I'm trying hard not to get too excited about this.
It's just Spring Training in Arizona. We're talking games in dry air against pitchers with numbers in the 80's on their backs. Teams are going to score a lot of runs in those conditions, it's inevitable.
But, still. For the Padres leading all National League teams in runs scored, 60% of the way through the Spring Training schedule? That has me just a little bit giddy.
I mean, everybody gets to hit in the same conditions. The Padres are just doing it better than anyone else.
After Saturday's 10-6 win over the Diamondbacks (making them 5-1 against the NL West), the Padres have scored 133 runs, tops in the Senior Circuit. They also lead the league in home runs, hits, batting average, total bases, slugging percentage and doubles.
That's a pretty good line.
Now, I know the World Baseball Classic has kept a lot of the best hitters on other teams occupied, and that is a factor. But, the next-closest team to the Padres is the Cardinals, who are 21 runs behind. Yadier Molina and Carlos Beltran are good, but even they might not have made up a 21-run deficit.
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In a way, the Padres slugging success is an extension of the 2012 season. Before the All-Star break, San Diego scored the fewest runs in the league. After the Break, the Friars were 5th in runs scored, even better than the Rockies and Reds and their hitter-friendly ballparks.
When you take that bit of information, and use it to set up their Spring Training offensive gluttony, and add in the fact the fences at PETCO Park are moving in? Well, saying the Padres could have one of the most productive offenses in baseball might not be a crazy statement.
Does this mean I can really get excited now?
Unfortunately, no. Remember that little nugget about the Padres scoring the fewest runs in the league before last year's All-Star Break?
That came on the heels of the Friars leading the league in runs scored during Spring Training.
Hey, hope springs eternal, right? You never know when something is going to change.
