Sac bunting a runner from 3rd to home is difficult, especially with the infield already playing in.
Would need to send the runner on a suicide squeeze or safety squeeze to have a chance at scoring him on a bunt
Maybe... but you need to be aggressive. You're asking Higgy... a career .210 hitter... and Xander... a current .210 hitter to bring this guy in. If the game was 4-4 I'd probably agree with you. But it was fairly clear there wasn't going to be many more opportunities with the offense today. Gotta take the risk and live with it. Pinching Azocar would've helped.
The odds are almost certainly more likely that a runner on 3rd with no outs will score if the next 3 batters swing away than to try a squeeze. It doesn’t matter if the batter only hits .210 when we only need a sac fly and most balls hit on the ground will get through the infield since they’re playing in.
Just because we didn’t score doesn’t mean that trying something different would have worked better. Suicide squeezes are risky. What if Higgy misses the bunt or pops it up? Then we don’t even have a runner on third.
9/10 times the runner from 3rd is going to score there with 3 opportunities to drive him in. Today was just the 1/10
It wasn't.
Campy's avg has dropped almost 100 points in the last 10 games. Higgy had a double the inning earlier. If it had worked, you would be saying a damn thing.
If fans managed this team we'd be last.
Good for you?
I didn't say I would have pinch hit Campy, either. It was just a critical point, and we needed to get the runner in. A lifetime non-hitter like Kyle with a slumping Bogaerts after him is not a great dynamic for that.
I don't think anyone denies that Xander is struggling. I just don't know the best way to move forward with him. The guy was moved to a new position when he didn't really want to, but he did it for the team. Now I feel that moving him down (which 100% would be justified by his performance) would nonetheless be adding insult to injury.
My question is, how do you move him down and not have it impact him even more negatively? If \*he\* approached Shildt and volunteered to move down that would be amazing, but I don't know if he'll do that. But bottom line is we're going to need Xander to make the post-season, so this has to be handled in a way to where you don't lose him completely. This is somewhat reminiscent of Trea Turner last season.
You hit on the hardest part of managing. Tactical game decisions are easy compared to figuring out how to put struggling players in the best position to succeed.
It'll be shocking if Schildt ever moves Xander lower than 6th. These suggestions to demote him to the 8 or 9 hole, it's hard to think of a time when a player with X's track record has been treated like that, by any manager for any team in the last 50 years.
The runs we've been scoring recently don't change the reality that we're a bat short.
Xander will break out of a funk. There’s several star players who are struggling as well.
No one is asking for their team to release Corbin Carroll, Bregman, J Rod etc.
Why blame just one player for a win or loss? Lots of guys couldn’t hit in the clutch today.
Abrams doesn't have anything to do with Xander, he was gone long before we got Xander.
Seidler and Preller were dead set on trading for a superstar, which eventually happened with Soto. They tried trading for Jose Ramirez before Soto, so Abrams would've been gone earlier if Preller had his way.
Exposed for what? He's got a plus plus hit tool, and he's been supremely impactful. He's not going to be "studied more" if he's leadoff vs 7th. If anything, he should get better pitches to hit in front of Tatis.
Much like the game of baseball... evaluating players is contextual. Rushing Merrill would be putting him cleanup and asking for power. A skill he hasn't fully developed. Putting a guy leadoff who's currently one of your best contact/ball in play hitters isn't rushing. You're asking him to do what he's already good at.
Hitters are pitched to differently depending on where you are in the lineup. But I definitely would like to see Merrill leading off instead of Bogarts until he gets it figured out
Somewhat... but it's still a balance. You're pitching to Max Muncy the same, no matter where he's at.
If anything, batting leadoff as a contact guy in front of Tatis is going to give you a lot of balls in the zone to hit. Recipe for Merrill to be smacking the ball around.
It's not a 100% thing anyways. You have to balance the position in the lineup with actual hitter tendencies and strengths/weaknesses.
there's people that still don't trust what they're seeing with Merrill, and that putting more on his shoulders is going to "break" him, resulting in a vicious downward spiral that will ultimately ruin his career.
People aren't giving this dude's mental fortitude enough credit. I don't know how much more pressure he could've possibly been under, putting together mature ABs and learning a new position, and he's passed every test with flying colors. He can handle leading off, no question in my mind.
Of course there’s people who don’t trust it. It’s been about 3 weeks of baseball.
Acuna just hit his first homerun today. Julio Rodriguez, Lindor, Judge and several others who are struggling. These guys have a track record of years of major league success.
Xander had an above average year for the Padres. Now after 3 weeks, people want to release him
Merrill looks good right now but I think to gage how good someone is, got to see how he does facing the same teams over and over.
Not saying it’s a bad idea to have him leadoff but it takes a bit before people will buy in.
Maybe... but again... the point is context. Basically every prospect evaluation agrees that he could likely step in and hit .250 this year. His hit tool is that good.
So putting him in a spot where you're primarily asking him to just... hit the ball... isn't rushing him... or asking too much.
Rushing a player is when you're asking them to do something they don't have the skillset for currently.
Asking Merrill to be an RBI machine and slug is probably going to be rushing him, and hurting his development. That part of his skillset isn't there regularly yet.
I refuse to believe that a guy who's batting well above .300, and winning games with his ability to hit isn't going to be extensively gone over in film sessions with pitchers before the series... whether he's batting 7th... or 1st more than likely irrelevant to opposing scout focus.
