MLB tips / Nick Shiambouros / 09 September 2010 / Leave a comment Bet Now

Nick Shiambouros discusses the remarkable campaign that the little-fancied San Diego Padres have had so far this season and tells us why the good run may well be coming to an end.

　
The San Diego Padres snapped a ten game losing streak on Monday, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2. As a result of this recent meltdown their lead at the top of the NL West has shrunk to just one game over San Francisco. The in form Colorado Rockies are just five games behind in third place.
　
At the beginning of the season the Padres were trading at an astonishing [500.0] to win the World Series. I must be honest when I say I thought they lacked the depth to be competitive in this tough division, let alone win it.

The heartbeat of this team is without doubt the pitching roster, who have put up some amazing numbers all season long.

The Padres lead the NL in pitching with an incredible team ERA of just 3.34; Mat Latos leads the team in victories. This 22 year old is having a breakout year for San Diego; he has a record of 14-5 and an ERA of just 2.21.Matos has been nothing short of sensational this season. He has a sizzling fastball combined with pinpoint accuracy. This young man shows no signs of letting up and is a superstar in the making.

Another pitcher making a name for himself is Clayton Richards. He has a record of 12-6 and an ERA of 3.43.Richards is having an outstanding season in his first year solely as a starter who has quickly developed in to a quality strikeout pitcher.

The team is averaging .249 on offense, which is modest for a team with playoff aspirations. This lack of run production has hurt this team enormously in the past few weeks and they have got to start scoring runs to have any chance of winning the division.
　
The Padres have a brutal September schedule. They have to play San Francisco, Colorado and St Louis in consecutive series starting on the 9th September and this means they will play 11 games in as many days against the toughest competition in the NL.

I think San Diego will struggle to win more than three or four games against these quality teams as they simply do not have the fire-power to support their outstanding pitching roster. As previously reported, more runs are given up by pitchers in the latter part of the season , due to injury and fatigue.

Whatever happens from now to the end of the season the Padres can hold their heads high. This cash-strapped franchise has done a remarkable job with limited resources.
Starting pitchers Mat Latos and Clayton Richards earn less that 500k per year which may sound like a lot of money to you and me but it is a fraction of what most elite pitchers earn and typical of a side being run on a shoe-string budget.

San Diego manager Bud Black is trying everything to keep his team motivated as the season draws to a close. Black recently wrote a message to his players on a board inside the clubhouse. It read "Our backs are against the wall. What are you going to do: run or fight?"

Sadly I think it's time to run.

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