Padres Press Clips Friday, June 5, 2015

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Padres report card: 1st trimester UT San Diego Calkins 2

Meet the Padres’ wizard of HD entertainment UT San Diego Van Grove 8

Padres pitch ballpark app, rewards UT San Diego Van Grove 11

Minors: Melvin Upton, Giron homer UT San Diego Sanders 12

Friar talk: Checking in on the Reds UT San Diego Sanders 13 xFIP predicting Padres pitching rebound UT San Diego Sanders 14

Padres begin 7-game road trip Friday against Reds Stats, Inc. 16

Padres: Under .500, but reasons to believe Press Enterprise Glaser 18

The only result that counts with Shields is wins Padres.com Center 20

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Padres report card: 1st trimester grades

By Matt Calkins11 A.M.JUNE 4, 2015

The good news: The Padres are in Cincinnati playing the Reds, the first losing team they have faced in weeks.

The bad news: Given how they are are the road, they won't be able to swipe their report cards from the mailbox before their parents get home.

Face it, with all the hype that went into this season, being under .500 a third of the way through isn't pleasing to anyone with a vested interest in the Friars.

Has it been all bad for this 27-28 club? No. There have have been a few surprises amid the shortcomings along with plenty of silver linings.

Still, before the season began, we kept hearing about how this was a playoff-bound team capable of making a deep postseason . So as you might expect, most of the first trimester grades are the furthest thing from flattering.

Quick note: Grading is not based on performance alone. It takes into account expectations, health and contract size — hence the reason earned a better mark than , or why and were docked for being out. Also, position players must have at least 65 at-bats, and at least 15 . Got it? Good.

PADRES' 2015 FIRST TRIMESTER REPORT CARD

STARTING PITCHERS

James Shields: B

Tyson Ross: B-

Andrew Cashner: B-

Ian Kennedy: D 2

Odrisamer Despagne: C

Brandon Morrow: B-

Starting pitching overall: C

Shields may be 7-0 while Cashner and Ross are a combined 4-13, but there is very little beyond run support that separates the three. The 15 home runs Shields has allowed is tied for first in MLB. His ERA (3.58) is lower than Ross' (3.76) but higher than Cashner's (3.46), although Cashner has struggled to retire sides after inning-extending errors.

Kennedy has the worst ERA (6.60) among starters in , but has had three outings in which he pitched at least six innings without allowing more than two runs — all of which resulted in wins. Still, this was a highly-touted staff that is ninth in the NL in ERA and tied for first in home runs allowed.

OUTFIELD

Justin Upton: A

Wil Myers : B

Matt Kemp: D

Will Venable: B

Overall: B-

Upton and Kemp's lockers were adjacent during . Now, the two All-Stars couldn't be farther apart. The former has 12 home runs, leads the team in WAR, and is on pace to solidify himself as the offseason's most sought-after free agent. The latter is hitting .247, has one -- ONE!!! -- , and is dead last on the team in WAR.

Myers would have gotten an A- had he stayed healthy...and an A+ if he could play centerfield — which, in his defense, is a new endeavor for him. But given how he led the in

3 runs before his wrist injury, look for the offense to rediscover its mojo with him back in the lineup.

INFIELD Yonder Alonso: B

Jedd Gyorko: D

Alexi Amarista: C

Will Middlebrooks: B

Yangervis Solarte: B-

Corey Spangenberg: B-

Clint Barmes B-

Overall: C-

The infield was the most questionable area of the team coming into the season and has done little to quell the doubts. Alonso's offensive output (.352 BA) has been a surprising boon, but the 27 games he missed due to a shoulder injury is an all-too-familiar story.

And while Middlebrooks (7 HR) has provided power of late, Gyorko and Amarista's bats have been the Padres' premier performance-dehancers — with the pair going a combined 50 for 245.

That said, according to fangraphs, Amarista ranks ninth defensively among all MLB shortstops, even though that's not his natural position.

CATCHERS

Derek Norris: A

That's A as in All-Star. The fact that the Norrisaurus Rex (no, really, that's the nameplate above is locker) is out of the top 5 in NL All-Star balloting is absurd. Derek's 17 doubles are tied for second in MLB and six more than any other . His .280 batting average and 34 RBIs are on 4 pace for career highs. And he has gunned down more base-stealers (19) than anyone in baseball, doing so at a 31.7 percent clip.

