Padres Editorial: Padres Fans Are Starting to Get Restless
The San Diego Padres have had a horrible time in recent years competing. The Padres have not tasted playoff baseball since the days of Bruce Bochy as manager. The team has had many notorious collapses and continually finishes slightly below the .500 mark year in and year out. The fan base has been dormant, with no real reason for excitement. That is until A.J. Preller was hired last August.
The dramatic off-season that just took place was just what the San Diego Padres needed. The fan base was instantly charged up when A. J. Preller acquired slugger Matt Kemp from the Los Angeles Dodgers. With the addition of Kemp, the Padres now had a legitimate middle of the order hitter. Something they have lacked since Adrian Gonzalez was in a Padres uniform. Not only was Kemp brought in, but the Padres went all in for the season when they sent a package of prospects to the Atlanta Braves for Justin Upton.
Team those two sluggers with Wil Myers, Will Middlebrooks and Derek Norris and the team had completely overhauled their anemic offense. There was a common theme with all these players however, each was right handed, and each had a propensity to strike out frequently. Add to the fact Myers, Kemp and Upton were all below average outfielders and the Padres created a recipe for disaster.
The result of these inadequacies show on a weekly basis for this team. The team has been shut out a league high 11 times this season. Usually the shutouts come at the hands of soft throwing right hand pitchers who eat up the mostly right-handed Padres lineup. This team is very frustrating to watch as they show flashes of brilliance with in their horrible play. This team will truly take one step forward and two steps back whenever possible. As soon as the team seems to find a groove, they immediately give up any momentum in the season and dig a hole for themselves.
The majority of Padres fans have all but given up on this team. The expectations were so high that the latest performances from this team have resulted in fans just simply giving up on all hope. As a positive Padres fan, I still have hope for this team. All though it is fading fast. The play from this team just seems so stoic at times. To play the game of baseball you must remain calm and not let emotions get in the way, however a little passion from the team lets the fans know they care.
In all reality the team does not have much time to get their act together. This current five game home stand against the Arizona Diamondbacks and Seattle Mariners is very important for the team. They must win in order to save the season. If the team fails to do so then players like Justin Upton, Joaquin Benoit, Will Venable and Ian Kennedy will surely be shopped around. The Padres farm system is a little low on prospects and the team might just deem it time to reload on some young talent.
Truly anything can happen in the next few week. The Padres could go on an absolute tear and win 12 out of the next 15 and be buyers come the trade deadline. If the team continues to spin its wheels, then I fear the team is already too far behind to consider themselves contenders. If that is the case it will be interesting to see how A.J. Preller develops this team for 2016. There are a lot of different directions he can go on rebuilding and restocking the team.
James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.