2018 Padres: What went wrong?
There were worse players on the Padres than Eric Hosmer, but they weren’t making $21 million in the first year of an expensive long-term deal. When the Padres signed Hosmer in February, he was coming off his best season. In 2017, he hit .318/.385/.498, good for a 135 wRC+. Overall, he had a 4.1 WAR season, which is all-star caliber play. This year, he hit .253/.322/.398, which gave him a 95 wRC+ and -0.1 WAR.
This continued a bizarre trend for the Hoz. Going back to the 2012 season, his WAR totals are a roller-coaster ride: -1.4, 3.1, -0.2, 3.5, 0.2, 4.1, -0.1. In odd-numbered years, he’s averaged 3.6 WAR per season. In even-numbered years, he’s averaged -0.4 WAR per season. It doesn’t make any sense and it’s likely not predictive of anything, but it’s something that’s happened.
Eric Hosmer's roller-coaster career (Fangraphs WAR). It's not predictive of anything, but interesting to look at. pic.twitter.com/98INmUVpPA
— BobbyBaseball (@bballonthebrain) October 25, 2018
The two least productive Padres were Jose Pirela (-0.8 WAR) and Carlos Asuaje (-0.7 WAR). They both spent considerable time at second base, which was a big reason the team finished 26th in baseball in WAR at that position. Pirela, specifically, was a big disappointment because he had been a 2 WAR player in 83 games in 2017. He went from being 20 percent above average on offense to 22 percent below average.
While the bullpen was a bright spot on the team, the starting rotation really struggled. Clayton Richard led the team in starts and innings pitched, but had a 5.33 ERA and 4.68 FIP. Eric Lauer and Robbie Erlin had ERAs in the 4.00s. Bryan Mitchell (5.42 ERA) and Luis Perdomo (7.05 ERA) were even worse.
Of course, the Padres defense didn’t do their pitching any favors. They finished 25th in baseball in defense, according to Fangraphs. One of their biggest offenders was Eric Hosmer, who regularly ranks poorly in the defensive metrics even though many people swear he’s a great fielder.