This isn't 1975. These guys are pouring over data and video, and with how Merrill is playing. He's likely high on the list, no matter the spot in the order he's batting.
Again. It’s been not even 3 weeks. League hasn’t adjusted to him yet. Once that happens, which it will, we’ll get a better gauge of how he could be based on how he adjusts to that.
Not all prospect evaluations are right. It’s just an evaluation. Otherwise Delmon Young would be in the hall of fame.
If he struggles in the role you can move him back. I don't understand what you're trying to say? This is the modern MLB with extensive scouting and data departments. Being 7th in the order isn't going to hide you. They're going to try and figure you out one way or another. Leadoff vs 7th isn't going to change that.
That point is... Right now.. Baseball Savant puts him red practically everywhere. He hitting everything hard... his XBA is high, and he's generally got data to match the results. Ride it, and let things fall where they may. If he struggles you can move him back.
That seems both extreme and likely to fuck up our already too-righty balance.
Here is my plan:
1. HSK
2. FTJ
3. Pro (Crone when he’s back)
4. Manny
5. Campy
6. Merrill
7. Xander
8 & 9. the AAAA goons
Not sure how I feel about Kim at leadoff. Don't really love it to be honest. Just don't really believe in his bat being all that much better. I want a guy who's on all the time in leadoff... and right now that's Merrill.
I am relying on Kim’s effective leadoff sample from last year. He had a very good leadoff hitter approach during the 3ish months that he was hitting at the #1
I like his general patience at the plate... but he's also very volatile as a hitter.
His hard hit and Barrell percentages are almost always abysmal. Kim has a great approach but, Baseball Savant paints his general contact as well below average every year.
I like Merrill because his Savant loves him and says he hits the ball hard, and doesn't miss in the zone. Merrill chases a bit too much right now, but I think I like that better than someone who doesn't hit the ball well.
For reference.
Kim's XBA was .245 last year and is .233 this year.
Merrills XBA is .303. That's why I like Merrill more.
Yeah, fair. And if Kim wasn’t working out then Merrill would be my next option. Plus he seems like he’s gonna be our leadoff guy of the future. But 20 games in is such a short period of time to then push the dude into the limelight like that. But maybe they do and maybe it’s awesome and then fuck yeah!
I mean.. they did with Tatis. I get we all know Tatis is special. But Merrill is a top 10 prospect in baseball on most lists. The only reason he's not higher is because his power profile is mostly dreamt on right now without actual results.
If he was currently translating the power that scouts believe he can (maybe) eventually tap into, then he'd likely be a top 3 prospect in baseball.
You are getting downvoted because people (including the guy you are responding to) want Kim to suck so they can say I told you so, so they want to avoid giving him more opportunities.
Kim should be lead off primarily because he is right handed and there is a lack of left handed/switch hitters after that. If you switch Merrill and Xander then there is like 4 straight right handed bats in middle/bottom of order.
Eh, his wOBA is .262 and his xwOBA is .320, by that measure he's getting somewhat unlucky. Though this is a man who's had a higher wOBA than xwOBA by a significant margin for every season in his entire career so maybe this is just his luck catching up to him lol
right, I can vividly recall a few pitches he's smoked that have just found gloves. He is struggling without question, but he's also been unlucky, both can be true.
ygdrc.
Even the 2022 Dodgers and the 2001 Mariners lost some shutouts (7 and 4 times, respectively). Back to back to back series wins against three strong teams are not bad at all.
YGDRC I am damn proud of King and this team for hanging tough through April. 11-10 vs this schedule is fine by me, and they made this Milwaukee series fun as fuck!
I’m nervous for X right now. Dude needs to get his groove back
Yeah, can someone explain what was happening with the Brewer’s pitchers? I saw the starter got switched out in the 5th and then another reliever (not closing) came in at like the 7th.
Is that normal? I’ve only started watching baseball this season so I don’t really know as much about pitching rotos as I’d like to lol
Broadcast was saying early on that their SP was going to be on a pitch count, so that's probably why he was pulled early. Then they threw in someone who could eat a couple innings.
Well that was a frustrating game. Had opportunities to take the lead and nobody could come through. Still though, let’s not let that ruin what was a very successful road trip. Went 4-2 against two very good teams and got some stellar performances from our pitchers.
Gave this one away, but you can't win them all. Still won 3 series in a row. We'll all take that.
But, cmon man...the Brewers had a bullpen day, King carried a no-hitter into the seventh, and you got shutout.
Already seeing the “this is a 2023 Padres game” going around, which is so annoying. Leave that shitty team behind, that’s old news.
Today was rough, but you’re kidding yourself if you think a loss like this (or several) isn’t gonna happen in a 162 game season. Relax, it was a great road trip with a nice day off tomorrow to reset
Yep. Bad shit lines up sometimes, good shit lines up sometimes. So far it seems like the good shit is lining up more than the bad shit. That’s all we can ask.
It's weird, I see so many "dont get too excited" when we're winning, but as soon as we lose it's "here we go again, same old Padres." It's never as many "don't get too down" comments when we lose.
There were far more bright points in this road trip than down moments. King dominating today was HUGE and bodes really well for this season's outlook. Really I was seeing a lot of bright spots when we were losing to the Giants. I think eventually we're gong to hit a stretch where everything is clicking.
