Padres Press Clips Tuesday, July 11, 2017 Article Source Author Page Memo to Padres: Growing pains support no 'blank check' UT San Diego Miller 2 Padres mailbag: How many starting pitchers will be on the UT San Diego Lin 5 move? Michel Baez strong again for Fort Wayne UT San Diego Sanders 7 Hand set for first ASG: Today, 4:30 PT, FOX MLB.com Collier 9 Morejon excels in impressive start for Tri-City MLB.com Boor 11 Padres On Deck: Blash, Cordereo, Reyes Homers Power FriarWire Center 12 Affiliates’ Wins 1 Memo to Padres: Growing pains support no 'blank check' Bryce Miller It’s baseball’s breather, when the All-Star break allows the sport to take stock of its competitive universe and ponder whether Aaron Judge will single-handedly derail pace of play by denting Neptune. The Padres are evaluating their cosmos, too. This is a bad baseball team. That’s not opinion. That’s just a fact when chewing on the only metric that truly matters — winning. Only the Phillies and, remarkably, Giants limped through the first half in worse win-loss shape. Then again, we all knew that’s where this team would be right now. Heck, the front office told us so. And that’s the intriguing thing about the Padres and the full-reboot journey they’re on. They’ve proven to be masters of messaging, successfully promoting patience in ways the fumbling Chargers never could. As the second half prepares for flight, the core question at the heart of that cosmos becomes: How long will fans remain tolerant ticket-buyers? How long can a franchise bank on the park’s sexy, bay-side profile and fancy menu? When does the “we’re building young” and “help is on the way” lose traction? At some point, winning matters. The Padres remain the ultimate mixed bag. Attendance has dipped to an average 25,958 through the first half — down nearly 2,000 per game from a season ago. That, however, is 20th out of 30th teams. That actually could be painted as overachieving, given that the team owns the third-worst record in baseball. There are a combined 30 World Series titles among the 10 teams looking up at the Padres on the attendance list. Granted, the most recent winner was the White Sox (2005), winners of one playoff game since. But the group includes the Indians, a World Series qualifier a season ago who finished one Game 7 rain delay away from the championship. 2 The Padres’ communications savvy seems rooted in a couple of ratings numbers from Fox Sports San Diego. First-half viewership is essentially flat when compared to this point a season ago, a representative said. A push toward more coverage of up-and-comers in the minor-league system, however, has caused “Inside San Diego Sports” and Padres POV” to spike 96 and 67 percent, respectively. Will it last? For transparency, I like the Padres plan. I think it’s about smartly building a house a brick at a time, rather than caving to the buzz of big names and big contracts. They tried that. See: Matt Kemp, James Shields, Tyson Ross, Melvin Upton, Derek Norris and The Big Push, Circa 2015. It’s not about the thoughts of any one person, though. It’s about how long the broader fan base, one that’s waited since 2006 for a playoff game, plans to soak up big-league prices as the brush strokes continue. Will they wait the rest of 2017? Yes. Without a doubt. But that trust and faith isn’t a blank check. Austin Hedges has to be far better at the plate in September than his current .218. Wil Myers can’t continue to strike out at a career-high pace. One or two guys among Carlos Asuaje, Cory Spangenberg, Franchy Cordero, Ryan Schimpf and Christian Bethancourt need to establish legit staying power. Who’s the next Dinelson Lamet? How close are Cal Quantrill and Anderson Espinoza? Will a trade – think of a name that rhymes with “band” – add depth at multiple positions? This young team doesn’t have to be good. But it has to be better. The Padres began the season 15-30. They’re 23-20 since. That’s a start. Progress within Padres walls will not always be splashy and rarely obvious. For fans to feel good about where the product is heading, it requires a continuous drumbeat of improvement. That makes manager Andy Green a nearly perfect person for the long-term job. Few walk the line of patience and persistence better. DNA rich Fernando Tatis Jr. is on the way. So is Cuban slugger Jorge Ona and the pitching depth Eric Lauer, Joey Lucchesi and Quantrill could provide. With Myers anchored at first