The Padres open a 3-game series against the Diamondbacks in Arizona on Independence Day. The Friars have played 82 games and sit 12 games under .500, making them the 3rd-worst team in the National League. Still, now that we’ve crested the midway point of the season there have been some good things.
So since we did our quarter-season awards in May, let us hand out a few mid-season awards in July, starting with:
MVP: Wil Myers
Duh.
But seriously the guy is putting up the kinds of numbers that, if he was on a contending team, would warrant legitimate league MVP consideration. The reigning National League Player of the Month has come in to his own, is about to earn his first All-Star Game nod, and is only 25 years old with no real consistent help in the lineup.
CY YOUNG: Drew Pomeranz
Nothing has changed here. Pomeranz had a bit of a rough spot, something all pitchers go through, but is still easily the best arm on the staff in 2016. He’s already set a career-high with seven wins and is pitching to a 2.65 ERA while staying among the league leaders in strikeouts. Plus his pitch efficiency has dramatically improved of late. In his last three starts (all Padres wins) Pomeranz has gone 20.0 innings with 20 whiffs and only two walks. The only problem is he’s only 1.2 innings away from tying his career high for an entire season so at some point soon the team will have to start thinking about curtailing his work load.
ROOKIE OF THE (HALF) YEAR: Colin Rea
We had Ryan Buchter here in May and he is still worthy of consideration and should probably be the Padres closer now that Fernando Rodney is gone. But aside from two really rough outings Rea has been a nice addition to the rotation. He still works too many deep counts and runs hit pitch count up too early, keeping him from going deep in to games, but he’s shown that he has the stuff to be successful at the MLB level. He will, however, have the same issue as Pomeranz as he continues to pile up innings and will have to skip a few starts in the second half of the season.
BIGGEST SURPRISE: Melvin Upton, Jr.
He was the surprise at the quarter-season because we weren’t expecting him to live up to his contract. He’s the surprise at mid-season because he’s making that contract look like a bargain. Upton has three walk-off home runs and is playing Gold Glove-caliber defense, plus he’s been a surprisingly positive clubhouse presence for the younger players (not the reputation he had coming over from Atlanta). Upton has gone from a guy the Padres would have loved to trade to a guy they might want to seriously consider holding on to.
BIGGEST LOSS: Fernando Rodney
Not just because he was probably going to the All-Star Game as one of the most dominant closers in baseball … Rodney is just an instantly likeable guy. He was a stabilizing force for the Padres bullpen and a clubhouse leader.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: (TIE) The Bullpen and Baserunning
The ‘pen can be amazing one night and atrocious the next, and it’s not just one or two guys. Every night everyone has the ability to strike out the side or give up back-to-back-to-back home runs (save Buchter, for the most part). Consistency from the relievers would be nice to see. As for the baserunning? I’ve never seen a team get picked off base as often, get thrown out at the plate as often, and make the 1st or 3rd out at 3rd base as often as this group of guys does. I’m all for aggressiveness but when it crosses in to recklessness you’re just hurting yourself.
