It's not time to push the panic button if you're a Padres fan, certainly not with a plus-.500 record forged against the Astros, Dodgers and Giants. But a disturbing trend is developing that could keep the Friars from contending in the National League West, a division in which Arizona is already 9-3 and threatening a runaway.
The Padres have more hits than any other team in the National League and trail only the Diamondbacks in batting average, by just .007 (all stats after Sunday's games). Yet, the Friars trail the Snakes in runs scored by 36. To put that into perspective, thats 77 runs to 41. Only the Giants among NL clubs have crossed the plate so few times.
Only the Mets and Royals have hit fewer than the Padres 6 home runs. The Pads have just 13 doubles, while most major league teams have 20 or more.
The problem is almost entirely a lack of power, not poor clutch hitting like the last couple of years. Of the regulars, only Josh Bard (.200), Khalil Greene (.167) and 2007's Mr. Clutch Scott Hairston (.000 on 0-for-11) are struggling at the plate with runners in scoring position. Most of the other key players are hitting over .300 in that situation. It just means that the hits they get are only scoring one run at a time, and the next guy is making an out.
I generally like batting coach Wally Joyner's approach, having them take pitches to the opposite field. Marcus Giles might still be playing here if he'd caught on before last September. If they keep it up, the doubles will come and so will the home runs. It just hasn't happened yet, so it's a source of concern.
By the way, if you think that what's happening to the Padres is a matter of facing difficult pitching staffs, take a look at what's happened to opponents when they play someone else. The Dodgers allowed the Padres 7 runs in three games at Petco Park, then gave up 23 in three contests in Phoenix. The Giants surrendered 8 runs to the Padres in their home opener, then held the Friars to 2 runs and pitched a shutout in the next two contests. They got another well-pitched game the next night against St. Louis, then allowed 8 runs in each of the following two contests.
Other teams aren't finding the Dodgers and Giants pitching staffs too difficult to figure out.
The Padres at some point are going to have to add power to the lineup, which means Hairston (2 triples and 2 homers but just 1 double and 4 RBI) or Paul McAnulty (just 5 singles in 22 at-bats and maybe saved his career with Sunday's game-winning sac fly) have to get going. Same with Kouzmanoff , Jim Edmonds and Brian Giles (just 5 extra base hits between them). Otherwise, Chase Headley will get an earlier-than-expected call-up from AAA Portland, where he's batting .250 with just 3 RBI.
I'm also concerned about the bullpen. However, relief pitchers are generally easier to move around. The organization has starters who go rather deep into games and plenty of depth on the mound. So the relief corps should improve as the season moves along.
Whether such improvement means anything will be determined by whether all those singles with runners on second base eventually turn into doubles or home runs.
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