This guy shared the stage with James Shields and during his first press conference last winter. Who'd a thunk he would be every bit as impactful as those two thus far?

OFFENSE

Overall grade: C

The Padres are sixth in the NL in runs per game (4.34) but 10th in batting average, 11th in and 12th in OPS. More significantly, they have been shut out nine times — four more than any team in MLB.

Have they had injuries? Yes. Are they exponentially more productive than the team that was dead last in almost ever major offensive category last year? Absolutely. But are they still a flawed, overly-right-handed bunch that scores disproportionately while falling miles short of expectations? Sadly, that's an affirmative as well.

DEFENSE

Overall grade: D+

If you're wondering why essentially every Padres is pitching worse this season than last, the lackluster defense might offer a clue. How many balls ruled hits would have been outs with superior fielding? How many singles have turned into doubles due to inferior route-running? Fangraphs gives San Diego a defensive rating of -8.6, which is 13th in the National League. The eye test — such as Wil Myers in center or at second — all but confirms it.

BULLPEN

Brandon Maurer: A-

Joaquin Benoit: B+

Dale Thayer: B

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Kevin Quackenbush: B-

Fred Garces: C+

Craig Kimbrel: C

Shawn Kelly: C-

As a whole: D+

This is a "Whole is worse than the sum of its parts" situation. Last year, the Padres' bullpen had the best ERA in the National League. This year, it is 12th. Last year, the Padres won 60 of 61 games while leading after the sixth inning. This year, they lost on despite leading after six.

The once all-powerful Kimbrel owns an unheard of 4.50 ERA (although he has converted every opportunity but one) and nobody, outside of Maurer maybe, has emerged as truly reliable.

Now, has the pen cost the Padres a game in the past two weeks? No. But aside from the one-run win over the Angels in late May, it's hard to say it's earned them any wins, either.

MANAGEMENT

Overall grade: C

Should Bud Black have ever experimented with Abraham Almonte in centerfield? Is he incapable of playing small ball when the team needs a tying run? Was he far too stubborn in keeping Kemp in the 3 hole for as long as he did?

Oh, who knows. A manager's questionable choices are always highlighted while his smart ones are forgotten. Black is not the root of the Padres' shortcomings thus far, but given the much- improved talent he has had to work with, you can't say he has thrived, either. This was the most hyped roster the Padres have had since moving to Petco Park, and through the first third of the season, it hasn't lived up to it. Have there been a couple of significant injuries? Yes. Even so, defending the manager of a sub. 500 club replete with All-Stars is becoming harder and harder.

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FRONT OFFICE

Overall grade: C-

Rookie Padres GM A.J. Preller deserves credit for being as bold as he was in the offseason. It was necessary to try and revive this flatlining franchise. But did he win the Kemp trade with L.A.? Doesn't look that way given Kemp's struggles and Yasmani Grandal's success. How about the one with Atlanta? Hard to say yes given the amount of coin spent on a shaky Craig Kimbrel.

Remember — all the moves made before opening day were geared toward winning now. But 55 games in, the Padres have lost more often than they've won and have very few prospects left to trade.

Could the "Rock Star GM" just be baseball's version of Milli Vanilli? Let's not go there yet. But if you're worried that your skepticism is unwarranted, fret not. It is anything but.

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Meet the Padres’ wizard of HD entertainment

By Jennifer Van Grove6 A.M.JUNE 5, 2015 You probably don't know Matt Coy. But if you’ve been to a Padres game this year, you know his work. If he’s done his job, you’ll leave Petco Park feeling entertained and wanting more — whether the Padres win or get crushed. And that can be a tall order on some nights.

Recruited from the Dallas Cowboys in January, Coy, a San Diego State University alumni, holds what sounds like a boring title: “Senior Director of Game Day Presentation.” Yet he has to keep you coming back to Petco, even while competing with your own home and its big-screen TV, cushy couches, easy-access bathrooms and on-demand snacks.

At his command are all of the tools that power Petco Park.

The music. The video boards. The interactive games. The replays. Even the mascot and the Park at the Park. Coy controls it all. He does so from inside the Padres’ shinny new control room, which sits left of the Press Box (when facing the scoreboard), and from where Coy has a bird’s- eye view of everything.

To support him, the organization budgeted for nearly $13 million in stadium upgrades this year, according to an October 2014 letter sent to the city with a list of capital improvements. The video board alone was estimated as a $4.33 million expense.

