Padres Press Clips Friday, June 5, 2015 Article Source Author Page 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 Associated Press 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 1 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 run. 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 Alexi Amarista earned a better mark than Jedd Gyorko, or why Wil Myers and Yonder Alonso were docked for being out. Also, position players must have at least 65 at-bats, and pitchers at least 15 innings pitched. 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 baseball, 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 spring training. 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!!! -- home run, 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 National League 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 catcher. 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 Justin Upton 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 slugging percentage 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 pitcher 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 Yangervis Solarte at second — all but confirms it. BULLPEN Brandon Maurer: A- Joaquin Benoit: B+ Dale Thayer: B 5 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 opening day despite leading after six. The once all-powerful Kimbrel owns an unheard of 4.50 ERA (although he has converted every save 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. 6 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. 7 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.