The Braves are in San Diego to take their first look at the Padres. The three-game series will be the end of a seven-game road trip through southern California after splitting four games with the last-place Dodgers.
San Diego sits at 29-34 in the NL West and the Padres offense has performed about as well as one would expect: they're about in the middle of the pack in runs scored (16th - 257), batting average (16th - .251) and OBP (17th - .319). The pitching, on the other hand, is near the bottom of the barrel in terms of ERA (23rd - 4.37) and WHIP (22nd - 1.34), but that hasn't been the fault of the bullpen: San Diego's 3.06 bullpen ERA is sixth in the NL, and that's despite Huston Street and his 10 runs allowed in 20.1 innings, seven of those runs via homers. Street is currently on the DL with a strained calf muscle and Luke Gregerson has been closing games in his absence.
Last year, Chase Headley was a recipient of a Silver Slugger Award. This year, he's been anything but a slugger, and he too has been bothered by a calf ailment that kept his season debut postponed until April 17. Headley is hitting just .230 in 49 games and has just two RBI in his last 10.
Picking up the slack has been Carlos Quentin and rookie second baseman Jedd Gyorko. Quentin had recorded 14 hits during his recent seven-game hitting streak that raised his average 53 points from .211 to .264. Gyorko, after a slow start to the season, has picked up the pace since late May, earning at least one hit in 13 of his last 14 games dating back to May 26 and raising his average from .269 to .284. He and Yonder Alonso have been the major run producers for the Padres: Gyorko's eight home runs and Alonso's 29 RBI both lead the team. Leadoff hitter Everth Cabrera is currently riding a 10-game hitting streak and leads the team in hitting and OBP, and leads all major-leaguers with 29 stolen bases. In fact, San Diego is the most steal-happy team in the league with 58 steals in 70 total attempts.
Outfielder Cameron Maybin had been out since April 15 with a wrist injury and was hitting quite lousy at the time of the injury, .091 to be exact, but had five hits in four games against Colorado.
Catcher Yasmani Grandal has played 10 games since returning from his 50-game suspension and the numbers, .167 avg. and .501 OPS, may suggest his rookie season was a fluke, but Nick Hundley didn't fare much better in his absence; Hundley carries a .237 average and a .280 OBP into this series.
Monday, June 10, 10:10 p.m. ET
Marquis 2013 pitch chart
Fourseam | Sinker | Slider | Change | |||
LHH | ||||||
All Counts | 3% | 60% | 19% | 17% | ||
First Pitch | 3% | 77% | 11% | 9% | ||
Batter Ahead | 3% | 69% | 17% | 11% | ||
Even | 3% | 59% | 17% | 21% | ||
Pitcher Ahead | 5% | 43% | 28% | 23% | ||
Two Strikes | 6% | 26% | 32% | 36% | ||
RHH | ||||||
All Counts | 4% | 56% | 38% | 2% | ||
First Pitch | 4% | 79% | 15% | 2% | ||
Batter Ahead | 3% | 55% | 40% | 2% | ||
Even | 4% | 63% | 30% | 3% | ||
Pitcher Ahead | 5% | 40% | 54% | 2% | ||
Two Strikes | 5% | 27% | 66% | 2% |
Tuesday, June 11, 10:10 p.m. ET
Cashner 2013 pitch chart
Fourseam | Sinker | Slider | Change | |||
LHH | ||||||
All Counts | 49% | 13% | 13% | 25% | ||
First Pitch | 45% | 14% | 15% | 26% | ||
Batter Ahead | 53% | 13% | 3% | 31% | ||
Even | 44% | 14% | 15% | 27% | ||
Pitcher Ahead | 53% | 11% | 22% | 14% | ||
Two Strikes | 57% | 4% | 23% | 16% | ||
RHH | ||||||
All Counts | 53% | 13% | 12% | 21% | ||
First Pitch | 61% | 13% | 12% | 14% | ||
Batter Ahead | 47% | 8% | 6% | 39% | ||
Even | 58% | 15% | 11% | 16% | ||
Pitcher Ahead | 52% | 17% | 23% | 8% | ||
Two Strikes | 58% | 9% | 19% | 15% |
Wednesday, June 12, 3:40 p.m. ET
Volquez 2013 pitch chart
Fourseam | Sinker | Curve | Change | |||
LHH | ||||||
All Counts | 13% | 42% | 20% | 25% | ||
First Pitch | 15% | 41% | 21% | 24% | ||
Batter Ahead | 16% | 52% | 9% | 23% | ||
Even | 15% | 38% | 23% | 24% | ||
Pitcher Ahead | 5% | 33% | 31% | 31% | ||
Two Strikes | 11% | 36% | 25% | 29% | ||
RHH | ||||||
All Counts | 22% | 33% | 28% | 17% | ||
First Pitch | 21% | 49% | 24% | 7% | ||
Batter Ahead | 35% | 35% | 16% | 14% | ||
Even | 19% | 38% | 26% | 17% | ||
Pitcher Ahead | 12% | 19% | 48% | 21% | ||
Two Strikes | 19% | 19% | 36% | 26% |
PETCO Park overlay
Pitch info via brooksbaseball.net