The San Diego Padres struggled in their initial homestand, but their deep bench came up big in their six-game road trip.
The San Diego Padres needed a positive road trip after a rough start during their initial homestead, and it was the Padres’ deep bench that surprisingly led the way back to .500.
“Really good road trip,” said manager Craig Stammen, whose team went 4-2 on the two-city tour after taking two of three at Fenway Park over the weekend in a piece written by AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. “We played pretty good, showed some toughness this trip.”
Stammen’s comment reflect the lower expectations this season, but he’s right about the toughness. This was a trip that featured April baseball in near-winter conditions, which made offense hard to come by much of the time while producing some windy adventures on defense.
One key player was Miguel Andujar, who subbed in at third base to give Manny Machado a rare day off. Normally there’s a steep drop-off when Machado sits out, but yesterday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Andujar went 2-for-4 and sparked a four-run rally in the seventh inning of San Diego’s 8-2 win.
Andujar had help coming off the bench, though. Nick Castellanos seems to be finding his footing in the first baseman/DH role, and he went 4-for-11 during the road trip while providing some key hits along the way.
“I’m honestly kind of making it up as I go along,” Castellanos said about his adjustment to DH. “I’m making sure I come in in the middle of the game and I stay moving. Which is kind of hard for me, because I feel like I’m away from the dugout, away from the game. I’ve always felt like if the game’s going on I need to be next to it. So I’m just adapting. I’m a rookie at this.”
So is Stammen, and he’s also feeling his way. The manager is still learning to negotiate lineup changes and positioning issues with help from a veteran coaching staff, and he knew his bench would be an important part of this process.
“That’s how we built a roster with all those guys,” Stammen said. “... When we give those guys that are playing most every day a day off, it’s still a pretty darn good lineup out there with guys that can do damage.”
The last piece of the puzzle in this trip was getting outfielder Ramon Laureano back in left. Laureano sometimes gets short-changed defensively in an outfield that features Jackson Merrill in center and Fernando Tatis Jr. in right, but he made some brilliant sliding catches yesterday that were difference-makers.
“It’s not a secret, they are tremendous ballplayers that play with great range,” said left fielder Ramón Laureano. “We have two shortstops there. They can cover a lot of ground. Not like I can keep up with them.”
But Laureano played a big role in a road trip that helped right the ship for the Padres, and now they get a chance to build on their current 6-6 record with a four-game set against the Colorado Rockies, who come in with an identical record.