This will be a nerdy column about defense as played by the Padres and their opponents in the recent homestand.<\/p>\n
Nerdy because I enjoy watching what happens when the ball is put into play and have been lucky to see many big-league games in person.<\/p>\n
The view from the pressbox affords a look at all the defenders.<\/p>\n
Decades ago my gig as a newspaper\u2019s film runner put me closer to home plate than each team\u2019s manager.<\/p>\n
Garry Templeton was revealed as a shortstop god as I peered through a field-level portal some 60 feet behind home plate at The Murph. The limitations of Steve Garvey\u2019s damaged throwing shoulder became more apparent.<\/p>\n
Above all, as a wide spectrum of defensive actions unfolded with clarity, I saw that big league ball moved much faster than it seemed to move from the stands or via telecasts.<\/p>\n
From the Padres\u2019 six home games last week are several takeaways about the D:<\/p>\n
The Cubs continue to defend at high level.<\/p>\n
Xander Bogaerts has sustained his efficient form of 2025.<\/p>\n
Manny Machado, whose baseball tempo seems unerring, remains the best baseball thrower I\u2019ve seen.<\/p>\n
In skill and importance, defensive honors Sunday went to Padres newcomer Griffin Canning for his agile pickoff of a White Sox baserunner at first base. The play, completed by Ty France\u2019s positioning and tag, blunted a first-and-third threat.<\/p>\n
Defensively, the Padres had a C-minus pair of series. That\u2019s one reason they went 2-4.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s ramp up the nerdiness.<\/p>\n
Most big-league games serve up interconnected defensive consequences \u2014through lines \u2014 that matter a lot but almost always get glossed over in video and all print game accounts for good reasons.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll nerd out over a key defensive stretch in the 8-2 loss Friday to the White Sox.<\/p>\n
Six runs in the second inning led to Chicago avoiding a bullpen game and the doomsday scenario of facing a well-rested Mason Miller.<\/p>\n
Padres defenders did not have a great second inning.<\/p>\n
They dared to be great. But they weren\u2019t able to be great.<\/p>\n
Here was a crucial first domino: Fernando Tatis Jr., playing second base, where he has scant game experience, tried to nab a runner at home plate instead of completing a double play after gloving Machado\u2019s perfect throw to get the first out with Chicago ahead, 1-0.<\/p>\n
Tatis\u2019 throw was in time but sailed wide and high.<\/p>\n
When a team fails to get a \u201csure\u201d out, the ballpark atmosphere seems to thicken.<\/p>\n
Padres pitcher Germ\u00e1n M\u00e1rquez did not lighten the fallout. He walked the next hitter, then went 2-0 on No. 9 hitter Drew Romo.<\/p>\n
Freddy Fermin dared to be great next.<\/p>\n
The catcher challenged the ball call after lunging far to his right to spear the 2-0 pitch.<\/p>\n
The Padres would have just one challenge left if he was wrong, meaning Fermin must\u2019ve been near certain he was right.<\/p>\n
Replay confirmed the ump\u2019s call.<\/p>\n
M\u00e1rquez followed with a ball, loading the bases.<\/p>\n
When a sacrifice fly made it 3-0, the Padres weren\u2019t yet in an awful spot. Not with two outs and Sox pitcher Noah Schultz, a rookie, having logged a laborious first inning, overcoming three walks and a balk.<\/p>\n
It came down to this: M\u00e1rquez\u00a0threw a nasty curve with the count 2-2 against slugger Munetaka Murakami, the majors\u2019 home run leader yet also a strikeout-prone hitter.<\/p>\n
Seemingly advantaged by the Padres\u2019 being unlikely to challenge the call, Murakami took the two-out borderline pitch.<\/p>\n
It was correctly ruled too low.<\/p>\n
M\u00e1rquez came back with another curve.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t curve. Murakami slammed it for a three-run home run. Shultz, staked to a 6-0 lead, settled.<\/p>\n
The Padres? The gained valuable if expensive feedback.<\/p>\n
Tatis learned more about the game speed and angles at second base. In right field he doesn\u2019t have to step and reset in response to a sliding baserunner, as he did Friday before throwing.<\/p>\n
Fermin learned more about how to react to the automated ball-strike system that MLB adopted this year. The catcher has fared well there, winning 13 of 19 challenges, beating the league average. Later in the series, Fermin won a key challenge and made another top-notch throwout.<\/p>\n
The Padres will want to squeeze out another good season on defense, a year after finishing third of 30 teams at turning balls in play into outs.<\/p>\n
OK, that\u2019s enough nerding out. In baseball no one chants \u201cdeee-fence.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This will be a nerdy column about defense as played by the Padres and their opponents in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300002,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[181,1334,74,76,75,2611,127],"class_list":["post-300001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-latest-headlines","tag-mlb","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-san-diego-padres","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}