the better team winning.

Final Score: Padres 0 - Dodgers 3
Player of the Game: SP Julio Urias - 7.2 IP, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K

NL Championship Series
Los Angeles Dodgers 4 - Milwaukee Brewers 0

AL Championship Series
Chicago White Sox 4 - Minnesota Twins 0

World Series
Los Angeles Dodgers 4 - Chicago White Sox 0

[Sundance]

How do you improve upon a historical season for your club? That’s the question I faced going into this off season. One the one hand, we are a playoff team that posted the second best record in club history. No one would fault me for keeping things just as they are. On the other hand, as good as we are, it’s obvious that our NL West rivals in L.A. are better. If we want to bring home a championship, we’re inevitably going to have to go through L.A. So how do we beat them?

Would replacing almost all of our coaching staff do the trick? Seems extreme, but we’re going to find out! Let’s be honest, Jayce Tingler is a perfectly good manager and he helped lead our team to the Divisional Round. But our time to win is now, and there were options out there that could be great managers. So why not try and upgrade? So here’s a look at our coaching staff:

In:

Manager - Luis Caballero (2021 - Seattle Mariners (DSL) - 33-39)
Pitching Coach - John Habyan (2021 - Los Angeles Angels (AZL) - 34-22)
Hitting Coach - Joey DeMonte (2021 - Unemployed)
1B Coach - Jerry Kutzler (2021 - Unemployed)
3B Coach - Dale Sveum ( 2021 - Unemployed)
Scouting Director - Jason McLeod (2021 - Unemployed)
Team Trainer - Rick Jameyson (2021 - Unemployed)

Retained:

Assistant GM - A.J. Preller
Bench Coach - Skip Schumaker

Is it a risk to fill our staff with completely unknown and unproven talent? Could be. But I think it is worth the risk. Just from a personality stand point alone, I can already see that Caballero is a better fit with our current roster. So what other steps can we take to improve? How about locking down our pending free agents!

Extensions

SP James Paxton - 4 years, $71,440,000, Player Option after second year
LF Corey Dickerson - 3 years, $23,000,000
RP Keone Kela - 3 years, $16,000,000
RP Mychal Givens - 3 years, $12,990,000

The last thing we needed to address was the one constant black hole in our lineup - catcher. But after spending so much money on extensions, there wasn’t anything left in the bank, so once again I found myself on the phone.

Transactions

To Kansas City Royal - C Austin Nola, RHP Steven Wilson, minor league RHP Jordan Guerrero
To San Diego Padres - C Cam Gallagher

Gallagher was Kansas City’s backup last year, but he’ll be slotted in as our starter. We’re looking at a 2:1 platoon with Luis Campusano. Campusano may eventually become our starter, but the youngster isn’t quite ready just yet. Gallagher hit .295/.370/.466 last year with 6 HR and a 1.1 WAR over 48 games. We expect to see some regression from those numbers since they were all career highs. But even if he comes in at his average of .259/.329/.404, it’ll still be an improvement at the position.

League News

MLB has decided to expand the league by two teams. Joining the NL West this season will be the Portland Sycamores. The Jacksonville Warhawks will join the AL East.

They have also announced a rule change to service time. The new minimum service time required to reach free agency had been reduced to 5 years. This change will enable players to test the open market earlier and thus earn more money over their careers. In addition, the number of years required to be eligible for salary arbitration has been reduced by 1 year.

Owner Goals

2022 - Upgrade Right Field
2022 - Extend SP James Paxton (Completed)
2023 - Win Championship
2026 - Increase attendance to 40,4000/Game
2026 - Build a championship team

[Sundance]

Fernando Tatis Jr. - SS - 23

Of course El Nino tops the list of key players. You’d better get used to seeing his name here. The young face of the franchise put together a wonderful 2021 season that saw him rewarded with his first All-Star selection. He would go on to finish 6th in MVP voting. There is no limit to his talent and we expect him to build upon his success last year.

Manny Machado - 3B - 29

Coming off of a season in which he tied his career high in WAR (5.7), Machado will look to continue his run as one of the game’s premier third basemen. He finished 2021 10th in MVP voting. If he can avoid a slow start, he should be able to improve on last year’s numbers.

Jose Abreu - 1B - 35

With a big price tag comes big expectations. Abreu saw a slight dip in production after his mid-season move last year. But with half a season under his belt, we’re hoping that the veteran will bounce back to his pre-transaction numbers. Petco has never been the friendliest park for hitters, but we’re expecting to see an uptick in his power numbers this season.