“You don’t buy a race car without hiring a great race car driver and pit crew,” said Wayne Partello, chief marketing officer for the Padres.

The video board, the third-largest in , stands 61.2 feet tall and spans 123.6 feet. For his crew, Coy has a souped-up control room, equipped with all-new machines.

“We had to redo everything,” Coy said, because the big board put the Padres in “high-def, flat- screen TV land.”

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Coy and his control-room cohorts go by the new moniker, “Padres Productions.” Together, the team races through a second-by-second master script of video, audio and promotional directions with room, of course, to adjust on the fly.

“My big thing is the overall experience. That’s my signature,” said Coy, 38, who has worked behind the scenes of sporting events since he was 10, when he started as a camera operator.

Maybe you’ve noticed his touch. The music video “Upton Funk,” featuring Justin Upton, has the makings of a viral . But it’s exclusive to Petco. This year’s Hat Shuffle game is harder — intentionally so. There are also a host of gimmicks such as the “Not So Nice Tweets” bit with players reading mean tweets about themselves, and a celebrity look-alike shtick comparing fans to famous doppelgängers.

“It’s much better than it was last year,” season-ticket holder Eddie Dingle, 37, said of the new video board and entertainment. “The stadium is still new, but it needed some technology updates.”

Social media posts from fans play a super-sized role during Padres games thanks to Coy, whose team selects tweets and Instagram photos (with the hashtag #SDinHD) to feature on the video board. For any given game, they must sift through thousands of updates. And, no matter what, these tweets and Instagram photos are always displayed somewhere in the park.

“At first, I thought it might be a little too busy,” Padres fan Ken Gartin said of the ever-present social media posts, “but there is a lot of great information during the game that helps balance it out. The lineup is what brought me there, but I think having a great ballpark experience keeps me going back.”

He’s not the only fan coming back more often. Attendance through 28 home games is at 867,506, up 17.5 percent over last year, which means roughly 4,600 more fans are showing up at each game. Of course, a better lineup helps, but the new ownership group, led by Executive Chairman Ron Fowler, took over in August of 2012 and set out to “produce a best-in-class organization, top to bottom,” Partello said.

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At the top, at least physically speaking, is the high-octane control room, which was budgeted at $3.3 million. On game days, a cast of characters exhibit mastery of imposingly complex workstations, like Padres deejay Kevin Hilgeman, who manages and mixes each game’s music selection. Next to Hilgeman sits Coy, who, perched above home plate on the third-base side, directs staff through his headset.

To Coy’s right is public address announcer Alex Miniak, ballpark entertainment manager Michael Grace, and staffers who control the smaller LED boards around the park. The social media command center is in an adjacent, glass booth. A giant wall of video monitors is manned by Director Cole Gallagher.

Elsewhere in the room, machines record every second of the game. The new setup allows for eight angles to be recorded at once, offering fans more replay views.

There are so many moving parts that something is bound to go wrong. Graphics get cut off. Music cuts out too soon. The glitches bother Coy, but the hardest part of his job isn’t reacting to technical hiccups. Rather, it’s finding the right tone during what he calls “the dog days of the season.” He has admittedly worked for a few “stinkers” over the course of his career in “sports presentation,” as the niche business is known.

“It can be a delicate balance,” Coy said. When the team is at its worst, he can’t be too funny, too cute or too loud. He could embarrass or annoy the players.

Take the May 28 game against the Pirates. Pitcher Ian Kennedy was having a rough night, but Coy chose to celebrate Kennedy’s one-thousandth career on the video board. Fans cheered the accomplishment. Kennedy looked uncomfortable.

Maybe Coy’s decision was the right one. The Padres lost by a six-run margin that night, but Coy gave fans a reason to celebrate.

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Padres pitch ballpark app, rewards By Jennifer Van Grove 06:00a.m. Jun 5, 2015

As part of the ’ efforts to be a cutting-edge club, the team is pushing harder to entice fans to try the MLB.com Ballpark app.

The iPhone and Android app, which serves all Major League Baseball teams and parks, is where fans can buy and find electronic versions of tickets, view stadium maps and menus, and pay-by- phone at games with digital payment cards.

Padres fans can also use the app to participate in the team’s Compadres loyalty program, which was relaunched to season-ticket holders last year. This season, the revitalized program was made available to all fans, not just those shelling out for multi-game packages.

