Good morning from Chicago,
Trying to win the same game almost every day creates a quandary.
“How am I gonna get through tomorrow?” Stammen said late last night by way of acknowledging his plight.
As he went to the whip at the end of another game in which his offense didn’t capitalize on numerous opportunities to pull away and his starting pitcher left more than half the game to fill, Stammen had this thought front and center:
“Honestly, it was like, how are we gonna get through the rest of the game,” he said.
These are the situations Stammen and pitching coach Ruben Niebla are having to navigate day after day after night after night with a team that plays so many close games.
Stammen has chosen to aggressively chase a victory almost every time he has been presented the opportunity.
He did it last night. There will come a time he cannot.
He has talked quite a bit about his starting pitchers needing to go longer. He has at times seemed to practically be trying to will them to do so.
In large part because his offense is not scoring more runs, he has not been able to bring himself to lengthen the leash on his starters very often.
He pulled Griffin Canning last night after 74 pitches with one out and runners on first and second base in the fifth inning. Kyle Hart ended up allowing the tying run to score.
“We have a 2-1 lead, we’ve got a really good bullpen, and we felt like if we went to them right there, we could maybe keep that lead 2-1,” he said. “It ends up being 2-2, and we felt really good with our bullpen the rest of the game.”
He used Bradgley Rodriguez, Adrian Morejón and Jason Adam to try to preserve the tie. It was the second day in a row he did so with Adam.
For tonight’s game, Adam is probably the only high-leverage arm not available. They should be in decent shape if they are in a close game again tonight.
But they will still have 12 more games before their next day off.
The bullpen has covered at least 4⅔ innings in five of the past 10 games. Relievers have covered at least 3⅔ innings in eight of 10.
“We’re pushing guys pretty hard right now,” Stammen said.
It cannot go on like this.
Gotta score too
So, sure, Canning surrendered a double and a walk in the fifth inning and failed to complete five innings for the fifth time in 11 outings (nine starts, two times pitching after an opener).
“Obviously, we want to get deep into the game,” he said afterward. “Not necessarily the outing I’m looking for, but some positives in there to build off and move forward.”
You can read in my game story (here) from last night about all the little things that added up to a 3-2 loss to the Cubs, including how the first run charged to Canning came after a windblown fly ball turned into a double when Samad Taylor misplayed it.
Canning was not great, but an argument can be made that he was good enough if that play had been made and/or if the Padres had gotten more out of the traffic they had against Shota Imanaga.
Their leadoff batter reached base in four of Imanaga’s six innings, and they twice had two on with no outs. And they scored two runs.
The Padres are creating far more opportunities for themselves, which is good. That has been discussed here several times.
They have averaged better than nine runners in scoring position per game over the past 20 games. They averaged five per game in the 27 games before this stretch.
But for that to actually be a positive, it has to consistently lead to bigger innings.
During their three-game losing streak, the Padres have gone 5-for-27 with runners in scoring position.
That is a lot of opportunities and not much conversion.
They have in those three games turned 10 leadoff batters reaching base into a single run in two innings. That’s it. They have converted having a runner on second with no outs into a single run once. That’s it.
Thinking ahead
Maybe one of the finest defensive third basemen of this (or any) generation should get the benefit of the doubt.
It is OK to wonder if Manny Machado made a mistake when he essentially passed on an out at first base in order to tag Nico Hoerner, who was standing on second base. But it is a given that Machado had a reason.
Manny Machado and the #Padres are unable to turn a double play or even get an out because of the hit and run
What a horrendous mistake pic.twitter.com/83l1TUCY6L
— Padres Highlights (@FriarHighlights) June 30, 2026
The situation was this:
Following a leadoff single in the sixth inning, Hoerner took off running for second base on a full-count pitch to Michael Conforto, who hit a grounder up the middle, slightly to the left of the mound. Machado, who was shifted over and essentially playing in the shortstop position, fielded the ball and diverted his route to go put a tag on Hoerner before making a tardy throw to first base.