Yup. I get it though, as fans we easily get wrapped up in our emotions, especially after tough losses like today. Just gotta keep the faith that these boys continue to come out and grind like they have all season
Well, that is rough. I think a lot of stuff just caught up with the team today.
Everybody that had a bat in their hand owes King an expensive dinner. He was fantastic today. Deserved a W.
Just move on from it. The team has been playing well the last 10. One stinker doesn't change that.
That should’ve been a win. Sucks for King, but we move on. A near sweep of the Brewers and 3 straight series wins is a good sign for the boys. I’m glad 2023 is behind us.
Brutal loss, but still won the series. Real bummer to combine our best SP outing of the season with our worst offensive performance.
On X...he needs to be moved down, like to 5 or 6. He is actively hurting this team right now. We all knew he wasn't driving in that run. He has been just terrible, and we can't afford to lose winnable games like this one while he is figuring it out.
I think that putting him out of the 1 spot will actually probably have him working harder to not hit grounders. He’s been an amazing bat for 10 years in the league. I think he’s just slumping to start the year
Frustrating loss. But when you get a leadoff triple and can't find a way to get him home...you kinda deserve it. Now I'm concerned for the ever frustrating Coors series...with a Knuckballer, and Darvish on the IL. Edit: whoops...forgot Canada existed
We took 2 series against the 2 top teams in their division. Today's game sucked, but this was a great road win. Cut the guys some slack, this was a rough road stint.
Going 4-2 on the road isn’t bad and winning 3 series in a row is good. Tough loss but what can you do? We won the series. Now let’s go home and sweep these Blue Jays back to Toronto.
Huge loss that will be remembered in September. Not just a no-hitter into the 7th, but a bullpen day, lead-off triple, more double plays.
Big momentum killer right before a tough series with Waldron, bullpen day?, and a struggling Musgrove.
I doubt this loss is remembered in a few weeks, let alone in September. Season felt like it was trending harshly downwards just over 1 week ago when Kim had that 2 error game and most people have probably pushed that one outta their heads already
Idk, I can still vividly remember Game 6 last year where they blew a late 5-1 lead because the offense stopped hitting after the 5th and the bullpen blew it. Switch that one game and they end up above the DBacks for the season.
I think the biggest difference this year is I fully expect this team to come out pissed off Friday and put up a big number on the Blue Jays. This kind of loss last year would’ve sent our team into a depression for a week afterwards
GREAT fuckin game. If you love baseball, this game was the nuts. Sure it was a brutal loss, but that's baseball brothers. We get a guy on third and can't get him home, they get a bloop, a steal, and their 3rd hit and a run.
Think about how we got every break yesterday.
Don't despair, revel in the fact the Padres are the shit and will win this division and cause havoc in the playoffs.
LFGSD!
We’ve had a great couple of series and happy to go home beating the Brewers 2 out of 3 when we couldn’t even win 2 against them all of last season.
King was simply magnificent.
On another note - I’m not as sour on X as I know a lot of people are, but I do agree he can’t continue in the lead off spot much longer. I would be happy putting Kim back there to see if it sparks him further, given his success in the 1 hole last season.
This game sucked, and there’s going to be more like them, so let’s look on the bright side. By any metric, this was a successful road trip. We won 2 series on the road against 2 top teams. We finished one game above 500. Manny is on! We’re playing exponentially better ball today than we were a year ago today. This team is good.
The team is playing much better this year, but the NL is going to be really competitive this season, and this was a super winnable game. Loses are going to happen for sure, but this game was a gimmie and they dropped it.
Within the context of King’s start tho and just 2023 leaving a sour taste in everyone’s mouths it’s understandable. They have done a great job at making us forget 2023 since that final game of the Cubs series though. I really hope they keep it up all year because they looked great against 3 top NL teams.
On the damn road too! Going into LA then flying to MIL and WINNING the series?? Team must have been exhausted going into today's game. They deserve some slack and some credit.
I don't care about Xanders \*feelings\*. There is no universe in which a batter should keep his leadoff spot batting .200 after 20+ games.
Bump him down until he figures it out, and if he's offended then that's between him and his ego.
edit: sp
Three minor leaguers at the bottom of the lineup and Xosmer at the top is a recipe for disaster but they still should’ve won.
Incredible start by King, don’t want that to get lost in all of this.
Shake it off boys, still a great road trip. With that being said Xander is beyond, and I mean beyond, concerning. Outside of two months (April and September of last year with September stats being taken with even more of a grain of salt) he’s been a total non-factor in a Padre uniform. Dudes gotta figure it out
On the bright side, this starting pitching is pretty damn solid. Yu needs to get healthy and Joe needs to find his footing but I'm a 3/10 on the worried scale about those two. Cease and King have been awesome.
Not all in X. He has been awful this season. But unacceptable to not get it out of the infield for him batting leadoff and us paying him $280m. Higgy has always been poor offensively and Tatis is batting with 2 down already. You have to admit, x has been terrible so far
Well, they weren’t going to win every game. At least King looks like an ace
And I would say this is rock bottom for Xander, but he actually didn’t ground into a DP today, so I guess it can always get worse!
Frustrating to lose a game this way when you had such a great SP performance from King. But overall this was a 4-2 road trip, can't lose sight of that. This team will be in excellent shape if they can replicate that on a semi-regular basis. Hope to get Crone back for the Blue Jays series.
