{"id":115802,"date":"2025-08-03T14:25:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T14:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/115802\/"},"modified":"2025-08-03T14:25:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T14:25:10","slug":"cant-always-be-super-vasquezs-value-morgans-staying-power-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/115802\/","title":{"rendered":"Can\u2019t always be super; V\u00e1squez\u2019s value; Morgan\u2019s staying power \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning,<\/p>\n

It turns out the Padres are not invincible.<\/p>\n

Because that is not how baseball works.<\/p>\n

The thing about creating a \u201csuper bullpen\u201d and supposedly lengthening the lineup and integrating new players into a team is that games still have to be played.<\/p>\n

Things looked about as good as they could for the revamped Padres for all of Friday\u2019s game and through three innings last night in what ended up an 8-5 loss that stopped a winning streak at six games.<\/p>\n

They scored in each one of those three innings and led 4-0 against a pitcher they tagged for seven runs in 4\u2154 innings six days earlier.<\/p>\n

Then the Cardinals scored four times against Randy V\u00e1squez to tie the game in the fourth.<\/p>\n

Padres manager Mike Shildt sent V\u00e1squez out to start the fifth and pulled him after he allowed a lead-off single.<\/p>\n

Jeremiah Estrada, one of the Padres\u2019 highest-leverage relievers was the first man out of the bullpen.<\/p>\n

This was not entirely unprecedented. Estrada was brought in to protect a one-run lead in the fifth inning on Wednesday. Adrian Morej\u00f3n was deployed in the same situation twice on the last road trip.<\/p>\n

And going to Estrada in that situation was also entirely in line with what the Padres expect to be able to do more often now that they have added Mason Miller to what has for most of the season been MLB\u2019s best bullpen.<\/p>\n

Waiting to go to Estrada until seeing whether V\u00e1squez was going to be able to work his way through another inning was also easily explainable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to make it very clear right now,\u201d Shildt said, \u201cwe cannot pitch five innings every night out of our bullpen with 50 games to go. You just can\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Padres have four more games before a day off. As it was, had they been able to keep the game tied and eventually taken a slim lead, they were going to have to use Miller and Robert Suarez for a second consecutive game. That would be fine to secure a victory, but it can\u2019t be the answer on too many nights in the regular season.<\/p>\n

Now Miller, Suarez, Morej\u00f3n and Jason Adam are rested.<\/p>\n

That is because Estrada walked a batter, struck out the next two and then allowed a two-run double, as the Cardinals took a 6-4 lead.<\/p>\n

No other high-leverage relievers were needed.<\/p>\n

The Padres, who were 7-for-18 to start the game, went 2-for-16 the rest of the way. Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy ended up retiring the final five batters he faced and finished six innings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been scoring,\u201d Shildt said. \u201cWe scored four runs. I thought we\u2019d score some more runs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The way they were knocking McGreevy around, that seemed a safe bet.<\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t one of those many games they have had where the offense did virtually nothing for nine innings.<\/p>\n

But it was one of those many games where after an early burst, they went down quickly. The Padres rank third from the bottom in runs scored after the fifth inning.<\/p>\n

It was a mixed night for the new offensive players.<\/p>\n

Left fielder Ram\u00f3n Laureano drove in the Padres\u2019 first run with a triple and scored their second run on new catcher Freddy Fermin\u2019s groundout in the second inning.<\/p>\n

Laureano finished 1-for-4. Fermin hit an RBI single in the ninth inning.<\/p>\n

Ryan O\u2019Hearn, who served as designated hitter in his first start, was 0-for-3 before being lifted for pinch-hitter Jose Iglesias in the eighth inning when the Cardinals brought in a left-handed reliever.<\/p>\n

A team doesn\u2019t play anything close to perfect every night. That is not to excuse Fermin not catching a relay throw from Manny Machado or Machado making an ill-advised attempt at turning a single into a double or O\u2019Hearn swinging at three pitches nowhere near the plate.<\/p>\n

But those things happen.<\/p>\n

Last night\u2019s result doesn\u2019t portend bad things any more than the Padres winning Friday in their first game after the trade deadline meant they would never lose again.<\/p>\n

It just means this season probably still has some twists and turns remaining.<\/p>\n

That is what is great about sports and about the crazy game of baseball in particular.<\/p>\n

