{"id":58925,"date":"2023-06-22T11:00:58","date_gmt":"2023-06-22T15:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=58925"},"modified":"2023-06-21T21:42:10","modified_gmt":"2023-06-22T01:42:10","slug":"padres-bullpen-collapse-sf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/06\/22\/padres-bullpen-collapse-sf\/","title":{"rendered":"Bullpen Collapse Sinks Padres in San Fran"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/02\/15\/padres-land-best-remaining-pitcher\/\" target=\"_self\">San Diego Padres<\/a> suffered their irrefutable worst loss of the season on Monday&#8217;s series opener vs. the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/06\/18\/giants-nl-west-division\/\" target=\"_self\">San Francisco Giants<\/a>. The disastrous management of a short-handed bullpen running on fumes was the catalyst. The Padres clung to a two-run lead entering the ninth until yips and inexperience from the bullpen produced a pathetic collapse. Following the loss, the fan base was out in droves to play the blame game.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">SPLASH BALL COURTESY OF MIKE YASTRZEMSKI TO WALK IT OFF! \ud83d\ude24\ud83d\udca3<\/p>\n<p>8 IN A ROW FOR THE GIANTS! <\/p>\n<p>(via <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBCSGiants?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@NBCSGiants<\/a>)<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bColGefvU0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/bColGefvU0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MLBONFOX\/status\/1671018218738294784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 20, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Melvin Pulls Hill<\/h3>\n<p dir=\"auto\">Lefty specialist Tim Hill was due to close the game, only at 19 pitches through two efficient innings. However, Padres manager Bob Melvin was reactive to pinch-hitter Austin Slater\u2019s success against lefties, and he opted for a change. Granted, Hill has not pitched three innings in a game since a 2017 outing in Double-A. But pulling Hill was the catalyst of the Padres&#8217; bullpen collapse.<\/p>\n<h3 dir=\"auto\">Garcia&#8217;s Yips<\/h3>\n<p dir=\"auto\">In came Luis Garcia, a 36-year-old veteran who was a mainstay of last year\u2019s bullpen. This year, Garcia\u2019s inability to command the strike zone has been an utter liability for a group stretched thin by injuries. His dreadful season continued, as he was unable to consistently locate both his fastball and slider. After 16 erratic pitches, Melvin cut his losses and relieved Garcia with the Padres&#8217; lead cut in half, 4-3. &#8220;We&#8217;re trying to get Garcia going, give him a chance,&#8221; said the San Diego skipper after the game. An inexplicable decision, considering the team&#8217;s position in the NL West standings.<\/p>\n<h3 dir=\"auto\">Inexperience<\/h3>\n<p>Drew Carlton, one of three rookies available in relief that night, stepped on. The 27-year-old right-hander is rolling through a respectable first half, mostly being utilized in a &#8220;piggyback&#8221; role in the middle innings. Carlton has 46 saves for his minor league career. His first MLB save opportunity was not in an ideal spot, to say the least. Dealing with a runner on second and a raucous San Francisco crowd, his control faltered. After a Patrick Bailey sac-fly tied the game, Carlton walked the next two hitters.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">PATRICK BAILEY TIES THE GAME \ud83d\udc4f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ZW6YV0CJpW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/ZW6YV0CJpW<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBCSGiants\/status\/1671010585146957825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 20, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Melvin&#8217;s third pitcher of the ninth inning was the recently recalled Ray Kerr, whose plus-velocity fastball from the left side is his main attraction. Kerr temporarily stopped the bleeding by striking out Joc Pederson to give the Padres offense a chance to respond, until surrendering a walk-off blast to Mike Yastrzemski in the 10th.<\/p>\n<h3>The Padres Offense<\/h3>\n<p>Unsurprisingly, the 3-4-5 hitters went down in order to the howitzer arm of Giants closer Camilo Doval. The scoreless half-inning made the offense a combined 1-27 in extra innings this season, the primary culprit of the Padres&#8217; 0-6 record in extra-inning games. All season long, lack of clutch hitting has been the largest flaw for one of the better lineups on paper in MLB.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Padres with RISP in 2023<\/p>\n<p>.197 BA (30th in MLB)<br \/>.294 OBP (30th)<br \/>.335 SLUG (30th)<br \/>.629 OPS (30th)<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Al Scott (@AlScott1998) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AlScott1998\/status\/1671188721914515457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 20, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>&#8220;Don&#8217;t the Padres Have Josh Hader?&#8221;<\/h3>\n<p>Yes, they do. Josh Hader was unavailable on Monday, having pitched in the two previous wins against the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/category\/rays\/\" target=\"_self\">Tampa Bay Rays<\/a>. The Padres were also resting Nick Martinez and Steven Wilson, a combo often utilized in late-game situations by Melvin. Monday&#8217;s three unavailable arms are the main contributors to the third-best bullpen ERA in MLB.<\/p>\n<h3>Injuries<\/h3>\n<p>The absence of set-up man Robert Suarez has thrown a massive wrench into the bullpen structure so far. A bright star of the Padres&#8217; 2022 playoff run, Suarez has yet to take the mound this year due to an elbow injury sustained at the start of spring training, with no timetable for a return. Suarez&#8217;s new five-year, $46 million contract signed in January is the second reliever commitment yet to pay dividends. Drew Pomeranz seems like an apparition at this point, not appearing in a game since August of 2021. Set to make around $10 million in 2023, his constant setbacks from Tommy John surgery have rendered him dead weight on a team with a crammed payroll.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n<p>Players Mentioned: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hillti01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tim Hill<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/slateau01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Austin Slater<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/garcilu03.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luis Garcia<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/carltdr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Drew Carlton<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bailepa01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Patrick Bailey<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kerrra01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ray Kerr<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/pederjo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joc Pederson<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/y\/yastrmi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike Yastrzemski<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dovalca01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Camilo Doval<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=martini01,martin025nic&amp;search=Nick+Martinez&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nick Martinez<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wilsost02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steven Wilson<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/suarero01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Robert Suarez<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/pomerdr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Drew Pomeranz<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Managers Mentioned: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/managers\/melvibo01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bob Melvin<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The San Diego Padres suffered their irrefutable worst loss of the season on Monday&#8217;s series opener vs. the San Francisco Giants. The disastrous management of a short-handed bullpen running on fumes was the catalyst. The Padres clung to a two-run lead entering the ninth until yips and inexperience from the bullpen produced a pathetic collapse. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4676,"featured_media":58968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[30,2,1071,31],"tags":[1372,2223,6283,6451,278,423,2182,3445,3042,5643,94,3609,5209,6448,6452,566],"class_list":["post-58925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-padres","category-featured","category-mlb","category-giants","tag-austin-slater","tag-bob-melvin","tag-camilo-doval","tag-drew-carlton","tag-drew-pomeranz","tag-joc-pederson","tag-josh-hader","tag-luis-garcia","tag-mike-yastrzemski","tag-nick-martinez","tag-nl-west","tag-patrick-bailey","tag-ray-kerr","tag-robert-suarez","tag-steven-wilson","tag-tampa-bay-rays"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}