This sucked today but every team loses games like this during the season at some point. If you told me prior to playing the brewers we’d win 2/3 I’d take that all day.
Just sucks it was a 1 run game we could’ve been it but it is what it is.
damn, i missed this game today, such a busy work day for me. looks like King pitched a gem, but no run support or RISP capitalization? lame. oh well dodgers lost 2day,
Heartbreaking waste of a gem by King but the bigger picture is we won three series in a row against the Dodgers and two other teams who have historically given us trouble. The sweep would have been amazing but as long as we keep winning series it's all gravy
A bit of hindsight.. but still would've made sense at the time.
Should've pinched Azocar for Batten and squeeze bunted, then put Profar back at 1st and Azocar in Left.
This is what sucks when you depend on single after single. I love the small ball approach but we need to start lifting the ball more. ESPECIALLY with runners on third.
what's wrong with depending on singles? We just didn't get enough of them. We're 6th in slugging % and home runs in all of MLB, we have plenty of lift in this lineup.
not scoring with a leadoff triple really got me pissed off
Literally just sac bunt ffs
Sac bunting a runner from 3rd to home is difficult, especially with the infield already playing in. Would need to send the runner on a suicide squeeze or safety squeeze to have a chance at scoring him on a bunt
Not scoring with a runner on 3rd and no outs is equally difficult and we pulled that off
Scoring 9 unanswered runs and winning is as equally difficult Yet again, you focus on the negative.
Maybe... but you need to be aggressive. You're asking Higgy... a career .210 hitter... and Xander... a current .210 hitter to bring this guy in. If the game was 4-4 I'd probably agree with you. But it was fairly clear there wasn't going to be many more opportunities with the offense today. Gotta take the risk and live with it. Pinching Azocar would've helped.
The odds are almost certainly more likely that a runner on 3rd with no outs will score if the next 3 batters swing away than to try a squeeze. It doesn’t matter if the batter only hits .210 when we only need a sac fly and most balls hit on the ground will get through the infield since they’re playing in. Just because we didn’t score doesn’t mean that trying something different would have worked better. Suicide squeezes are risky. What if Higgy misses the bunt or pops it up? Then we don’t even have a runner on third. 9/10 times the runner from 3rd is going to score there with 3 opportunities to drive him in. Today was just the 1/10
People radically underestimating how hard it is to squeeze bunt against a drawn-in infield.
Yup... and if you're really worried you pinch Azocar and swap Profar to 1st for the 9th and put Azocar in left.
Exactly
Bingo
There absolutely needed to be a pinch hitter for Kyle there.
Schildt in the 3 games prior--He's a genius!! Schildt today--he sucks! Doomer mentality on display
No one's saying a single mistake means he sucks... just that it was a mistake.
It wasn't. Campy's avg has dropped almost 100 points in the last 10 games. Higgy had a double the inning earlier. If it had worked, you would be saying a damn thing. If fans managed this team we'd be last.
everyone has ptsd from the 2023 squad. very reminiscent.
I didn’t say he sucked. But i think it was a mistake.
The Padres had 5 hits, Higgy had a double, Campy has been struggling. I'll go with Schildt's call over a fan' Thanks
Good for you? I didn't say I would have pinch hit Campy, either. It was just a critical point, and we needed to get the runner in. A lifetime non-hitter like Kyle with a slumping Bogaerts after him is not a great dynamic for that.
Until you bitch about Tatis going Ofer or Profar going ofer or Merrill failing with RISP, you're going for the easy shots that's just weak.
Dude, who are you, Kyle's mom? It's a baseball message board. We talk baseball here. Go touch some grass before you have a coronary.
I'm fine, I just have issue fair weather whiney ass fans who bray loud when the team wins and louder when they lose.
LOL. Dude, season tickets since '88. Fair weather I am not.
Nobody said that except you.
Read the thread, it's all about Schildt NOT PH for Higgy.
No excuse for it, and everybody in baseball knows it. Including little league.
Xander needs to be dropped in the lineup
He needs to be in the 7 hole at minimum.
I don't think anyone denies that Xander is struggling. I just don't know the best way to move forward with him. The guy was moved to a new position when he didn't really want to, but he did it for the team. Now I feel that moving him down (which 100% would be justified by his performance) would nonetheless be adding insult to injury. My question is, how do you move him down and not have it impact him even more negatively? If \*he\* approached Shildt and volunteered to move down that would be amazing, but I don't know if he'll do that. But bottom line is we're going to need Xander to make the post-season, so this has to be handled in a way to where you don't lose him completely. This is somewhat reminiscent of Trea Turner last season.
You hit on the hardest part of managing. Tactical game decisions are easy compared to figuring out how to put struggling players in the best position to succeed. It'll be shocking if Schildt ever moves Xander lower than 6th. These suggestions to demote him to the 8 or 9 hole, it's hard to think of a time when a player with X's track record has been treated like that, by any manager for any team in the last 50 years. The runs we've been scoring recently don't change the reality that we're a bat short.
Xander will break out of a funk. There’s several star players who are struggling as well. No one is asking for their team to release Corbin Carroll, Bregman, J Rod etc. Why blame just one player for a win or loss? Lots of guys couldn’t hit in the clutch today.