Alex Verdugo - RF - 25

Looking at his combined numbers, the young outfielder put together a 2021 season that would put him on the cusp of super stardom. We’re expecting to see improvements in his power numbers this year, and that, combined with ability to hit for a high average, should make him quite the threat at the plate. Our biggest concern with the youngster is his attitude. As long as we’re winning, I don’t expect to have any problems out of him. But if we ever hit a rough spot, his behavior could exacerbate things.

James Paxton - SP - 33

Paxton might be the highest profile player we acquired last season, and he was certainly the biggest extension that we offered out. All eyes will be on the Canadian as it’s expected that he’ll assume the ace role this season. At his best, he’s a Cy Young contender. However, we saw that the move south last season caused a slight dip in his performance. We’re hoping that he can bounce back this season and live up to expectations.

Blake Snell - SP - 29

While all eyes might be on Paxton, it might be Snell that has the biggest shoes to fill. His first season with the team was absolutely incredible and he ended up finishing 2nd in Cy Young voting. We expect him to continue to build steam at the front of our rotation this season.

Chris Paddack - SP - 26

Paddack took some huge strides in his career last season. He finished last year almost matching Snell in WAR and finished 4th in Cy Young voting. He still has some room to improve, so we’re expecting great things from him. If he can limit giving up home runs, he should have another very productive season.

Dinelson Lamet - SP - 29

When Lamet was in the rotation, he was one of our best. He went 7-0 last season with a 1.38 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, and 11.1 K/9. The biggest issue with him is his health. He spent nearly 7 months on the IL last season. If he can stay healthy, he’ll be a key piece in our rotation. If he can’t, it’s going to be another juggling act with our rotation and minor league options.

Drew Pomeranz - CL - 33

Pomeranz has quickly developed into one of the premiere closers in the league. He finished last season 4th in the Reliever of the Year award. A slow start where he racked up the majority of his 5 blown saves most likely cost him the award. Still, even with the slow start, he posted a 2.8 WAR, which was by far the highest among all contenders for the award.

Prospect Watch 2021

SP MacKenzie Gore - MLB
2B Ha-Seong Kim - MLB
2B Tucupita Marcano - MLB
C Luis Campusano - MLB
SP Seth Elledge - AAA
SP Ryan Weathers - AAA
CL Adrian Morejon - AAA
SS CJ Abrams - AAA
RF Jorge Ona - AAA
LF Robert Hassell III - A+

[Sundance]

Recap

Monthly Record: 15-8
Overall Record: 15-8
Position: 2nd
Games Back: 3

The Good

It looks like we’ve picked up where we left off. The team has gotten off to a hot start to the season and we’re keeping pace with our rivals to the north. The majority of our lineup is off to decent starts, but there’s definitely a few standouts. Fernando Tatis Jr. is off to a great start, already leading the team in WAR. He’s hitting .279/.354/.616 with 7 HR, 6 doubles, and 4 SB. Ha-Seong Kim posted a .295/.354/.568 line with 5 HR. He also leads the team in doubles with 9. Manny Machado is batting .282/.340/.529 with 6 HR and a team leading 17 RBI. The biggest surprise has been Ian Miller, who stepped into a starting role and posted a .333/.394/.533 line with 5 doubles, 2 triples, and a team leading 7 SB.

Our starting rotation has also been excellent. MacKenzie Gore, Dinelson Lamet, James Paxton, and Blake Snell are all off to hot starts. We’ve also had some good performances coming out of the pen.

The team currently ranks 3rd in the NL in batting average, 2nd in slugging, 2nd in WAR, 4th in runs scored, tied for 2nd in hits, 2nd in extra-base hits, 2nd in HR, 2nd in SB, 2nd in hits allowed, 1st in strikeouts (Pitching), 2nd in defensive efficiency, and 1st in zone rating.

The Bad

The long ball continues to plague our pitchers. Despite giving up the second fewest amount of hits, we rank just 7th in HR allowed. 14.7% of all the hits we allowed this month left the yard.

The Ugly

The injury bug has once again bitten us. Chris Paddack had to leave his second start of the season with a partially torn labrum. He’s expected to miss 2-3 months. We’ve called up 26 year old SP Andre Jackson from AAA. Jackson was acquired this offseason as part of a four player trade with the Dodgers.

LF Corey Dickerson also missed a couple weeks with a strained hamstring. OF Alex Verdugo also found himself on the IL with a severe hip strain. He’s expected to miss 4-5 weeks.