base, Josh Naylor is either a long-term answer or short-term trade gold. There’s no doubt that the $78 million or so the Padres invested in the international market has created unprecedented farm system depth. At Petco, guys like Manny Margot and Hunter Renfroe gain valuable at-bats by the day. The potential mix of those types of players and the next wave should be fascinating to watch. The future, though, starts now. 3 The Padres need to show that type of growth, an at-bat at a time at Petco, through promotions across the farm system and by continued acquisitions that gobble up even more chess pieces in the way this plan has positioned them. This team is last in the league in run production, scoring 215 fewer than the Astros at the break. Pitching continues to struggle, as the team lingers among the MLB’s least productive in ERA and runs allowed. The Padres sit dead last in MLB run differential. It borders on near-historic flailing, on all fronts. Everyone knew the franchise would experience prolonged growing pains under a plan that still makes sense. But as the grind continues, the Padres need to remind themselves that every improvement plan has phases. Support for the rest of this season and next isn’t unconditional. 4 Padres mailbag: How many starting pitchers will be on the move? Dennis Lin The Padres are 38-50 at the All-Star break, on a 70-win pace. It is fair to say they have surpassed expectations despite ranking last in the majors in batting average, on-base percentage, runs scored and run differential. San Diego likely will shed a few of its more proven players before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, meaning youth will be even more central in the second half. On to the mailbag. As always, you can submit questions via Twitter or email. Andy Green said in April that the Padres want Austin Hedges to make between 120 to 135 starts. Two months later, Hedges has started 66 of 88 games. Extrapolated to a full season, that is 121- 122 starts, which seems reasonable for a 24-year-old in excellent shape. Thanks to Anthony Rizzo, Hedges was on the receiving end of this year’s most jarring home- plate collision. He recently missed two games because of neck stiffness. But I wouldn’t say he is burned out. His defense has been superb all season, and he collected his first career multi-homer game on Friday. If Trevor Cahill continues to prove his health, he would bring back the most among the three starters you mentioned. I think he’ll be traded. There was some rust in his first two starts off the disabled list, but it seems clear the right-hander can help a team with playoff aspirations. Jhoulys Chacin doesn’t have Cahill’s stuff, but he’s been effective since his early-season disasters on the road. Over his last seven starts, including two away from Petco Park, Chacin has a 2.44 ERA. Clayton Richard has been reasonably reliable. Like Cahill and Chacin, he’ll be a free agent after this season. But the Padres probably wouldn’t mind hanging on to him for the rest of 2017. They need at least one innings-eater to help protect their younger arms, and Andy Green credits Richard for creating a buyoant clubhouse culture. To answer your question, I’ll guess one of the trio is shipped out this month. It could wind up being two, but all three pitchers would be short-term rentals and back-of-the-rotation arms on a contending team. The Padres have to weigh the value of a modest return against the need to field a workable rotation. The Padres have developed a good if not dominant bullpen. If they weaken it through trades, what would they need to get in return (say, for Hand, etc.) instead of maintaining one good solid strength? Is there a case for maintaining the strength? —Michael, Imperial Beach 5 There is little reason not to sell high a pitcher like Brad Hand. As assets go, bullpen arms are both the most volatile and the easiest to replace. San Diego is carrying multiple examples, including Hand (waiver claim), Ryan Buchter (minor league signee) and Kirby Yates (waiver claim). Rookie Phil Maton, a former 20th-round draft pick, already has handled some high- leverage situations. In the minors, relief prospects such as Brad Wieck and Trey Wingenter aren’t far from making a big-league impact. Cal Quantrill, who pitched in Sunday’s All-Star Futures Game, will be officially promoted to Double-A San Antonio any day now. He could debut at Petco Park sometime next season.