The Future El Paso Whatever’s: Part 2 (The Starting Pitchers)

When it comes to trying to figure out whether current Padres hitters or pitchers could be on El Paso‘s roster next year, I would have to say the hitters were a little easier. The group of pitchers that the Padres have right now aren’t performing particularly well. On top of not performing too well, there are also going to be a lot more free agents out of this group than the hitters. So, lets go over all of the starting pitchers that are currently on the Padre’s roster.

The Starting Pitchers

1. Edinson Volquez (RHP – SP) – 4-5, 5.35 ERA, 1.515 WHIP, 48 K, 31 BB. He will be a Free Agent following this season. Edinson prefers to sign a new deal with the Padres. The Padres probably would be happy to do that at the right price. Not Ace money, I would imagine. On top of that, if he reaches 100 BB again this season, I think he will not be coming back.

I don’t think he will be a Padre next year. If he was, it would take an injury for him to come to El Paso.

Eric Stults… wait, wrong guy?  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

2. Eric Stults (LHP – SP) – Did you know that Eric Stoltz was originally cast as Marty McFly and actually filmed Back to the Future for five weeks before being replaced by Michael J. Fox? Wait. What? Wrong guy? Sorry, I told you all that I was new here.  4-5, 3.74 ERA, 1.165 WHIP, 53 K, 17 BB. Stults is the ace of the team so far this season, no doubt trying to insure that he is no longer confused with the red-headed thespian.

Stults is arbitration eligible after this season. He is also out of options. We won’t be seeing him. He will be with the Padres.

3. Jason Marquis (RHP – SP) – 6-2, 3.82 ERA, 1.492 WHIP, 40 K, 36 BB. Marquis is 34 years old and leads the league in walks.

I think that the Padres will be hoping his ERA and record can fool somebody into trading for him. (The Rangers?) We will not be seeing him next season. Sorry.

4. Andrew Cashner (RHP – SP) – I think I remember Cashner being pegged as the Padres Closer of the Future at some point. But, starting seems to be suiting him pretty well. 4-3, 3.65 ERA, 1.218 WHIP, 42 K, 17 BB in 9 games started. For somebody who was pegged as a Closer at one point, he’s got some longetivity in his games. Seven decisions in nine starts is pretty impressive. The guy is helping to save his homies in the bullpen.

Arbitration eligible in 2014. Barring injury, he won’t be eating at Chico’s Taco‘s next season.

5. Clayton Richard (LHP – SP) – Wow. 1-5, 7.86 ERA, 1.835 WHIP, 18 K, 18 BB. Arbitration eligible after this season. I can’t imagine him getting too much money in arbitration if he doesn’t turn this around.

We may be seeing him. Depending on the deal he signs with the Padres and whether he remembers how to pitch or not.

6. Casey Kelly (RHP – SP) – Kelly is out following Tommy John surgery. He has started 6 games in the Big Leagues. Career: 2-3, 6.21 ERA, 1.690 WHIP, 26 K, 10 BB.

We will see him in El Paso at some point. Hopefully next season. Hopefully as a quick stop before getting back to “The Show”. Casey, feel free to get in touch next season, I’ll show you the best Mexican spot in town… and it’s not the aforementioned Chico’s!

An order of three Chico’s Tacos with green chile sauce (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

7. Joe Wieland (RHP – SP) – Tommy John surgery on July 27, 2012. He is throwing live BP already. Career: 0-4, 4.55 ERA, 1.265 WHIP, 24 K, 9 BB. Not arbitration eligible till 2015.

He could be back by the end of the season. If not, he will be ready for Spring Training next year. With a few of the other Starting Pitchers leaving, I think he will be with the Padres next year.

8. Cory Luebke (LHP – SP) – Much like what happened with Neftali Feliz with the Rangers, the move from reliever to starter started off really well for Luebke. Then he had to have Tommy John Surgery. Recently, Luebke has also been set back in his rehab after being shut down with soreness/tightness. Career: 10-12, 3.25 ERA, 1.104 WHIP, 195 K, 58 BB; 25 of his games have been as a Starting Pitcher.

With the set backs, I would say there is a chance Luebke could be in El Paso early next season. But, not for long… which is good for the Padres.

That is all of the current Starting Pitchers. Next up I will be talking about the Bullpen. Then, it’s on to the Minor Leaguers, who we have a lot better chance of seeing. Feel free to comment on this post or any others. I look forward to hearing from you.

