San Diego Padres: 3 Friars making a big impact early on
The San Diego Padres are off to a hot start and if these three players can remain consistent, the Friars could make a big run in 2020.
For the first time since 1997, the San Diego Padres are 4-1 to start a season. With a lineup loaded with explosive talents like Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Chris Paddack, it’s not a surprise that the Friars are off to a hot start.
There are still holes on the roster, we can’t overlook that fact, and we’re talking about a sample size of a week here, but when there hasn’t been baseball in many months and with the threat of the season being taken away at any moment always looming, it means we get to allow ourselves to get really excited about small sample sizes.
The 2020 season is already about 10% of the way complete. A hot stretch will go a long way this year and for young players who the league is learning to adjust to, this season is a prime opportunity to have an even bigger impact.
A few young San Diego Padres players are taking advantage of that already, while a handful of veterans have opened some eyes through the first week of the season, leading to the inevitable question of “what if?”
After watching the first few games of the season, three players, in particular, have stood out, outside of the usual suspects like Tatis, Paddack, Machado, and Dinelson Lamet. Let’s start with a rookie who likely would not have been on the Opening Day roster if 2020 was a normal season.
San Diego Padres rookie Edward Olivares looks comfortable at the plate.
A completely revamped San Diego Padres outfield and the addition of the designated hitter in the National League has given many new faces an opportunity to flourish in San Diego, including rookie outfielder Edward Olivares.
Olivares has been a consistent hitter throughout his minor league career, posting a wRC+ of 100+ in each of his six minor league seasons, culminating in a big 2019 season with the Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles last year (18 home runs, 123 wRC+, .358 wOBA).
The 24-year-old has now bypassed Triple-A without a minor league season in 2020 and is not only on the Padres initial 30-man roster, but has already had the opportunity to start a few games.
He has just seven plate appearances (2-6 with a walk), but his at-bats have been impressive. He’s far from perfect and did make a mistake or two defensively, but Olivares has the presence of someone who has already spent time in the major leagues.
OLI OLI OLI!
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 26, 2020
Edward Olivares has his first @MLB knock!#FriarFaithful pic.twitter.com/ktnVlyTlF0
Olivares is quickly forcing the hand of the Padres to give him more at-bats and if he can continue to put up the kind of numbers he did in the minor leagues, he becomes yet another weapon in this lineup that has very few weak points.
His strikeout numbers have been positive (17% each of the last two season), he’s coming off a career-high .349 OBP last season (for a full season), and he’s swiped 56 bags in his two seasons as a Padres minor leaguer.
The Padres felt comfortable enough with the outfield depth that they shipped off Franchy Cordero to the Kansas City Royals for bullpen help, and Olivares has seen more playing time than Josh Naylor who hasn’t looked great in his two appearances. The emergence of Olivares also means a more cautious approach with Taylor Trammell, who the Padres acquired at last year’s trade deadline.
Olivares wasn’t supposed to be on the roster right now, but he is and he looks promising on a team many are getting excited about as a likely playoff team. We’ll see just how much he can continue to force his way into the lineup in the coming weeks.
San Diego Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer is finally hitting the ball a little bit differently.
Since signing an eight-year/$144 million deal with the San Diego Padres ahead of the 2018 season, first baseman Eric Hosmer has been worth a combined -0.5 Wins Above Replacement, per Fangraphs. He is one of just three qualified first basemen with a negative WAR value over the last two seasons.
Not exactly the type of production you like to see out of someone who was the highest-paid Friar in franchise history before Manny Machado came along.
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Dare we say that Hosmer is evolving in front of our eyes?! Hosmer has played in just three games after missing some time due to a non-COVID illness, so we’re going off very, very little playing time here, but the numbers have been very impressive.
Hosmer has already accumulated 0.4 fWAR in his three games after going 5-10 with two doubles, one home run, seven RBI, and two walks to only one strikeout in his 12 total plate appearances.
Hitting the ball hard has never been an issue for Eric Hosmer, posting above-average exit velocity numbers on batted balls every season in the Statcast era, but the overwhelming majority of those hard-hit balls were driven directly into the ground.
Hosmer’s average launch angle on batted balls has been 3.8 degrees, -1.4 degrees, and 2.1 degrees over the last three seasons. League average is around 12 degrees, for reference. That’s led to groundball rates of 60% and 56% in his two seasons in San Diego.
His average launch angle in 2020 is currently 31 degrees and he has yet to hit a single ground ball. Those numbers won’t last very long, obviously, but maybe, just maybe, Hosmer is turning a corner.
The 2020 season is all about embracing the weird, so why can’t Eric Hosmer join the launch angle revolution? It looks like he’s joining the dark side and the early returns are highly positive.
Drew Pomeranz is back with the San Diego Padres, finding a home in the bullpen in 2020.
San Diego’s pitching staff has been quite the sight to see through the first week of games, especially the promising starts from Paddack, Lamet, Garrett Richards, and Zach Davies over the last few days.
As a team, Padres pitchers own a 2.20 ERA (fourth-best in the majors), a 1.00 WHIP (third-best), and a .201 average against (sixth-best). A shorter schedule and deeper roster will be a huge boost for San Diego pitchers, especially pitchers like Joey Lucchesi who struggle to get through a lineup multiple times.
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A great bullpen is also a big help. Old friend Drew Pomeranz is back with the Padres and has been lights out through his first three outings in the brown and gold.
Forget about Drew Pomeranz the starting pitcher and focus your attention on Pomeranz the reliever. After relying on a five-pitch mix for many years, Pomeranz has needed just his four-seam fastball and curveball in 2020, working three no-hit innings with one walk and six strikeouts.
He even recorded his first save of the year and sixth of his career on Tuesday night against the San Francisco Giants, an extremely quick and efficient outing that saw Pomeranz strike out all three hitters he faced in the ninth inning.
Giving a four-year/$34 million deal to a 31-year-old reliever is a ludicrous idea, considering the high volatility of relief arms, yet Padres general manager AJ Preller may have found something here.
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If these three Friars continue to impress as they go through the 2020 season, the San Diego Padres will be in contention for as long as the pitching staff will carry them. It also doesn’t hurt that top pitching prospects MacKenzie Gore and Luis Patino are waiting in the wings. Get excited, Padres fans. It’s going to be a good year.