It was August 23 and it looked like fatigue was getting to Chris Paddack. He had a 10.06 earned run average in the past 4 games. It looked like he was done for the year.
Paddack had given up 6, 3, 4 and 6 earned runs in his past 4 starts and only went a total of 17 innings, averaging just over 4 innings per start. His worst start, on August 23, lasted only 2⅓ innings and 6 runs were given up.
But Paddack turned it around in his August 29 start in San Francisco. He went 7 innings with just one run allowed while striking out 8 hitters. Paddack also gave up no free passes for the first time since June 4. It was also his longest outing since July 17.
However, just one start wasn’t going to get Paddack back to his July form, which he went 2-1 and held a 1.90 ERA.
Paddack delivered again in Wednesday’s series finale in Arizona, as he went 5⅓ shutout innings before getting taken out with 90 pitches. For the first time in his career, Paddack struck out 8 hitters in back-to-back games. He did walk two D-backs but gave up no runs.
His innings count is now at 129⅓, which is 49⅓ more than his previous season high, and made a start in September for the first time in his professional career.
Whether those two starts will be his last in 2019, has been undecided, but if he does go another start, expect him to do big things with another opportunity to prove himself.
Padres notes:
Padres affiliates Tri-City (Low-A), Lake Elsinore (High-A), and Amarillo (Double-A) each made the postseason in their respective leagues. Tri City and Lake Elsinore each won their first game while Amarillo lost the series opener.
Outfielder Taylor Trammell, the top 100 prospect who the Padres acquired in the July 30 3-team trade with Cleveland and Cincinnati, hit a home run in Amarillo’s 8-3 loss. It was the first postseason bomb of his career.
Garrett Richards made his third rehab start in Lake Elsinore’s first game of the postseason. He went 4 innings, threw 55 pitches (33 for strikes), and struck out 5 batters in the Storm’s game 1 win. The Padres signed Richards to a 2-year/$15.5M deal over the offseason, with his injury in mind. Richards will be a huge contributor to the rotation, serving as a mentor to the young pitchers as well as an innings-eater in 2020.
On Thursday, MLB Pipeline named Padres no. 1 Prospect & MLB’s no. 3 prospect MacKenzie Gore the MiLB Pitcher of the Year. Gore recorded a 1.69 ERA and struck out 135 hitters in 101 innings between Lake Elsinore and Amarillo before being shut down. Gore will be pitching for a spot on the roster next spring.