Related articles

• Cory Luebke suffers setback (hardballtalk.nbcsports.com)
• Wieland hitting all rehab marks in return from surgery (mlb.mlb.com)

The Future El Paso Whatever’s: Part 11/2 (The Bench)

I knew as soon as I did the post on what the Padres lineup was on the day I did it, that the lineup would change. But, it hasn’t messed up this post too much. Cameron Maybin got called back up after his rehab stint and has already improved his .090 batting average 49 points. Kyle Blanks was all set to be sent down until Yonder Alonso was injured and had to go on the 15-day DL. So, without further ado… here is the Padres bench and our likelihood of seeing them in El Paso next year.

 

 

 

Padres Bench (and Cameron Maybin)

 

Cameron Maybin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

1. Cameron Maybin (CF) – Cameron is locked up until 2017 and it appears to be a good thing. Before his recent DL stint he was batting .090/.167/.121 in a pretty small sample size. He went down to rehab at Tucson (which would have been El Paso were this 2014) and returned recently against the Rockies. He appears to be bringing it all together so to speak. His line in his first game back – 2 for 3, 2 RBI, 2 SB, R, BB. Not too shabby.

 

We won’t see him in El Paso unless something like this happens again. Not wishing anything bad on the guy but, I wouldn’t mind seeing him at some point next year.

 

2. Nick Hundley (C) – Not having too bad of a year for a back-up Catcher, where he will stay assuming Grandal plays like the Padres believe that he can. .238/.284/.371 with 3 HR and 13 RBI while throwing out 27% of base stealers. There is a team option on in him for 2015.

 

I think he will be staying in the Big Leagues until his option is declined in 2015 or he signs for the minimum. Sorry if I offend him or any Padres fans with this assumption.

 

3. Kyle Blanks (1B/OF) – Blanks is playing surprisingly well this season. Unfortunately, it looks like he still may be heading back down to AAA when Yonder Alonso comes back from the DL. Kyle’s line this season is .264/.355/.407 with 3 HR and 14 RBI. He is arbitration eligible after this season so, the Padres may have a little bit of a dilemma upcoming.

 

I think that a deal will get done this offseason to avoid arbitration. I also think there is a 75% chance that Blanks starts the season in El Paso next year.

 

4. Mark Kotsay (1B/OF) – Kotsay can still hit. Probably will the rest of his career… which should end after this season. He ranks in the 20’s in pretty much every career statistical category for active players. Dude’s been around a long time. .268/.328/.286. A lot of people believe that he should be DFA’d rather than Kyle Blanks being demoted. I think the Padres may want to consider it. It’s time to get a good look at Blanks prior to arbitration, whereas you are probably going to lose Kotsay no matter what this offseason.

 

o% chance of Kotsay playing in El Paso next year. I think he will retire this offseason. That being said, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he came to town as a roving hitting instructor for the Padres to work with people like Kyle Blanks down here with the El Paso Whatever’s.

 

5. Alexi Amarista (IF/OF) – .265/.301/.444, 4 HR, 15 RBI – He’s a pretty solid bench guy/glove.

 

There’s always a chance that you will see these guys dip down to AAA for weeks at a time. It’s going to be so awesome to have AAAA talent coming back and forth to El Paso all season! Seriously… not joking. You guys who haven’t watched AAA baseball have no idea how much this is going to put to shame any level of baseball that has been played in El Paso in the past.

 

Kyle Blanks in 2010 spring training with the Padres. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Future El Paso 1B.

 

6. Jesus Guzman (IF/OF) – Guzman has appeared in 43 games this season which is a pretty good amount. However, his .195/.275/.280 line to go along with his 23 K to 8 BB is going to mean that he may stay at 43 a while. He has a career slash of .266/.330/.418 and hasn’t been down to AAA since 2011. He is arbitration eligible this year.

I don’t think he will be with the Padres to come down to El Paso next year… unless something drastic happens.

That’s it for the Padres bench, and that whole Maybin/Blanks thing. My next post in this series will be about the Padres pitchers and then on to the minor leagues. Time to get back to the draft! See y’all soon!

 

 

Related articles

• Padres activate Cameron Maybin, put Yonder Alonso on DL (hardballtalk.nbcsports.com)