{"id":39177,"date":"2022-06-06T17:58:03","date_gmt":"2022-06-06T17:58:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/padres-wobbly-bullpen-is-on-a-more-sustainable-pace-than-a-year-ago\/"},"modified":"2022-06-06T17:58:03","modified_gmt":"2022-06-06T17:58:03","slug":"padres-wobbly-bullpen-is-on-a-more-sustainable-pace-than-a-year-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/padres-wobbly-bullpen-is-on-a-more-sustainable-pace-than-a-year-ago\/","title":{"rendered":"Padres’ wobbly bullpen is on a more sustainable pace than a year ago"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In their first 54 games of last season, Padres relievers led the majors in both innings (237 2\/3) and ERA (2.35). They posted the second-highest strikeout-to-walk percentage of any bullpen. They received a needed rest in that 54th game as Joe Musgrove temporarily left the rotation to log five scoreless innings after a three-inning start from Blake Snell.<\/p>\n

They never did catch their breath. Over the final two-thirds of the season, the San Diego bullpen recorded at 4.29 ERA and ranked 15th in strikeout-to-walk percentage. It buckled after August, throwing up a 5.44 ERA. As the Padres plummeted from playoff contention, they ran out of starting pitching, with little relief in sight.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, in the 54th game of this season, there was plenty of both. Mike Clevinger went three innings and 60 pitches as he returned from the injured list. Nick Martinez, piggybacking off the starter, completed four innings on five days’ rest. Then Robert Suarez, Tim Hill and Taylor Rogers covered the final few frames of a 6-4, 10-inning victory over Milwaukee. After an 0-4 start to a two-city road trip, the Padres ended it with a third consecutive win over the Brewers.<\/p>\n

And after a third of the regular season, the San Diego bullpen has produced a middling 3.74 ERA. Most of the relievers have wobbled more than occasionally. Rogers, the closer, did not retire a single batter Thursday in what he called the worst outing of his career.<\/p>\n

Yet there is this, too: Padres relievers have thrown just 175 2\/3 innings, third fewest in baseball. The team is 33-21, one game behind its pace a year ago, and the offense remains suspect. But a rested bullpen, like a deep rotation, provides reason to believe the Padres can better sustain their early season success.<\/p>\n

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Padres’ 2021 bullpen<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Month<\/span><\/th>\nIP<\/span><\/th>\nWAS<\/span><\/th>\nFIP<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
\n

April<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

117.0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

3.08<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

3.79<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

May<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

124.1<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

1.74<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

3.57<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

June<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

101.1<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

4.00<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

4.00<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

July<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

104.2<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

3.18<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

4.39<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Aug<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

117.0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

4.31<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

3.93<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Sept \/ Oct<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

124.0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

5.44<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

5.13<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

For San Diego, the two pitching units have benefited from deliberate overlap. Martinez, one of seven starters on the roster, has started eight games and appeared in two as a scheduled reliever. Rookie MacKenzie Gore has dazzled through nine games, one of which was his professional relief debut di lui. The Padres, impressed by that performance and his overall demeanor di lui, can limit his innings later in the season with more piggybacking.<\/p>\n

The rotation riches – Padres starters lead the majors in innings pitched and quality starts – have buoyed the more vulnerable parts of the bullpen. Rogers has mostly been an outlier, posting an 0.44 ERA before crumbling in two recent save opportunities. On Sunday, he allowed an extra-inning ghost runner to score before securing his 18th save. His 3.14 career ERA suggests he should settle in as a reliable, if not dominant, closer. Meanwhile, Luis Garc\u00eda, Suarez and Steven Wilson – the club’s next most-used relievers – have vacillated between effectiveness and shakiness. Only Nabil Crismatt, who began the season as a mop-up man, has clearly exceeded expectations.<\/p>\n

Suarez, a 31-year-old major-league rookie, might be the bullpen’s biggest variable. After pitching in Mexico in 2015, the Venezuela native spurned minor-league offers – including one from the Padres – and opted instead for Japan. There, he eventually established himself as one of Nippon Professional Baseball’s most formidable closers, often pounding the bottom of the strike zone with upper-90s fastballs. (In Japan, swings generally remain less geared toward launching home runs.) In December, the Padres finally lured him stateside with a contract that guarantees him $ 11 million over two seasons.<\/p>\n

So far, Suarez has impressed and struggled through an inevitable acclimation. On Opening Day, with Rogers unavailable after a last-minute trade, Suarez succumbed to debut jitters and blew a save without retiring a batter. Since then, he has logged a 1.93 ERA in 23 1\/3 innings while walking 11 batters, including a pair in a brief cameo Sunday. The Padres cannot yet fully trust him in high-leverage situations, but the potential is ample; some evaluators say Suarez’s velocity is among the most effortless they have ever seen. And though he is new to the majors, he is not the first MLB player in his family di lui: Older brother Albert Suarez, now playing in the Korea Baseball Organization, was a San Francisco Giants pitcher from 2016 to 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are the best players in the world, the best baseball players in the world,\u201d Robert Suarez said through interpreter Danny Sanchez during spring training. “So, you need to make adjustments, you need to be able to make them quickly and on the fly because at the end of the day, you’re facing the best talent in the world. A lot of the advice (Albert Suarez) gave me mainly revolved around that, the speed of the game. Obviously, Japan has a lot of talent as well, but nothing compares to the big leagues. “<\/p>\n

While Suarez continues to learn that reality, the Padres could soon draw on other reinforcements. Adrian Morejon and Michel Baez are eligible to come off the 60-day injured list this week. Another Tommy John pitcher, Jos\u00e9 Castillo, is attempting to earn his way back onto the 40-man roster. Setup man Pierce Johnson, on the 60-day IL because of forearm tendinitis, can return as soon as June 20. Drew Pomeranz, who underwent flexor tendon surgery in August, also is expected back this month.<\/p>\n

Given their injury histories, none of these relievers are sure things. Pomeranz, for example, has thrown just 44 1\/3 major-league innings since signing a four-year, $ 34 million deal in late 2019. (Teammate Craig Stammen did not pitch professionally for 14 months after undergoing a similar operation in 2015.) The Padres, if they hope to play into the postseason, must extract more consistency from their able-bodied relievers.<\/p>\n

For now, at least, they can feel better about how they are pacing themselves. In 2021, the Padres set a franchise record by throwing 688 1\/3 innings in relief, finishing second only to the bullpen-centric Rays. As the summer wore on, the San Diego bullpen predictably collapsed, along with the rest of the team.<\/p>\n

A season later, the Padres have charted a trajectory for approximately 527 bullpen innings – a far more manageable workload. Under veteran manager Bob Melvin, a deeper rotation and the implementation of the universal designated hitter have helped. Down the stretch, so could a fresher collection of arms.<\/p>\n

(Photo of Nick Martinez: Matt Thomas \/ San Diego Padres \/ Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n