The program promises to reward fans for the things they already do, so long as they use the app.

“We are the only team that has a loyalty program of this nature that is for all fans,” said Katie Jackson, Padres director of marketing. Most teams have a loyalty program, she said, but they’re only for season-ticket holders.

Those who sign up for the Compadres program are “rewarded” for pretty much everything — in the form of points. Walk into the ballpark, get points. Connect your account, get points. Spend e-cash, get points. Points can be redeemed at the Compadres website for items such as an autographed baseball or access to batting practice.

Cash is also a perk. The team is sweetening its mobile payment system, called “e-cash." Season- ticket holders get a 10 percent e-cash bonus every time they load money onto their digital card, while others get 5 percent back. E-cash can be spent at most places around the stadium.

The downside of the Padres’ app push, however, is confused fans who may not be ready to transition to e-everything. Those who purchased partial season-ticket packages, for instance, were automatically opted into digital-only tickets.

Then there's the occasional malfunction. On Opening Day, a connectivity glitch prevented people from making e-cash purchases for a portion of the game. The team is offering free, two-hour training sessions to season-ticket holders.

“It’s intimidating at first if you don’t know how to use [the app],” Jackson said. “But it does make your life so much easier.” 11

Minors: Melvin Upton, Giron homer Recapping Thursday's Padres minor league games By Jeff Sanders8 A.M.JUNE 5, 2015

Twelve games into his rehab assignment, Melvin Upton Jr. has his first homer.

The blast came in -A El Paso's 9-4 loss to Omaha on Thursday. Upton also singled, stole his fourth base and scored two runs in pushing his batting line to .283/.340/.391 over 46 at-bats as he whips his timing into shape after starting the season on the disabled list with a left foot injury.

Shortstop Ramiro Pena (.312) and (.300) both collected two hits, while right- hander Cory Mazzoni (1-1, 2.41) allowed three runs in 1 1/3 innings in which he walked three.

DOUBLE-A SAN ANTONIO (22-30)

• Missions 9, Arkansas 5: RHP Casey Kelly (3.76) allowed three runs on six hits and five walks in 4 1/3 innings as he pushed his pitch count to 78 (41 strikes). LF Alberth Martinez (.261) drove in two runs and 2B Diego Goris (.263) went 3-for-4 with an RBI.

HIGH SINGLE-A LAKE ELSINORE (24-29)

• Inland Empire 5, Storm 0 (7): RHP Matthew Shepherd (1-3, 6.50) allowed two runs in six innings, while C Ryan Miller (.368) doubled for the Storm's only hit. • Storm 5, Inland Empire 2 (7): The Storm bullpen turned in three shutout innings of one-hit ball, capped by a scoreless ninth from RHP Eric Yardley (2.31) for his 10th save. 3B Gabriel Quintana (.234) hit his sixth homer and RF Yale Rosen (.210) hit his fifth homer.

LOW SINGLE-A FORT WAYNE (22-31)

• TinCaps 10, Beloit 5: SS Ruddy Giron (.410) hit his fifth homer and drove in two runs and scored three runs with a 3-for-5 day. RF Nick Torres (.322) went 4-for-4 with four RBIs and RHP Dinelson Lamet (1-3, 4.76) allowed two runs in five innings to win his first game.

DSL PADRES (5-0)

• DSL Padres 6, DSL White Sox 4: 1B Enmanuel Arias (.500) and DH Dayon Olmo (.318) each homered and RHP Emmanuel Clase (1-0, 2.25) allowed two runs (one earned) in four innings in relief for the win.

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Friar talk: Checking in on the Reds The latest on the Reds as the Padres arrive in Cincinnati for three-game series By Jeff Sanders5 A.M.JUNE 5, 2015

The Padres open a three-game set today at Cincinnati, the first losing team on their schedule since facing the Mariners in mid-May. Here's a glance at the state of the Reds, a 6-4 winner on Thursday to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Phillies.

HOT …

• At the plate (stats through Wednesday): Over the last two weeks, 3B Todd Frazier is batting .333/.375/.711 with four homers and eight RBIs. 1B Joey Votto (.318/.388/.659) also has three homers and seven RBIs over that stretch, while OF Jay Bruce has put up a .343/.511/.457 batting line over his last 47 plate appearances. • On the mound: Sunday's starter, RHP Johnny Cueto, limited the opposition to two runs (one earned) on five hits and no walks (0.833 WHIP) over six innings in his previous start, while Saturday's RHPMichael Lorenzen has a 2.08 ERA over his last two starts (13 IP). • In the pen: Neither RHP Ryan Mattheus nor RHP J.J. Hoover have allowed an earned run over a combined nine innings over the last two weeks.

