It was the Padres\u2019 13th shutout victory, four more than any other team.<\/p>\n
We will get into what this pitching staff has done to navigate the past 35 games.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s first acknowledge that the Padres have won two consecutive series after losing three straight.<\/p>\n
They lost Friday\u2019s series opener against the Royals and won the next two games. They lost Monday\u2019s opener against the Nationals and won the next two games.<\/p>\n
They are now 44-36 and in playoff position.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/standings_559d8c.png\")
<\/p>\n
Also before we get to the pitching, let\u2019s talk about this offense that the Padres keep telling us is good but on most days doesn\u2019t seem to be very good.<\/p>\n
MacKenzie Gore deserves credit for limiting the Padres to a run over six innings, for sure. The left-hander, once expected to pitch like that in Petco Park a lot, has developed into one of the better pitchers in the National League.<\/p>\n
But aren\u2019t we tired of talking about all the good pitchers the Padres have faced?<\/p>\n
Mike Shildt shook up the top of his lineup for the second time in four days.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/lineups_41812b.png\")
<\/p>\n
Luis Arraez hit leadoff for the first time since April 9 (a game Tatis missed with a shoulder malady) and went 3-for-4 and drove in the game\u2019s only run. Machado, who had hit only third all season, was 0-for-4 in his first turn in the two-hole. Merrill, almost exclusively the clean-up hitter before batting second the previous three games, was 0-for-3 with a walk while batting third yesterday. Tatis, moving from leadoff to fourth, was also 0-for-3 with a walk.<\/p>\n
In that Shildt and others in the organization have maintained since the start of spring training that the top four are interchangeable and that it doesn\u2019t matter where they bat, this latest shakeup is really nothing more than an attempt to shake something loose for an offense that rank in the bottom five offense in the major leagues over the past month-and-a-half.<\/p>\n
I will have a story on our Padres page<\/a> later today taking stock of the team at the midway point of the season. Much of that will be a look at the offense.<\/p>\n For now, here is what Shildt said about his lineup switch:<\/p>\n \u201cLuis can hit regardless of circumstance. I like him leading off, I like him hitting four. \u2026 As we look at the lineup and started to explore, pretty much right now, at the exact halfway point of the season, it just made some sense (to) get him back to a spot he\u2019s been productive in, which is every spot. And then look at Manny. He was taking great at-bats. Let\u2019s look at Jackson. And he can pretty much (hit) anywhere. He\u2019s in a good spot.<\/p>\n \u201cTati, he\u2019s a little bit of a lynchpin to all this. He\u2019s a guy that can legitimately hit anywhere in the lineup. \u2026 It really is a good feeling to turn (the lineup) back over and there\u2019s Tati, but it\u2019s also a good feeling to turn it back over and there\u2019s Louie. It\u2019s also a good feeling to have Tati have some traffic in front of him, be able to see some pitches and go down that road. So, I like the look of it. It\u2019s always going to be a little bit fluid.\u201d<\/p>\n With all due respect, that is Grade-A gobbeldygook. Shildt is simply trying something, anything to get his offense going.<\/p>\n Ode to the pen<\/p>\n Pivetta came through in a way the Padres needed him to yesterday.<\/p>\n His working seven innings meant all the Padres needed was an inning apiece from the two high-leverage relievers that were available.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s really pivotal in those moments to try to pick up the bullpen as much as they can, because they picked us up a lot this year,\u201d Pivetta said. \u201cEverybody knows here how dynamite they\u2019ve been, how consistent they\u2019ve been.\u201d<\/p>\n Even through some recent struggles, the Padres\u2019 relief pitchers have demonstrated how true that is.<\/p>\n The bullpen has survived the most arduous portion of the season. By some measures, it has thrived.<\/p>\n Yes, the relievers lost five of the 21 leads with which they were entrusted during this stretch of 35 games in 37 days.<\/p>\n But Padres relief pitchers also collectively ranked in the top 10 in ERA (3.21), batting average allowed (.238) and percentage of inherited runners stranded (65%) in that span.<\/p>\n They did this while making 87 of their 124 (70%) appearances in games that were within two runs and pitching four innings or more in 16 of the 35 games.<\/p>\n It was a lot.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not just the back end of the bullpen,\u201d Shildt said. \u201cIt\u2019s the bullpen in total, all eight guys. And we\u2019ve had a little bit of interchangeable parts.