The Padres lead the major leagues with 17 defensive runs saved, a metric that measures runs prevented or cost relative to what an “average” fielder would do.
That’s nice.
Not so good is the abundance of runs opponents have scored as a direct result of the Padres’ defensive mistakes.
No other team has allowed as many unearned runs as the Padres (18).
“Where we’ve run into issues as a club is we haven’t picked each other up when we’ve made an error,” manager Andy Green said. “Our defense has been good. We’ve made a lot of really nice plays. But typically when we’ve made a mistake, which is going to happen over the course of a season, those errors we’ve paid for. … We have to stop that trend.”
Put simply, runs that were facilitated by errors ended up being the difference in at least three losses this season.
That includes only games where unearned runs allowed were greater than the final margin of a loss.
It does not include Monday’s 10-3 loss, wherein the Dodgers regained the lead by scoring five runs (three earned) in the third inning with help from two errors. However, those types of innings can wear out a team.
“Especially the Dodgers, you can’t give them free outs,” first baseman Eric Hosmer said. “It’s tough getting 27 outs from that lineup. You can’t afford to give away any. That just shows you have to be consistent defensively, because you look up after nine innings and you tend to look on the mistakes and say that is what cost us the game.”
It should be noted the Dodgers were unhappy with the ruling on one of those errors — a Corey Seager line drive on which right fielder Hunter Renfroe came in, only to have the ball go off his glove.
Renfroe supported the Dodgers’ (unsuccessful) lobbying of the official scorer to change the three-base error to a triple.
“It was top-spun,” Renfroe said. “It was hook top-spun, and it just carried. He hit the (expletive) out of it. I read it as coming down, and it just kept going. … I was telling Seager he better get it changed for me.”
That said, Renfroe acknowledged the detrimental effect of the inning. The Padres, who had taken a 2-1 lead when Renfroe doubled and Christian Villanueva homered in the second, would get just one hit over the next six innings.
“It’s a tough one there,” Renfroe said. “To that point, we were playing really well. We were in the ballgame the whole time. Even after that, we were in the ballgame. That just kind of dictates where we’ve got to get to the next level and project ourselves as a better team than that.”
It’s not just the defense. Errors happen. Major league teams, on average, commit 95 errors a season. Even the best defensive teams commit an error almost every other game. (The Padres entered Tuesday night way ahead of that pace, with 16 errors in 18 games.)
At some point, pitchers have to stanch the bleeding.
“People are going to make mistakes behind you,” Green said. “… Every once and again people are going to drop a fly ball. We’ve really paid the price for our mistakes this year. I don’t think we’ve had an inordinate amount of mistakes, but you get that burn bias. You remember that very well when every mistake you make leads to three and four runs and yesterday leads to five runs and changes the complexion of the game.
“When we (make errors) we have to see pitchers pick us up, and we have to have somebody else step up to pick us up defensively too.”
Rotation re-situation
Luis Perdomo will be inserted back in the starting rotation Wednesday, his first day after serving the five-game suspension incurred for throwing at Nolan Arenado last week.
“He had a shortened outing, obviously,“ Green said, referring to Perdomo being ejected after the first pitch of the third inning against the Rockies. “Now he’s had a few extra days off. He’s going to be rested.”
This will also push back every other starter, giving them an extra day in addition to the one afforded by the Padres being off Thursday.
Tyson Ross, who was scheduled to start Wednesday, might especially benefit. He has thrown 107 and 100 pitches in his past two starts after having not thrown more than 97 pitches in a game since Sept. 22, 2015.
“You look at Tyson coming back from basically missing an entire season, pitching minimally,” Green said. “This gives him an opportunity to get some extra rest. This gives (rookie) Joey Lucchesi an opportunity to not be overly taxed as well. It gives everyone an opportunity to be pushed back. I think at this point that’s a good thing.”
Wild Maki
Kazuhisa Makita walked five batters in 62 2/3 innings last season for the Seibu Lions.
That’s how many walks he has in 6 1/3 innings for the Padres this season, including a two-out walk to Joc Pederson that led to Yasmani Grandal’s grand slam in the ninth inning Monday.
“He’s got to trust his stuff,” Green said. “He kind of pitches himself into some trouble with walks. … He’s going to win in the strike zone a lot. … He threw it in the strike zone in Japan, never walked hardly anybody. He’s had some walk issues here that put him in a tougher situation than he needs to be in.”
Makita indicated he might be overthinking things as he learns major league hitters and said it is an issue of trusting himself and others.
“In Japan, there was a lot of time my intent was to let the hitters hit it or get them to swing at bad pitches,” Makita said. “… What I need to do is rely on my teammates a little more and let the hitters chase my pitch and have the guys behind me field it. I need to not try to be too fine but go at it a little more aggressively, and I think we should be fine.”