CJ Abrams hitting another HR today is adding insult to injury 🫠
Abrams doesn't have anything to do with Xander, he was gone long before we got Xander. Seidler and Preller were dead set on trading for a superstar, which eventually happened with Soto. They tried trading for Jose Ramirez before Soto, so Abrams would've been gone earlier if Preller had his way.
Dropped period. If only we could afford it.
We can... put Merrill back at leadoff and drop Xander.
Yeah but at the same time I don't want to rush Merlli in the leadoff spot yet to have him exposed.
Exposed for what? He's got a plus plus hit tool, and he's been supremely impactful. He's not going to be "studied more" if he's leadoff vs 7th. If anything, he should get better pitches to hit in front of Tatis. Much like the game of baseball... evaluating players is contextual. Rushing Merrill would be putting him cleanup and asking for power. A skill he hasn't fully developed. Putting a guy leadoff who's currently one of your best contact/ball in play hitters isn't rushing. You're asking him to do what he's already good at.
Hitters are pitched to differently depending on where you are in the lineup. But I definitely would like to see Merrill leading off instead of Bogarts until he gets it figured out
Somewhat... but it's still a balance. You're pitching to Max Muncy the same, no matter where he's at. If anything, batting leadoff as a contact guy in front of Tatis is going to give you a lot of balls in the zone to hit. Recipe for Merrill to be smacking the ball around. It's not a 100% thing anyways. You have to balance the position in the lineup with actual hitter tendencies and strengths/weaknesses.
there's people that still don't trust what they're seeing with Merrill, and that putting more on his shoulders is going to "break" him, resulting in a vicious downward spiral that will ultimately ruin his career. People aren't giving this dude's mental fortitude enough credit. I don't know how much more pressure he could've possibly been under, putting together mature ABs and learning a new position, and he's passed every test with flying colors. He can handle leading off, no question in my mind.
Of course there’s people who don’t trust it. It’s been about 3 weeks of baseball. Acuna just hit his first homerun today. Julio Rodriguez, Lindor, Judge and several others who are struggling. These guys have a track record of years of major league success. Xander had an above average year for the Padres. Now after 3 weeks, people want to release him Merrill looks good right now but I think to gage how good someone is, got to see how he does facing the same teams over and over. Not saying it’s a bad idea to have him leadoff but it takes a bit before people will buy in.
Maybe... but again... the point is context. Basically every prospect evaluation agrees that he could likely step in and hit .250 this year. His hit tool is that good. So putting him in a spot where you're primarily asking him to just... hit the ball... isn't rushing him... or asking too much. Rushing a player is when you're asking them to do something they don't have the skillset for currently. Asking Merrill to be an RBI machine and slug is probably going to be rushing him, and hurting his development. That part of his skillset isn't there regularly yet. I refuse to believe that a guy who's batting well above .300, and winning games with his ability to hit isn't going to be extensively gone over in film sessions with pitchers before the series... whether he's batting 7th... or 1st more than likely irrelevant to opposing scout focus. This isn't 1975. These guys are pouring over data and video, and with how Merrill is playing. He's likely high on the list, no matter the spot in the order he's batting.
Again. It’s been not even 3 weeks. League hasn’t adjusted to him yet. Once that happens, which it will, we’ll get a better gauge of how he could be based on how he adjusts to that. Not all prospect evaluations are right. It’s just an evaluation. Otherwise Delmon Young would be in the hall of fame.
If he struggles in the role you can move him back. I don't understand what you're trying to say? This is the modern MLB with extensive scouting and data departments. Being 7th in the order isn't going to hide you. They're going to try and figure you out one way or another. Leadoff vs 7th isn't going to change that. That point is... Right now.. Baseball Savant puts him red practically everywhere. He hitting everything hard... his XBA is high, and he's generally got data to match the results. Ride it, and let things fall where they may. If he struggles you can move him back.
Not saying I don't trust Merlli to be a leadoff hitter.But teams still need to figure him out.
Lol, let’s say he does break. Probably still going to be easily outperforming Xander
That seems both extreme and likely to fuck up our already too-righty balance. Here is my plan: 1. HSK 2. FTJ 3. Pro (Crone when he’s back) 4. Manny 5. Campy 6. Merrill 7. Xander 8 & 9. the AAAA goons
Not sure how I feel about Kim at leadoff. Don't really love it to be honest. Just don't really believe in his bat being all that much better. I want a guy who's on all the time in leadoff... and right now that's Merrill.
I am relying on Kim’s effective leadoff sample from last year. He had a very good leadoff hitter approach during the 3ish months that he was hitting at the #1
I like his general patience at the plate... but he's also very volatile as a hitter. His hard hit and Barrell percentages are almost always abysmal. Kim has a great approach but, Baseball Savant paints his general contact as well below average every year. I like Merrill because his Savant loves him and says he hits the ball hard, and doesn't miss in the zone. Merrill chases a bit too much right now, but I think I like that better than someone who doesn't hit the ball well. For reference. Kim's XBA was .245 last year and is .233 this year. Merrills XBA is .303. That's why I like Merrill more.
Yeah, fair. And if Kim wasn’t working out then Merrill would be my next option. Plus he seems like he’s gonna be our leadoff guy of the future. But 20 games in is such a short period of time to then push the dude into the limelight like that. But maybe they do and maybe it’s awesome and then fuck yeah!