… AND COLD

• At the plate: SS Zack Cozart has cooled considerably, managing a .179/.233/.231 batting line over his last 43 plate appearances. OFBilly Hamilton has swiped has swiped six bases in his last eight attempts, but is only getting on base on a .263 clip over the last two weeks. • On the mound: Friday's starter has been an all-or-nothing guy of late. RHP Raisel Iglesias has struck out 14 over his last 8 2/3 innings, but has allowed seven runs on 13 hits and three walks over that stretch. • In the pen: Aroldis Chapman is hittable these days. He has allowed four runs on six hits and eight walks over his last six innings while striking out nine.

M.A.S.H. UNIT

• OF Marlon Byrd: Landed on the disabled list Wednesday with a right wrist fracture. • C Devin Mesoraco: On the 15-day DL with a left hip impingement; no time table for his return. • RHP : Underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery on May 8.

13 xFIP predicting Padres pitching rebound Rotation has turned in quality starts in 14 of last 16 games By Jeff SandersNOONJUNE 4, 2015

For years, Darren Balsley has maintained that Petco Park played like a pitcher's park because his staffs pitched … well, well. The spike in downtown home runs this year, the Padres' long time pitching says, isn't as much about massive new structures erected beyond the left field walls, wind tunnels or anything of the like as it is about mistake pitches

Well, mistake pitches and a heckuva lot of bad luck. Some of the latter has begun to normalize over the last two weeks. Including James Shields' gem on Wednesday, Padres pitchers have turned in quality starts in 14 of their last 16 games, helping the team lower its collective earned-run average to 4.02.

While that number still ranks just outside the bottom third in baseball, advanced numbers reveal that the Padres have still pitched better than some of their luck-related results show.

For instance, Expected Fielding Independent Pitching (xFIP) normalizes fluctuating homer-to-flyball ratios while factoring in defense and park factors – both of which can have effects on ERAs – to determine a pitcher's true skill level. This stat, in particular, is of note because the Padres' 15 percent HR/FB ratio is not only the highest mark it baseball, it's more than 4 percent higher than this year's league average (10.84).

The Padres' pitchers are certainly missing their spots more often than usual, yet the rate at which those mistake pitches are leaving the yard likely isn't sustainable over the course of a whole season. Accounting for that anomaly leaves the Padres' staff with a 3.55 xFIP, the eighth lowest mark in baseball.

Which makes sense given the staff assembled in San Diego and what everyone's been saying all along: They aren't this bad.

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Individually, the chart below shows just who we can expect progression to the mean as the season marches on, some of which has already unfolded.

xFactors

Pitcher ERA HR/FB xFIP RHP Craig Kimbrel 4.50 18.80% 2.54

RHP Shawn Kelley 5.06 18.80% 2.96

RHP James Shields 3.58 20.30% 3.09

RHP Andrew Cashner 3.46 15.40% 3.09

RHP Tyson Ross 3.76 9.40% 3.24

RHP Brandon Morrow 2.73 10% 3.64

RHP Kevin Quackenbush 3.57 0% 3.84

RHP Joaquin Benoit 2.45 15% 3.85

RHP Ian Kennedy 6.60 25.50% 3.85

RHP Brandon Maurer 2.08 3.70% 3.92

RHP Dale Thayer 2.78 10.70% 4.15

RHP Odrisamer Despaigne 4.56 12.20% 4.47

LHP Frank Garces 4.02 14.30% 4.94

Source: Fangraphs.com

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Padres begin 7-game road trip Friday against Reds STATS, INC. JUN 05, 2015 12:09p ET

The San Diego Padres' offense seems to be finally rounding into the form many envisioned when it was assembled this offseason, and there still is plenty of room for improvement.

Coming off an impressive series victory, the Padres open a seven-game road trip Friday night against the .

San Diego (27-28) put its offensive potency on display with consecutive seven-run outbursts against the , as Derek Norris continued his excellent season with his 33rd and 34th RBIs Tuesday and Will Venable drove in two runs in each victory.

