It is too early to say whether the San Diego Padres are better this season under Mike Shildt than they were last year under Bob Melvin. The club lost several players from the lackluster 2023 club (82-80, third place finish), including Cy Young champion Blake Snell, All-Star hitter Juan Soto, and All-Star reliever Josh Hader. In addition (or subtraction), the pitching staff lost Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo. However, the team recruited left-handed pitchers Yuki Matsui and Wandy Peralta, right-handed reliever Woo-Suk Go, and utility player Jurickson Profar. In addition, the organization elected to break camp with rookie outfielder Jackson Merrill, who has proven himself ready for primetime, hitting.284 in his first 35 games.
Last season, the Padres went 19-18 in their first 37 games, batting.232/.321/.393 with a team ERA of 3.96.
This year, through 37 games, they are 18-19, batting.259/.325/.412, with a team ERA of 4.28. Their pitchers have struck out nine less batters while also walking 14 fewer. So, are they better? Who is to say?
However, the attitude in San Diego is different this season. Perhaps the absence of Soto, who never seemed to fit in with the team, helped. Perhaps moving Xander Bogaerts to second base to make way for Ha-Seong Kim to play shortstop, who is much better defensively, helped. Perhaps not having to play defense behind Blake Snell’s five-day slog helped. Perhaps Mike Shildt has introduced a better attitude to this particular club.
Shildt was recently placed in a quandary in which advanced metrics and analytics could only be of limited use. But the decision he was compelled to make was an early test of his leadership over this squad and these players.
Here is the situation he faced, the reasoning behind the options, what he decided, how it paid off, and what it could mean as the club enters the second quarter of the season.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Padres lead 1-0 with one out, runners on the corners, and Jake Cronenworth at the plate. Cronenworth hits a straightforward grounder to second, scoring the run and advancing Fernando Tatis, Jr. to second with two outs.
Cronenworth instantly signaled to the bench that there had been catcher’s interference, which the home plate umpire agreed. With catcher’s interference, the hitting side may accept the outcome of the play rather than taking the free base. Shildt had two options: accept the catcher’s interference and load the bases with one out for Manny Machado, or live with the outcome of the play, giving the Padres a 2-0 lead and leaving a runner on second with two outs.
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