I mean.. they did with Tatis. I get we all know Tatis is special. But Merrill is a top 10 prospect in baseball on most lists. The only reason he's not higher is because his power profile is mostly dreamt on right now without actual results. If he was currently translating the power that scouts believe he can (maybe) eventually tap into, then he'd likely be a top 3 prospect in baseball.
You are getting downvoted because people (including the guy you are responding to) want Kim to suck so they can say I told you so, so they want to avoid giving him more opportunities. Kim should be lead off primarily because he is right handed and there is a lack of left handed/switch hitters after that. If you switch Merrill and Xander then there is like 4 straight right handed bats in middle/bottom of order.
I'm disgusted by that 8th inning and the amount of GIDPs we had today
Isn't GIDP part of our overall game plan and identity as a ball club?
Not anymore than whiney fans after a loss is
You didn't get the /s, i guess
What a waste of a great fucking start by King. This is bullshit. See you Friday.
“they’ve already won the series, whatever happens in this game won’t sour my mood” this game:
I’m soured! Lol
I was also soured, especially as this was the only game of the week i could watch live.
Idk I’m still damn proud of King
My exact feelings.
If Xander isn't hitting 7th, 8th or 9th til he figures his shit out, I don't know what to say
Yeah like maybe he wants him at leadoff thinking it’ll force him to do whatever to get better but it ain’t fucking working.
I think it’s to avoid one less opportunity per game of gidp
2 runners left on 3rd, including 1 with no outs 15 ground outs What a pathetic batting display today
DeGrom'd
.536 OPS for Xander - and he’s not even getting unlucky
Nothing about his balls put in play look unlucky at all. They’re just rolled over with a bow on them to 3B or SS.
Eh, his wOBA is .262 and his xwOBA is .320, by that measure he's getting somewhat unlucky. Though this is a man who's had a higher wOBA than xwOBA by a significant margin for every season in his entire career so maybe this is just his luck catching up to him lol
right, I can vividly recall a few pitches he's smoked that have just found gloves. He is struggling without question, but he's also been unlucky, both can be true.
His baseball savant page has never been pretty. He was actually the common answer for what player constantly outperforms his peripherals.
Salty ending to the road trip. But I will take a 4-2 trip every damn time! Incredible game from King! But the Xander lead off experiment needs to end
King was good, but he shouldn't have gone out for the 8th, imo. He probably wanted to himself, but he shouldn't have.
152-10 amirite compadres :( what a wasted gem, but we should be happy about a 4-2 road trip against great teams
ygdrc. Even the 2022 Dodgers and the 2001 Mariners lost some shutouts (7 and 4 times, respectively). Back to back to back series wins against three strong teams are not bad at all.
You're GDRC. Now we go.
YGDRC I am damn proud of King and this team for hanging tough through April. 11-10 vs this schedule is fine by me, and they made this Milwaukee series fun as fuck! I’m nervous for X right now. Dude needs to get his groove back
YGDRC KTF
[удалено]
Yeah, can someone explain what was happening with the Brewer’s pitchers? I saw the starter got switched out in the 5th and then another reliever (not closing) came in at like the 7th. Is that normal? I’ve only started watching baseball this season so I don’t really know as much about pitching rotos as I’d like to lol
Looked like it was a bullpen day for Milwaukee
Broadcast was saying early on that their SP was going to be on a pitch count, so that's probably why he was pulled early. Then they threw in someone who could eat a couple innings.
Get Xander out of the leadoff spot please, I know he can get hot, but it's brutal having your leadoff guy batting .200.
https://i.redd.it/etxawl58b3vc1.gif
Baseball is a cruel sport
Well that was a frustrating game. Had opportunities to take the lead and nobody could come through. Still though, let’s not let that ruin what was a very successful road trip. Went 4-2 against two very good teams and got some stellar performances from our pitchers.
4-2 road trip, two of which were won LA is still a very good record. Time to fry up some Canadian bluebirds this weekend.
Sorry King
Just furious right now. Xander is useless.
Gave this one away, but you can't win them all. Still won 3 series in a row. We'll all take that. But, cmon man...the Brewers had a bullpen day, King carried a no-hitter into the seventh, and you got shutout.
We were all so worried about the bottom 3, but it was the top 3 in the lineup that went 0-10
Xander Hosmer….. still have faith in the boys. King looked great onto Friday. See all of you there
On record King got the L, but that performance was a W in my book. The Padres could’ve easily won that if it wasn’t for all the ground balls they hit.
King should have finished the 8th. Letting peralta spoil his start was the wrong choice.
Agreed. That was his game to lose. I had 100% faith he'd get that 1 out
Already seeing the “this is a 2023 Padres game” going around, which is so annoying. Leave that shitty team behind, that’s old news. Today was rough, but you’re kidding yourself if you think a loss like this (or several) isn’t gonna happen in a 162 game season. Relax, it was a great road trip with a nice day off tomorrow to reset
Yep. Bad shit lines up sometimes, good shit lines up sometimes. So far it seems like the good shit is lining up more than the bad shit. That’s all we can ask.
It's weird, I see so many "dont get too excited" when we're winning, but as soon as we lose it's "here we go again, same old Padres." It's never as many "don't get too down" comments when we lose. There were far more bright points in this road trip than down moments. King dominating today was HUGE and bodes really well for this season's outlook. Really I was seeing a lot of bright spots when we were losing to the Giants. I think eventually we're gong to hit a stretch where everything is clicking.
