The Padres will kick off a new month of baseball on Thursday, and travel to Los Angeles for a four-game series against the Dodgers. The Dodgers have had a comfortable division lead for most of the season, which is usually a clear indicator of a great baseball team. Los Angeles has been no exception in this case, as they are currently 71-39. A comfortable 15 game lead is enough to add to the confidence of any team, and it is worth noting that the Dodgers are 40-14 at home. They win games at a high rate.
This doesn’t take away from the fact that the last series the Padres won was a four-game road stand against the Dodgers. Perhaps a matchup in which they had success last time would inhibit the best mojo for the struggling Friars. A series win against the Dodgers would be a massive moral victory. Padres fans, if they can’t make the playoffs, would see it as a success if they can win the season against the Dodgers. The Padres are 4-5 against their SoCal rivals on the year and would be delighted to chip away at their impressive record once again.
The Padres have yet to be mathematically eliminated from the 2019 Postseason, as Baseball-Reference lists the chances at 0.4%. It is a never say never situation for the Pads right now who are taking a “just keep swimming” approach to their schedule. Before they make a miraculous playoff push afterall, they’ll have to actually win a series; something that hasn’t occurred against the last 6 teams they’ve faced.
Thursday, August 1st, 7:10 PMLHP Joey Lucchesi (7-5, 4.12) vs LHP Clayton Kershaw (9-2, 2.85)
Joey Lucchesi’s season has been one of the better examples of work for the Padres’ rotation in 2019. While by league standards he has been average at best, he has been a pitcher for San Diego that is helping push in the necessary direction. Relative to the mediocre young staff this year, the 26 year old has turned in several solid performances, and an ERA plus suggesting that he’s about 3% better than the average pitcher. His last performance against San Francisco should have given his team a win. His 6 innings allowing one earned run were very productive, but a stagnant offense from San Diego proved to be ineffective. Lucchesi will certainly be excited to battle a fellow lefty on Thursday at Dodger Stadium.
Clayton Kershaw has been on an All Star pace again in 2019. Unfortunately, for the dominant lefty, he will not get a full season of starts in to get all the way up to All Star accumulation, but he has still been awesome in his pitching stats. His 2.85 ERA alongside a 1.017 WHIP are among some of his more impressive stats. His 18 starts have racked up some nice numbers so far this season, and he would like to continue that and get his 10th win in his 19th start of 2019.
Friday, August 2nd, 7:10 PMLHP Eric Lauer (5-8, 4.52) vs RHP Walker Buehler (9-2, 3.38)
Eric Lauer is one of the most prime examples of the young starting pitchers for San Diego who has not performed along par with the rest of the league. At surface level, Lauer’s biggest problem is that he’s allowed too much traffic on the bases. His WHIP has ballooned way up to 1.395. Eric has struggled in 2019 to turn in productive performances for his team. In order for the Padres to have more success, they need the beef of their rotation to produce and keep runs off the board. This start is seamingly massive as it is a Friday night game against the Padres’ biggest rival. Eric continues to get big time matchup starts, and this is another chance for him to prove himself on a big stage.
Walker Buehler has been pretty average in 2019. There are people who will look at his 9-2 record and think that he’s been very good, where in reality he has only been slightly above average. Walker’s MLB the Show Card went Diamond back in early July, indicating that he is able to perform on a higher level than the likes of Blake Snell and company. What this really indicates is a coming out party for the popularity surrounding Walker. The reality is that after 20 starts, he has a WAR of 1.1, which is not anything special for a starter. While ERA is important, his RA9 is much higher, sitting at 4.19. He tends to give up unearned runs, which still count towards his value. Walker is a very interesting example of a player who has elite stats, but hasn’t been so effective in producing wins. His start on Friday gives him a chance to potentially (maybe) join Kershaw with his 10th win of the season.
Saturday, August 3rd, 6:10 PMTBD vs Kenta Maeda (7-8, 4.07)
Kenta Maeda will be scheduled to start on Saturday against the Friars for a 6:10 matchup. The game will be airing on MLB Network as Kenta Maeda will be making his 22nd start of the season. His stats indicate that he has had many ups and downs in 2019. An ERA of 4.07 is pretty good, and he comes in slightly above average for a starting pitcher in the Big Leagues. Usually this would reflect in the record of the pitcher, but Maeda is actually sitting a game below .500. His Saturday night start has to feel special considering the third game of the weekend could mean a chance to clinch a series win for revenge against the Padres who happened to knab them 4 weekends ago.
Sunday, August 4th, 1:10 PMRHP Chris Paddack (7-5, 2.78) vs TBD
Chris Paddack has been the lone elite starting pitcher for San Diego, as relative as elite can be considered in this situation. Paddack’s impressive 23-year-old season mentions that he is on track for an interesting career that could eventually end up in talks for the Hall of Fame. ‘The Sheriff has had a dream-like season for 2019 and continued on with it in the last series against Baltimore. He pitched into the 6th inning on Monday giving up one earned run, and recorded his 7th win of the season. His Sunday start will be in high heat as he will be pumped up and ready to take on the Dodgers. It is always a fired up crowd when a team’s ace comes to town, and a rival team will be insane. Look for Paddack to be extra locked in for this 1:10 start.
Players to Watch
The player to watch for San Diego is the young star, Fernando Tatis Jr. You have to be on a ridiculous pace of play to be on the players to watch list almost every week, but Tatis hit a leadoff home run in both of the Orioles games. Thanks to Tatis, both nights that Baltimore was in town, the Padres got off to the best start they could possibly hope for. Home runs in the first offensive at bat of the game can really help teams, and Tatis will be hoping to continue this pace into the weekend. Who knows, maybe he will have another leadoff home run!
Los Angeles' player to watch is Alex Verdugo. He has been absolutely ice cold over the last week, hitting .095 with no home runs, and not having anything to show for his offensive at bats. Verdugo hasn’t had that bad of a year, but will be trying to turn his cold streak around. The changes a player makes to his approach can be very intricate and fascinating to watch. This weekend’s slate of games will be a perfect chance for Alex to get back on track. Look for him to try to make some solid contact this weekend against the struggling pitching staff of San Diego.
