Padres starting pitcher Cesar Vargas is a prime example of why Major League Baseball needs to seriously consider eliminating the Win-Loss stats. In his young MLB career Vargas has made three starts.
In those starts he has thrown a combined 16.1 innings, allowing two earned runs (an ERA of 1.10) with 12 strikeouts. Every time he took the mound he was good enough to give his team a win and every time his team did not get him the win.
In fact, Vargas even took his first big league loss in Wednesday’s series finale against the Rockies at Petco Park, a 2-0 Colorado win. Vargas allowed just one run in 6.0 innings but the Padres hitters could not solve Tyler Chatwood, who allowed just three hits in 8.0 innings.
The Rockies scored what would turn out to be the game-winning run in the 5th inning when Vista native Tony Wolters came in on a groundout by Cristhian Adames. Colorado got their other run in the 9th inning on a squeeze play. Yes, the Rockies got both of their runs on plays where the ball never left the infield.
It’s the eighth time the Padres have been shut out (in 28 games) this year. Let’s put that in to a big of historical perspective, shall we? The Padres are on a pace to go scoreless 46 times this year. The Major League record for most times being shut out in a single season is 33, set by the 1908 St. Louis Cardinals team that went 49-105. So at the moment this offense is not just bad, it's worse than the dead-ball era.
It’s also the second straight series the Padres have had a chance to complete a sweep and been shut out, which may be an indicator of another problem. The Padres have been good at starting a series but had a few issues finishing up a series. This statistic will open your eyes:
The Friars have played nine series in 2016. They are 6-3 in the first games of those series … and 0-9 in the final games of those series.
So, the odds of a Padres win on Thursday are pretty good. San Diego opens a 4-game set against the defending National League champion New York Mets at Petco Park. Colin Rea gets the start against Jacob deGrom.