\u201d<\/p>\n Here is a look at the Padres relievers over the past 35 games:<\/p>\n Estrada, Morej\u00f3n and Yuki Matsui joined closer Robert Suarez in getting saves during this stretch.<\/p>\n While the Padres did rely on their four highest-leverage relievers \u2014 especially red-lining setup man Jason Adam \u2014 they also had to turn to Wandy Peralta, Sean Reynolds and Matsui in games they led or were tied.<\/p>\n \u201cThe availability,\u201d pitching coach Ruben Niebla said. \u201cWe tried to take care of them, and we were watching the workload. But when one was down, it\u2019s like we still have other options. And most important, these guys are always willing to take the ball.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd having guys that we can rely on \u2014 guys like (rookies David) Morgan and Reynolds that we were able to use in \u2018up\u2019 games at times \u2014 that was a big key. And obviously, occasionally we need the starters to go a little bit deeper, and they actually responded well to some of those games.\u201d<\/p>\n If you want to know how taxed the bullpen has been, just look at how Shildt let Randy V\u00e1squez work through a career-high seven innings in a close game Sunday when Shildt had previously been pulling V\u00e1squez earlier despite manageable pitch counts.Dylan Cease going 6\u2154 innings on Saturday was big, too, since Stephen Kolek could get through just 4\u2153 innings Monday and Ryan Bergert was knocked from Tuesday\u2019s start after three innings.<\/p>\n One aspect that explains how the Padres relievers are able to work as often as they do \u2014 Adam leads MLB with 40 appearances, Estrada with 39 and Morej\u00f3n with 38 \u2014 is their efficiency.<\/p>\n Morej\u00f3n\u2019s 13.8 pitches per inning are seventh fewest in the major leagues. And five of the Padres\u2019 other eight-most-used relievers average 16.6 pitches per inning or fewer. (The MLB average for a relief pitcher is 16.6 pitches per inning.)<\/p>\n \u201cI do feel like we passed the ball around,\u201d Shildt said. \u201cI mean, guys are carrying a little bit more of the weight than maybe we would like in some instances, but we\u2019ve also been really efficient.\u201d<\/p>\n Moves<\/p>\n As expected, Suarez began serving his two-game suspension yesterday for what was deemed his intentionally hitting the Dodgers\u2019 Shohei Ohtani with a pitch last Thursday.<\/p>\n And, as forecasted in yesterday\u2019s newsletter<\/a>, Bergert went on the 15-day injured list and Reynolds was recalled.<\/p>\n The 103 mph line drive Bergert took off his forearm Tuesday caused nothing more than a bruise. But he was not going to be able to do his between-starts work on schedule.<\/p>\n Reynolds being back means the Padres have the full complement of eight relievers during Suarez\u2019s suspension and will likely have nine on Saturday and Sunday in Cincinnati.<\/p>\n That is, unless they call up someone earlier to start against the Reds over the weekend. At the latest, the Padres need to recall a starter for Monday\u2019s game in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n That could be Matt Waldron, who allowed the Phillies one run on five hits over seven innings at Citizens Bank Park last June 19.<\/p>\n Swinging freely<\/p>\n With his MLB-leading 12th three-hit game yesterday, Arraez extended his hitting streak to 12 games. That is two shy of his career high set last season.<\/p>\n Arraez has raised his batting average 15 points to .288 during the streak. That is still 25 points lower than his previous career low 74 games into a season.<\/p>\n I wrote yesterday<\/a> about Arraez\u2019s low batting average on balls in play and how his unique hitting style and ability mean he cannot be judged by traditional metrics like exit velocity or launch angle. Or chase rate.<\/p>\n Arraez is chasing pitches outside the zone at a 35% rate, up slightly over last season and well above his career rate of 27.7% entering 2025.<\/p>\n But that is not what has diminished the three-time batting champion\u2019s average.<\/p>\n Two of Arraez\u2019s hits yesterday came on pitches outside the strike zone, and he is batting .315 in at-bats that end on pitches he swings at outside the zone.<\/p>\n Check out this comparison between how Arraez is faring this season on at-bats that end with pitches outside the zone versus inside the zone and how the rest of Major League Baseball is faring:<\/p>\n Tidbits<\/p>\n All right, that\u2019s it for me.<\/p>\n No game today. So no newsletter tomorrow.<\/p>\n I will post the midseason report story on our Padres page<\/a> later today.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/pen35.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/LAoz.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/shutouts_3a50fc.png\")
<\/p>\n