Padres Report Card - 70 Games

This has nothing to do with genealogy...it's just my desire to keep track of MY team's progress as they wiggle their way to the National League playoffs - from last in the NL West to first to last to first to ... Hey, I'm a lifelong Padres fan!

After 70 games, my Padres are tied for first in the NL West with a record of 37 wins and 33 losses. They are 18 and 19 at home, 19 and 14 on the road, and 3 and 4 against the AL West. The team batting average is 16th in the NL, and HRs are 15th. But the pitching ERA is 2nd and the defense is first.

In the last 10 games, we lost 2 of 3 to the Marlins, won 2 of 3 from the Dodgers, won 2 of 3 from the Angels and beat the Rangers 6-5 tonight. The starting pitching and relief pitching continue to perform well, and the offense is showing a bit more power.

The good news is that Cameron and Castilla have started to hit with power and Gonzalez is on a tear, but Piazza and Greene are slumping badly. Dave Roberts was lost for 15 to 20 games with a knee injury on Saturday, resulting in Ben Johnson rejoining the club today (and getting two hits tonight).

The key for this club is to stay healthy (especially Peavy and Hoffman), hit better and continue to pitch well. We should get Woody Williams and Ryan Klesko back in July and they may help, even if they are tade bait.

If they can play at a .600 clip the rest of the year, they would win 92 games, which is good enough for the playoffs. A winning streak would be nice...a losing streak would be deadly.

My Grade for this 10 game stretch: B

My Grade for the season to date: B -

Watch for my 80 game report along about July 4.