Will Middlebrooks knocked in three runs Wednesday and is batting .321 with 11 RBIs in his last 15 games.

Matt Kemp and Justin Upton have been less productive, although they combined for three runs on Wednesday. Kemp has no RBIs in his last seven games and has not homered in his last 43 games, three shy of his career worst, while Upton has not driven in a run in his last six.

"The offense the last two nights is more of what we expect," manager Bud Black said. "I still think there's some more power to come from our guys."

Black's club has won seven of 11 since losing seven of eight, batting .275 and averaging 5.2 runs per game.

The Reds (23-29) ended a nine-game road losing streak with a 6-4 win over Philadelphia on Thursday and now return home where they scored 22 runs during a three-game sweep of Washington last weekend.

Raisel Iglesias (1-1, 5.11 ERA) looks to bounce back from the worst of his four major league starts. The right-hander had a season-high eight , but allowed five runs and nine hits in 5 2-3 innings of an 8-5 win over the Nationals on Saturday.

He had surrendered six runs over 16 innings in his first three starts. 16

Iglesias will oppose San Diego's Tyson Ross (2-5, 3.76). During his impressive 2014 campaign, in which he ranked among the top 20 qualifying pitchers in both ERA (2.81) and strikeouts (195), Ross was perhaps at his best against Cincinnati, allowing one run and striking out 17 over 16 innings in two wins.

His ERA has suffered a slight hit this season, but the strikeout numbers have only improved. Ross has a career-best 9.88 strikeout per nine innings despite managing only two in six innings of a 5-2 loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday.

"There's been a little bit of inconsistency from inning to inning," Black said. "They're have been stretches during the course of the game where you have seen flashes of last year's performances. This year, there's been probably not the consistent number of innings strung together. The stuff is the same.

"If that consistency shows up, then you're going to see a lot of wins and lot of low-run games against Tyson."

Brandon Phillips is 1 for 10 against Ross, Joey Votto is 1 for 7, and Zack Cozart and Billy Hamilton are both hitless. Ross has struck out those four Reds a combined 10 times.

Phillips enters Friday's meeting on a tear, going 10 for 20 with six runs and six RBIs in his last four games. He has stolen a base in his last two games, and has a in each of his last three.

"He's been great," manager Bryan Price said. "He's had a really good start. I asked him to be a leadoff man and he's handled that well. I like the way the lineup is shaping out."

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PADRES: Under .500, but reasons to believe BY KYLE GLASER / STAFF WRITER SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Padres’ 27-28 record isn’t particularly inspiring at first glance.

But look a little deeper, and it becomes clear the Padres are actually doing just fine at the one-third mark of the season.

Consider the Padres have played 47 of their first 55 games against teams with a .500 record or better, the most in the majors by 11 games. Then add the fact they’ve done so while missing Yonder Alonso and Wil Myers each for more than 20 games. Then add that it’s come with Brandon Morrow getting hurt, Ian Kennedy getting shelled and the bullpen in various states of flux and it becomes clear: the Padres have actually done pretty darn well to be where they are.

“We want more, we want to continue to push and keep going,” Padres manager Bud Black said. “You always think you could’ve done better and our record is our record, but we’re going to keep pushing until we catch the Dodgers and Giants.”

Catching the Dodgers and Giants isn’t a pipe dream. The Padres entered Thursday 5 games back of the first-place Dodgers, well within striking distance. In fact, the Dodgers were nine games back on this date in 2014 and 8.5 back in 2013 before going on to win the title. In 2012 the eventual division champion Giants were four games back on June5.

So yes, the Padres are still well in the race for the division title.

“Standings-wise if you’re in first place great, but first place doesn’t mean anything right now,” outfielder Will Venable said. “I don’t think it’s about the standings as much as it is about us playing good baseball.”

While a fast start to vault the Padres immediately into first place – a la 1998’s 22-9 and 2005’s 33-19 – would’ve been nice with all of the offseason hype, it simply wasn’t in the cards with the Padres’ tough opening schedule and their injuries.

What was in the cards was for the Padres to remain competitive, keep their heads above water so to speak, and lean on their bench players to produce.

That’s exactly what happened. And with Alonso now back, Myers right behind him and series against struggling Cincinnati, Oakland, and Seattle on the docket in the coming weeks, the Padres are positioned very nicely to make a run.

