Who’s hot and who’s not for Padres: May 23-29
May 29, 2022; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore (1) throws a pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
The Padres finished the week at .500 after dropping the series to the Brewers before taking two out of three from the Pirates.
Several Padres stood out during a 3-3 week, while others did not.
Hot
There is no Padre hotter than Gore right now, batter or pitcher. He very well could take home the NL Rookie of the Month for May and should be the current frontrunner for the Rookie of the Year. In Sunday’s win over the Pirates, he set a new career-high with seven innings pitched, with zero earned runs and nine strikeouts. Through eight appearances, he owns a 1.71 ERA. He is pitching like the top prospect he once was.
.@Mgore181's rookie season keeps rolling. pic.twitter.com/91OICY9xSg
— MLB (@MLB) May 29, 2022
No one needed a hot week worse than Grisham. He struggled for the majority of the first two months of the season but has shown signs of life recently. He batted .313 with a .952 OPS this week. He punctuated the best week of his season with a walk-off homer off of the foul pole to send the Padres home with a win on Sunday against Pittsburgh. Hopefully, this will be a springboard into returning to form.
Off the pole for the win!
(MLB x @CapitalOne) pic.twitter.com/MjjffFUs0O
— MLB (@MLB) May 29, 2022
Somewhat quietly, Hosmer put together a solid week. He led the team with seven hits in the six games. He had two multi-hit games over the week. With a .333 average and .843 OPS, he continues to have a renaissance season. His season batting average is now at .321, which is third in the National League.
With a single on Sunday, Voit now has a nine-game hitting streak. This is an encouraging sign after a miserable start to the season. He played the hero on Friday night when the Padres trailed the Pirates 3-0, launching a game-tying, three-run homer in a game the Friars eventually won. He entered the week hitting .184, and his average has been boosted to .211, hitting .316 over the week.
Not
Cano is looking like the player the Mets designated for assignment earlier this season. After giving the Padres a jolt with some timely hits in his first few games with San Diego, he has done virtually nothing since. This week, he put up a goose egg with an 0-for-10. He is hitting .107 with zero extra-base hits in 10 games for the Padres.
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Cronenworth has been the most disappointing of the Padres’ bats thus far this year. After earning an All-Star bid last year, he is yet to find his stroke in 2022. He hit .200 with zero extra-base hits and a .431 OPS this week. He shows the occasional sign of snapping out of it but is yet to string together a strong stretch of multiple games.
With his stellar start to the season, we’ll forgive Rogers for his hiccup on Saturday against the Pirates. With San Diego nursing a 2-1 lead, Rogers completely lost his command, surrendering a walk and two hits, including a three-run homer which ended up costing the Padres the game. Before that, he had blown just one save and largely looked unhittable.
Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.