V\u00e1squez\u2019s services<\/p>\n

You can read in Jeff Sanders\u2019 game story (here<\/a>) about the plight of V\u00e1squez, who is expected to be optioned today to make room for Nestor Cortes.<\/p>\n

Last night was the first time the Padres had lost in V\u00e1squez\u2019s past seven starts, and they are 14-8 in his starts. That is the same record the Padres have when Nick Pivetta starts.<\/p>\n

V\u00e1squez has been about all the Padres could have asked for from a back-end starter. The right-hander has a 3.92 ERA over 107\u2154 innings in his career-high 22 starts. In 10 of those starts, he went at least five innings while allowing three or fewer runs. That is plenty good enough for a No.4 or No.5 starter who is 26 years old and 47 starts into his big-league career. Teams win 65% of the time when they get that from a pitcher.<\/p>\n

In what might have been his final start of 2025, V\u00e1squez did something last night he had not done since May 21. He figured in the decision of a game he started.<\/p>\n

The 11 starts between decisions were a franchise record.<\/p>\n

Cortes has not pitched in the major leagues since the first week of April due to an elbow flexor strain. He reached the maximum 30 days on his rehab assignment yesterday, and he is expected to be activated today.<\/p>\n

That means the left-hander will start for the Padres this week.<\/p>\n

It appears Yu Darvish and JP Sears, the other lefty acquired at the deadline, will start the first two games in Arizona in some order with Cortes likely slotting in for the finale.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Morgan strikes again<\/p>\n

David Morgan has a four-seam fastball that averages 97.7 mph. He has a pretty good curveball and slider and has developed a two-seam fastball on the fly.<\/p>\n

But he has stuck around because he throws strikes.<\/p>\n

Morgan worked two scoreless innings last night and has a 1.23 ERA over his past 12 appearances (14\u2154 innings).<\/p>\n

Since his major league debut on May 26, while mostly working in games in which the Padres trail, the rookie right-hander has a 1.93 ERA in 24 appearances (26 innings).<\/p>\n

While Morghan issued his 10th walk last night, which would suggest he is not throwing strikes, he is actually among the biggest strike throwers on the team.<\/p>\n

His 54.3% rate of being in the strike zone trails only Robert Suarez (57.8%) and Adrian Morej\u00f3n (56.4%). Morgan\u2019s first-pitch strike percentage (67.6%) is fourth on the team behind Morej\u00f3n (69.7%), Wandy Peralta (69.2%) and Estrada (68.7%).<\/p>\n

With his high rate of being in the zone, Morgan has a penchant for quick innings.<\/p>\n

On July 19 in Washington, he entered in the eighth inning with a runner on first and one out. He threw one pitch, which was grounded to shortstop to start a double play that ended the eighth inning.<\/p>\n

Four days later, he took over with a runner on first and nobody out in the eighth. Four pitches later, the inning was over on a pop out and a double play.<\/p>\n

There is a certain amount of good fortune involved in such efficiency. But Morgan is making a habit of quick innings because he throws strikes.<\/p>\n

He came in doing so, getting two outs on six pitches in his major league debut on May 26. He is averaging 16 pitches an inning and throwing strikes at a 65.5% rate.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has got a good arm,\u201d Shildt said recently. \u201cThere are good arms all throughout baseball. \u2026 But this guy has two really good qualities that complement his arm. He\u2019s not going to back down; he\u2019s going to trust what he does. And he\u2019s going to do it in the strike zone. That\u2019s a big separator between being a big-league player and staying and being consistent and contributing and guys who have good arms and can\u2019t get outs in the strike zone. Because more or less, that\u2019s where (outs) take place.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is a rarity for a pitcher to come up and immediately settle into consistently throwing strikes. There are the famous outliers. But a middle reliever who comes in with the command and confidence of a veteran and continues to show it is rarer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know hitting is hard,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cThe odds are against you as a hitter. My stuff is good. Let\u2019s battle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morgan was the guy at the plate not that long ago. He played on the left side of the infield and outfield in college and did not convert to pitching (while also continuing to play in the field and hit) until his senior year of college, at NAIA school Hope International University in Orange County.<\/p>\n

Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla thinks Morgan\u2019s late conversion might have helped instill in him an adherence to one of baseball\u2019s oldest adages.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is the first thing they tell you when you start pitching?\u201d Niebla said. \u201cThrow strikes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tidbits<\/p>\n