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“We’re starting to pitch better for sure, and the offense ... I still think there’s more power to come from our guys,” Black said. “The pitching will set the tone on how we do and the starters are doing their job and the bullpen is coming together.”

There are signs the Padres are already making such a pivot. They won a competitive road series against the Angels, split a four-game set with the Pirates and claimed their most recent three-game series against the Mets with back-to-back routs. Overall they’re 7-4 in their last 11 games, all against teams with winning records.

“Winning two series here at home, about to go on the road, we’re in a good spot,” starting pitcher Tyson Ross said. “We’ve got a great talented group here and we just have to play to the best of our abilities and things will take care of themselves.”

While there’s been plenty of focus on Matt Kemp’s recent struggles, the fact is most of the Padres big offseason acquisitions have been a roaring success. Justin Upton is hitting .300 with an .887 OPS and is the only player in the majors with double-digit stolen bases and home runs. Derek Norris has the most hits of any catcher in the major leagues and has thrown out 17 attempted base stealers, tied for the most. James Shields is the first Padres pitcher to start a season 7-0 since 1985 and leads the National League in strikeouts. Craig Kimbrel’s ERA is bloated but he’s converted 12 of 13 save chances and is averaging 13.1 strikeouts per nine innings. Myers was hitting .291 with .340 on-base percentage before going down. Morrow posted a rotation-best 2.73 ERA in five starts before his injury. Brandon Maurer’s become a dominant bullpen anchor with a 2.08 ERA.

Really, the new guys have given an enormous boost to the organization.

“We were in a bit of a rut at the beginning of the year but that also has to do with we were a brand new team and we’re just getting used to each other,” Shields said. “We’re sticking to our process and these guys are working there butts off, and hopefully we can get on a roll here.”

Frankly, the Padres have done better than most realize to this point, and the team dubbed “the experiment” hasn’t blown up at all.

“We’re playing some good baseball here lately and more of what we had planned on happening,” Venable said. “Now we just roll.”

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The only result that counts with Shields is wins Padres are 9-3 in games started by 7-0 Shields By Bill Center / San Diego Padres | June 4th, 2015

James Shields doesn't have the world's greatest . His 3.58 ERA is three-quarters of a run per game outside of the National League's top-10 ERAs.

But Shields leads the Major Leagues in one very important mark. He is the only pitcher with a 7-0 record. And the Padres are 9-3 in games started by Shields -- including winning each of his past seven starts. Yes, San Diego is scoring runs for Shields in amounts the club hasn't matched forAndrew Cashner and Tyson Ross. But there is more to Shields' record than run support.

"He pitches to win," Padres manager Bud Black said recently of Shields.

In other words, Shields pitches to the situation. He doesn't give up leads.

And this isn't just a coincidence. Shields has a history in this area.

For example, Shields is 4-0 this season in the final game of a series. He is 49-24 -- a .671 winning percentage -- in the final game of a series in 104 such starts in his career.

Shields allowed two runs on six hits and two walks in the rubber match of the three-game series with the Mets on Wednesday. The Padres won and never trailed as Shields opened with five straight scoreless innings as San Diego was building a 7-0 lead. Shields is only the second pitcher in Padres history to open a season with a 7-0 record. Andy Hawkins was 11-0 to start the 1985 season. From the scorebook

• By taking two of the three games from the Mets, the Padres improved to 26-14 (.650) against the Mets in San Diego since Petco Park opened in 2004. That is their best all-time winning percentage against any NL opponent at Petco Park. The Padres are 10-1-2 in 13 series against the Mets at Petco Park. • Third baseman Will Middlebrooks has three three-RBI games this season. And all have come in his last eight games. Middlebrooks has hit safely in 15 of his last 20 games, going 23-for-75 (.307) with three doubles, four homers and 12 RBIs. He is 10-for-28 in his last eight games, with two doubles and two homers.

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• Will Venable is hitting .316 (25-for-79) in 23 games since May 18. His two-run single in the fourth inning Wednesday boosted his batting average with runners in scoring position to .474 (9-for- 19) this season.

• Wednesday's win brought the Padres to 7-4 over their last 11 games as they prepare to embark on a seven-game road trip to Cincinnati and Atlanta. Forty-seven of San Diego's first 55 games have been against clubs with a winning record -- the highest total in the Majors by 10 games. The Reds will be only the fourth team with a losing record that the Padres have faced this season.

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