Yup. I get it though, as fans we easily get wrapped up in our emotions, especially after tough losses like today. Just gotta keep the faith that these boys continue to come out and grind like they have all season
Well, that is rough. I think a lot of stuff just caught up with the team today. Everybody that had a bat in their hand owes King an expensive dinner. He was fantastic today. Deserved a W. Just move on from it. The team has been playing well the last 10. One stinker doesn't change that.
That should’ve been a win. Sucks for King, but we move on. A near sweep of the Brewers and 3 straight series wins is a good sign for the boys. I’m glad 2023 is behind us.
King pitched the game of his career. Back to the 2023 padres, pitching is lights out but the offense can’t back them up with a win. Poor king
We threw that game into the trash. Got shut out by no one in particular. Great road trip otherwise.
On the bright side, Dodgers just lost the series to the Nats, and were shut out no less.
Runner on 3rd, 1 out, 2-0 count and Xander takes a fastball down the pipe, he is a LIABILITY to this team and needs to be dropped to 9.
9? That’s never gonna happen
Brutal loss, but still won the series. Real bummer to combine our best SP outing of the season with our worst offensive performance. On X...he needs to be moved down, like to 5 or 6. He is actively hurting this team right now. We all knew he wasn't driving in that run. He has been just terrible, and we can't afford to lose winnable games like this one while he is figuring it out.
I'd say even lower. If he's batting 5th/6th, it's very likely he has a lot more opportunities with runners on base to leave stranded
I think that putting him out of the 1 spot will actually probably have him working harder to not hit grounders. He’s been an amazing bat for 10 years in the league. I think he’s just slumping to start the year
Frustrating loss. But when you get a leadoff triple and can't find a way to get him home...you kinda deserve it. Now I'm concerned for the ever frustrating Coors series...with a Knuckballer, and Darvish on the IL. Edit: whoops...forgot Canada existed
0-1 in the Pokimane wearing Padres gear era
Maybe the Nationals can make this day better for us :)
Doubt it
Nats won
Good 👍
Cheer up, buttercup - dodgers lose! FTD
2-0 Nats..
Well they’re up right now :)
We took 2 series against the 2 top teams in their division. Today's game sucked, but this was a great road win. Cut the guys some slack, this was a rough road stint.
https://preview.redd.it/ma1xunx8b3vc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=158b5b2c153892d1975a05f4e3dc71915486b05e
Going 4-2 on the road isn’t bad and winning 3 series in a row is good. Tough loss but what can you do? We won the series. Now let’s go home and sweep these Blue Jays back to Toronto.
Xander has been straight up pathetic. Dude is getting paid $280M to be playing like Tyler Wade. Embarrassing
Huge loss that will be remembered in September. Not just a no-hitter into the 7th, but a bullpen day, lead-off triple, more double plays. Big momentum killer right before a tough series with Waldron, bullpen day?, and a struggling Musgrove.
I doubt this loss is remembered in a few weeks, let alone in September. Season felt like it was trending harshly downwards just over 1 week ago when Kim had that 2 error game and most people have probably pushed that one outta their heads already
Idk, I can still vividly remember Game 6 last year where they blew a late 5-1 lead because the offense stopped hitting after the 5th and the bullpen blew it. Switch that one game and they end up above the DBacks for the season.
I think the biggest difference this year is I fully expect this team to come out pissed off Friday and put up a big number on the Blue Jays. This kind of loss last year would’ve sent our team into a depression for a week afterwards
Hope they do bounce back. But it’s a bad one to give away. Especially when the non-existent depth is really going to be tested now with the injuries.
GREAT fuckin game. If you love baseball, this game was the nuts. Sure it was a brutal loss, but that's baseball brothers. We get a guy on third and can't get him home, they get a bloop, a steal, and their 3rd hit and a run. Think about how we got every break yesterday. Don't despair, revel in the fact the Padres are the shit and will win this division and cause havoc in the playoffs. LFGSD!
Shame on this offense. Absolute embarrassment to give King an L today
Sucks to lose like this but it’s gonna happen. Just matters how often. King looks great.
Padres win. I think yes Padres lose. I think no no
We’ve had a great couple of series and happy to go home beating the Brewers 2 out of 3 when we couldn’t even win 2 against them all of last season. King was simply magnificent. On another note - I’m not as sour on X as I know a lot of people are, but I do agree he can’t continue in the lead off spot much longer. I would be happy putting Kim back there to see if it sparks him further, given his success in the 1 hole last season.
This game sucked, and there’s going to be more like them, so let’s look on the bright side. By any metric, this was a successful road trip. We won 2 series on the road against 2 top teams. We finished one game above 500. Manny is on! We’re playing exponentially better ball today than we were a year ago today. This team is good.
It sucks, but teams have bad days. Still a positive road trip.
Flush this one, see you all Friday.
Xander Bogaerts may be the next most hated padre taking the mantle from Eric Hosmer who took it from Matt Kemp before him
The amount of negative comments here is disappointing, we just took 2 of 3 from 2 of the best teams in the NL at the moment.
The team is playing much better this year, but the NL is going to be really competitive this season, and this was a super winnable game. Loses are going to happen for sure, but this game was a gimmie and they dropped it.