[Sundance]

Recap

Monthly Record: 16-12
Overall Record: 31-20
Position: 2nd
Games Back: 4

The Good

We’re still keeping pace with the division leading Dodgers. They are still maintaining the best record in baseball at 35-16. However, at least early on in the season, the gap between them and the rest of us seems to be closing. There are a total of 9 other teams with 30 or more wins so far this year. They still might be the best team in baseball, but it looks like a lot of us have gotten stronger.

There was a lot to like on the offensive side of the ball this month. Jose Abreu swung a hot stick going .280/.345/.520 with 7 HR, and was second on the team with 25 RBIs. Tatis Jr. continues to impress - .317/.397/.606. He led the team in HR (9) and RBI (28) and was co-lead in SB (8). Corey Dickerson bounced back from his short stint on the IL and went .313/.337/.556 for the month with 6 HR. And OF Ian Miller has forced himself into the starting lineup, taking over Jurickson Profar’s spot in the team. He hit .321/.403/.459 with a team leading 10 doubles this month. He also matched Tatis Jr. with 8 SB.

The Bad

Our pitching staff was pretty pedestrian. I can’t really say that they had a bad month, but I just expect more out of them.

The Ugly

In most months, this wouldn’t even make the list, but something needs to go here. Our bullpen left a bit to be desired this month. Tyler Johnson and Keone Kela both had mediocre months. Our bullpen now ranks 10th in the NL at 3.53 and our staff as a whole ranks just 9th in walks allowed. Just a couple of things we need to keep an eye on going forward.

[Sundance]

Recap

Monthly Record: 17-8
Overall Record: 48-28
Position: 2nd
Games Back: 1

The Good

The gap is closing! We now have the second best record in baseball and our just one game back from our bitter rivals. We had a number of great performances at the plate in June:

Cam Gallagher - .348/.403.424
Manny Machado - .379/.423/.663, 15 doubles, 4 HR, 25 RBI
Fernando Tatis Jr. - .368/.445/.674, 6 doubles, 7 HR, 26 RBI, 6 SB - Named Batter of the Month
Corey Dickerson - .323/.356/.510, 8 doubles, 2 triples, 17 RBI
Alex Verdugo - .356/.419/.471. 9 doubles

Our bullpen also came around this month. We had four relievers post sub-1 WHIPs - Seth Elledge (0.50), Mychal Givens (0.21), Emilio Pagan (0.68), and Will Vest (0.27).

The club’s rankings in the NL are also looking mighty fine:

Batting Average - 1st
OBP - 2nd
Slugging - 2nd
WAR (Batters) - 1st
Runs Score - 1st
Hits - 1st
Extra Base Hits - 2nd
Home Runs - Tied 2nd
Stolen Bases - 1st
ERA - 3rd
Runs Allowed - 3rd
WAR (Pitchers) - 2nd
Hits Allowed - 2nd
Opponent’s Batting Average - 2nd
Strikeouts - 1st

Here’s a look at the Padres that made the All-Star game this year!

SP James Paxton - 7-3, 3.44 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 10.9 K/9, 2.6 WAR
CL Drew Pomeranz - 4-2, 13 SV, 3.52 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 11.4 K/9, 0.9 WAR
2B Ha-Seong Kim - .256/.328/.493, 11 HR, 6 SB. 1.9 WAR (Missed due to injury)
3B Manny Machado - .287/.341/.527, 16 HR, 4 SB, 2.8 WAR
SS Fernando Tatis Jr. - .322/.403/.641, 23 HR, 16 SB, 5.9 WAR (Received most votes)
LF Corey Dickerson - .333/.361/.580, 11 HR, 1 SB, 2.2 WAR

The Bad

Ian Miller cooled off in a big way. He’s inexperienced, so there was bound to be some regression at some point. June saw him hit 2.14/.257/.252, although he did still manage to steal 7 bases.

The Ugly

Can we make it through just one month without suffering a major injury? Please? As mentioned above, Ha-Seong Kim was selected, but ultimately missed due to injury, to his first All-Star game. He suffered a severe hip strain and will miss 4-5 weeks. Tucupita Marcano suffered a hamstring strain and is out for 6 weeks. 2B Ivan Castillo and 2B Alex Goicochea have been called up to replace them. And the worst for last - Blake Snell suffered a ruptured ulnar collateral ligament. He won’t be back until the middle of the season...of 2023. Snell was putting together another great season prior to getting injured. Over 15 starts he went 8-3 with 96.2 IP, 121 K (Second in the league at the time), 3.26 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 2.3 WAR.

It won’t be easy to replace him in our rotation. We did get SP Mike Clevinger back from Tommy John surgery, so that will help. Chris Paddack is on rehab in the minors, but we should be getting him back sometime next month. In the meantime, we’ve called up 22 year old SP Ryan Weathers.