That left runners on first and second with no outs.
Machado felt that was better than the alternative.
“He’s one of their most aggressive guys,” Machado said of Hoerner. ”If there’s anyone who’s gonna take the extra base, I think that’s probably gonna be him. So trying to keep him from going to third base. I’d rather … keep him at second base, instead of now it’s one out and there’s a guy on third base, because he was going to get to third base easily.”
That is probably true.
Bogaerts initially went toward second base when Hoerner took off and stayed there in order to receive the potential throw from Machado. So he was late breaking for third, which was uncovered.
“Obviously you don’t want it to lead to a longer inning,” Machado said. “But in that situation, you kind of want to keep him at second.”
Bradgley Rodriguez went on to strike out the next two batters before Stammen went to Morejón, who walked a batter and then got an inning-ending fly ball to right field.
Back in the Zone
You can read in my story (here) from yesterday afternoon about Jake Cronenworth’s return. He had some interesting things to say about his concussion symptoms and what he went through during the nearly two months he was sidelined.
As the severity of Cronenworth’s concussion became apparent, the most incredible part of the whole thing is how in the world he played 12 games with a brain injury before being shut down on May 5.
This is a pitch from a pinch-hit at-bat Cronenworth took the day after he was hit in the head. He said he thought this slider was above the zone.
You might be surprised that Cronenworth essentially ignored his symptoms that long. That, however, is understandable.
Anyone who goes through the churn of a major league season can attest to the emotional, mental and physical ups and downs that end up seeming normal. (There are six or seven days each season I wonder if I have a terminal disease or caught the ebola virus on a plane. Then the feeling passes. And I’m not even playing in games.)
On the rise
Is this a nice week-and-a-half, or has Xander Bogaerts begun his surge?
He was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk last night and has reached base in 21 of 45 plate appearances over his past 11 games.
This follows a stretch in which Bogaerts was on base 29 times in 32 games.
He has in this 11-game stretch raised his batting average 12 points (.to .234) and his OPS 24 points (to .664).
However he has started, Bogaerts has finished strong each of his three seasons with the Padres.
Tidbits
A one-out single in the ninth inning extended Fernando Tatis Jr.’s on-base streak to 22 games, one off his career high set last season.
Tatis was thrown out trying to steal for the second out of the ninth inning. It was the ninth time in 28 attempts he has been caught stealing. He has been caught twice more than in any previous season, and his 67.9% success rate is tied for fifth lowest among the 37 players with at least 15 attempts.
Miguel Andujar was 3-for-4 with a double and is 5-for-10 over his past three games. He has his batting average up to .259 and his OPS to .720 after he had dipped to a season low .246 and .688.
Ty France went 2-for-4 last night and is 5-for-9 over his past three games. France (.260) and Tatis (.282) are the only Padres players with at least 100 plate appearances and a batting average above .235. France (.818) is the only one with an OPS above .800.
Morejón got four outs last night and extended his scoreless streak to 13 innings.
Machado has an unquestionably high baseball IQ, but he has yet to figure out ABS challenges. He lost one again last night and is now 5-for-14, tied for 55th among the 78 players who have challenged at least 10 strike calls.
Padres catcher Freddy Fermin challenged a ball call that turned what would have been a 3-2 count into a strikeout last night. It was his 13th strikeout flip, tied for fourth most in the major leagues.
Rodriguez was recalled to replace David Morgan, who went on the 15-day IL with left knee inflammation.
The Padres last night became the last MLB team to suffer a walk-off loss this season. Their 6-1 record is the best winning rate (.857) in games decided by walk-off, just ahead of the Cubs (10-2, .833).
All right, that’s it for me.
I have to do a month’s worth of expenses now. Today is the end of the fiscal year, if you didn’t know. I found out in a kindly worded email from accounting.
Talk to you tomorrow.