2020 San Diego Padres Preview – MLB Preview & Prediction
The Padres are one team that has really shown some chances to win and if the team can come together then the Padres may be one of those teams that could actually end up getting the chance to run down the Dodgers and actually secure the NL West. The downside is the Padres seem to be a very hard luck team that is constantly having to battle injuries or having some other issues that are coming up that have kept the Padres from really being that competitive.
San Diego Padres Starters
The starting rotation for the Padres has looked impressive at times, but it is not really talent deep and that is an issue for the Padres and outside of injuries one reason why the Padres have not leapt out ahead of the other teams. The Padres ace is looking to be Chris Paddack. He is followed up by Dinelson Lamet, Garrett Richards, Zach Davies, and the fifth pitcher for the Padres is Joey Lucchesi. Last year Paddack threw in 26 games for only 140.2 innings with 153 strikeouts, but he did post a 9-7 record and a 3.33 ERA.
San Diego Padres Relievers
When it comes to the pen the Padres are not that impressive, but the talent the Padres do have is younger and could start to get their moves together all at the same time. The bullpen is projected to have Drew Pomeranz, Emilio Pagan, Craig Stammen, Matt Strahm, and Jose Castillo. The closer is projected to be Kirby Yates. Yates last season pitched in 60 games with 60.2 innings and managed to strike out 101 batters. Yates did really good in the save department recording 41 saves with only 3 blown saves. Yates did post a miserable 0-5 record, but had a 1.19 ERA.
San Diego Padres Catchers
The catching position for the Padres is not really that overpowering with Francisco Mejia projected to start the games and he will be backed up by Austin Hedges. Last year Mejia only played in 79 games and hit at a clip of .265 with 8 homers and brought home 22 runners. When it comes to throwing out the runners Mejia was not that good at all by getting only 16.7% of the runners.
San Diego Padres Corners
The corners for the Padres are fairly decent with the amount of talent, but the players are getting older and that does make it harder to project how the players will do. The projected starter at first is Eric Hosmer and at third it is projected to be Manny Machado. The backup for first base is Wil Myers and at third it is projected to by backed up by Jurickson Profar. Last year for his part Hosmer ended up playing in 160 games while getting a .265 average with 22 homers and 99 runners brought home. For his part Machado ended up playing in 156 games while hitting at a clip of .256 with 32 homers and a total of 85 runners brought home.
San Diego Padres Middle Infield
The middle infield for San Diego is going to be held down by Jackson Profar at second and Fernando Tatis Jr. at short. When it comes to backups, they are backed up by Brian Dozier and Manny Machado. Last season Profar played in 139 games and was unable to do much hitting for average at a clip of .218 with 20 homers and 67 runners brought home. Fernando Tatis Jr. is coming in playing in 84 games while hitting at a clip of .317 with 22 homers, but only brought in a total of 53 runners.
San Diego Padres Outfield
The outfield will be looking a little thin at times with Tommy Pham at left, Trent Grisham in center and Wil Myers in right. The backup for left is Myers and in center it is Franchy Corder and Josh Naylor at right. Last season for Pham he played in 145 games and hit at a clip of .273 while cranking out 21 homers and bringing in 68 runners. For his part Grisham played in only 51 games while hitting at .231 with 6 homers and 24 runners brought in. Wil Myers played in 155 games, but his offensive production was not that great at a clip of .239 on the average with 18 homers and he managed to bring home 53 runners.
San Diego Padres Prediction
The Padres have quite a bit of talent that has been underperforming for years. Look for the Padres to do all they can to buck that trend, but the downside is the Padres are just not that lucky and it will cost the Padres again in the standings. The Padres struggles continue as the Padres fall to what should be 4th place in the NL West and that is only because the Giants are looking completely lost this year.