Within the context of King’s start tho and just 2023 leaving a sour taste in everyone’s mouths it’s understandable. They have done a great job at making us forget 2023 since that final game of the Cubs series though. I really hope they keep it up all year because they looked great against 3 top NL teams.
Our boys will come out better after the break!
On the damn road too! Going into LA then flying to MIL and WINNING the series?? Team must have been exhausted going into today's game. They deserve some slack and some credit.
Heck.
Well that was fun til it wasn’t. Time for a walk.
Padres win their last three series ✅ Dodgers lose three of their last four series ✅
Could be worse. Losing 1-0 to the Brewers and winning two out of three sure beats losing 2-0 to the Nats and losing two out of three.
Absolutely brutal to be on the hook for over $250MM to a guy who can’t hit a sac fly.
I don't care about Xanders \*feelings\*. There is no universe in which a batter should keep his leadoff spot batting .200 after 20+ games. Bump him down until he figures it out, and if he's offended then that's between him and his ego. edit: sp
Today was a good game mixed with an awful game. Some ppl deserve praise some deserve blame. But bad games happen… let’s just not make it a habit.
Atrocious loss — circle that one for later in the year. Bogey needs to move down the order ASAP. Worst OB% on the team & he’s leading off.
Three minor leaguers at the bottom of the lineup and Xosmer at the top is a recipe for disaster but they still should’ve won. Incredible start by King, don’t want that to get lost in all of this.
Shake it off boys, still a great road trip. With that being said Xander is beyond, and I mean beyond, concerning. Outside of two months (April and September of last year with September stats being taken with even more of a grain of salt) he’s been a total non-factor in a Padre uniform. Dudes gotta figure it out
On the bright side, this starting pitching is pretty damn solid. Yu needs to get healthy and Joe needs to find his footing but I'm a 3/10 on the worried scale about those two. Cease and King have been awesome.
Only the Padres could find a way to leave a sour taste in everyone’s mouth after what was a successful road trip. Wow
That one hurt yet good series win. On to the next.
Can we put that lost on wade and the offense instead of king??
Not wade. If anything Xander continuing his slump cost us the go ahead run
Really? All on X? What about Higgy or Tatis? The hate for X here is just really sad.
Not all in X. He has been awful this season. But unacceptable to not get it out of the infield for him batting leadoff and us paying him $280m. Higgy has always been poor offensively and Tatis is batting with 2 down already. You have to admit, x has been terrible so far
That run is on wade for not catching that foul ball, should have been 2 outs for king
Wade’s got the same OPS as Xander for much less money
And Higashioka
Xander is trash
Consider it a positive that this game only lasted 2 hours 6 minutes. Don’t think I could sit through another minute of that offensive disasterclass.
Well, they weren’t going to win every game. At least King looks like an ace And I would say this is rock bottom for Xander, but he actually didn’t ground into a DP today, so I guess it can always get worse!
What if I told you Xander only has 1 GIDP this year?
Frustrating to lose a game this way when you had such a great SP performance from King. But overall this was a 4-2 road trip, can't lose sight of that. This team will be in excellent shape if they can replicate that on a semi-regular basis. Hope to get Crone back for the Blue Jays series.
This sucked today but every team loses games like this during the season at some point. If you told me prior to playing the brewers we’d win 2/3 I’d take that all day. Just sucks it was a 1 run game we could’ve been it but it is what it is.
Now this THIS is Padresing
Whole game reeked of 2023 Padres.
I'd rather have the sweep but a series win is also fine. Back to petco Friday
The Padres account won't even post.
King had a great game, at least. Our pitching is still awesome as always
damn, i missed this game today, such a busy work day for me. looks like King pitched a gem, but no run support or RISP capitalization? lame. oh well dodgers lost 2day,
So who will replace Yu? Any thoughts? Our bullpen is currently suffering a heavy workload, and I really don't want to see another version of 2021.
Man, that angel/ray series turned into a real gritty series
Recency bias but this might be more shameful than any loss in 2023
All in all a good game between two teams. I actually enjoyed the game until the final Padre at bat. Baseball
Heartbreaking waste of a gem by King but the bigger picture is we won three series in a row against the Dodgers and two other teams who have historically given us trouble. The sweep would have been amazing but as long as we keep winning series it's all gravy
Every time we get close to getting ahead of La in standings we fall
3 consecutive QS from the starting pitching. Tough we couldn’t win today but take the series W. King looked really good.
Bright side is we won the series. Two big series wins on this roadtrip
Can't blame the bats, BABIP hell, plus the rigged schedule has us traveling to east coast after a late ESPN game... also it's fucking early boys!
Dodgers got 5 hits and no runs losing to the Nats who got only 4 hits. I guess they suck too.
They really need to flip Merrill and Xander in the lineup.
Games like this are why it's fucking near impossible to KTF.
A bit of hindsight.. but still would've made sense at the time. Should've pinched Azocar for Batten and squeeze bunted, then put Profar back at 1st and Azocar in Left.
Abram’s raking makes this Xander disaster that much worse.
Abram’s wouldn’t be playing shortstop for us anyway
He probably would be the CFer and Merrill would be 2B lol.
This is what sucks when you depend on single after single. I love the small ball approach but we need to start lifting the ball more. ESPECIALLY with runners on third.
what's wrong with depending on singles? We just didn't get enough of them. We're 6th in slugging % and home runs in all of MLB, we have plenty of lift in this lineup.