San Diego Padres: Different Season, Different Team

I can't say I didn't see this coming.

Prior to the start of the 2009 season, fans were screaming and yelling about the Padres cutting payroll, turning them into a "minor league" team, as some called them.

As soon as the Padres started coming back and winning games in dramatic fashion, however, those same fans started coming out of the woodwork and acting like they knew this was possible the whole time.

No disrespect to those of us who are the eternal optimists and still show up to the ballpark every chance we get, but I just don't understand people who jumped off the bandwagon before the Padres even played a single game.

I can understand the impatience of some fans after getting a taste of an NL West Championship and the first round of the playoffs. But when you're beaten by a better team, you have to dust yourself off and get ready for next year.

This offseason was a little different than in the past.

The team was coming off 99 losses in 2008, Trevor Hoffman was no longer a Padre, there were rumors that Jake Peavy was about to be traded to Atlanta or Chicago, and Khalil Greene was traded to St. Louis—not exactly the kind of offseason I was expecting.

Still, the Padres had Heath Bell, who stepped in and filled the closer's role in dominating fashion, going 7-for-7 in chances. Then they brought in Duaner Sanchez, who has teamed up with submariner Cla Meredith to serve as dominant setup men in the eighth inning.

On the offensive side of things, they added a spark plug in David Eckstein, a guy who plays his heart out and leaves everything on the field. He gives his whole team a boost just by being around him.

We know what we're going to get from Adrian Gonzalez. The guy can carry an offense on any given day. The Padres should also enjoy a full season from Jody Gerut.

Chase Headley is a more mature player, and from talking to people who saw him during Spring Training, he looks stronger than he did last season, and it's starting to show.

One new addition that we've yet to see is former Mets outfielder Cliff Floyd, who's been nursing a shoulder injury he suffered during Spring Training.

Get that guy a few spot starts here and there, bat him between Gonzalez and Headley or Kevin Kouzmanoff, and San Diego will have a much better offense than it had in 2008.

One player I've been disappointed with is right fielder Brian Giles. In 14 games, Giles is hitting just .172 (10-for-58) and has yet to hit his first home run of the 2009 season.

His home run numbers have declined every year since his first full season in San Diego in 2004. He hit 24 home runs in 2004, 15 in 2005, 14 in 2006, 13 in 2007, and 12 in 2008 while having his third-highest number of at-bats (559) since joining the team.

The two biggest question marks for this team still remaining are the starting rotation and the bullpen.

Peavy, the staff ace, struggled last night against San Francisco, giving up six runs through six innings, and Chris Young struggled in his last outing, giving up seven runs through just 3.2 innings.

After them, the Padres have Kevin Correia and Shawn Hill while Josh Geer fills in for Walter Silva, who's on the 15-day disabled list.

The problem with both Correia and Hill is, neither has pitched more than five innings in each of their first two starts. The Padres need to have both pitchers extend themselves into the sixth and seventh innings to keep from overworking the bullpen, which has already started to happen.

Speaking of the bullpen—which is filled with names most people have never heard—that "overworking" has started to show.

Luke Gregerson, Edward Mujica, and Edwin Moreno have all struggled over their last few appearances. Moreno recently gave up a walk-off home run to Phillies outfielder Raul Ibanez just this past week in a game in which the Padres led the whole way.

Gregerson started off fast, having a couple of dominant appearances before a wild outing against Philadelphia brought his "stuff" into question. But he's made a few adjustments and has been better recently.

Mujica has struggled to keep runners off base, giving up a pinch-hit home run to Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins to bring them within one run before the game got away from San Diego and ended in a 5-4 Phillies victory.

It's not entirely the bullpen's fault. When the starters can't get into the sixth and seventh innings, it puts more stress on the relievers to perform night in and night out.

One last thing for you fans to remember: Peavy and Young missed a significant number of games due to injury last season, which had a lot to do with the team's struggles.

If those two guys can stay healthy, the Padres won't get close to 100 losses, and with a different look to their offense, they will win games they couldn't last year.

So, for all of those Padres fans who jumped off the bandwagon and were quick to call this a "100-plus loss season," you probably should have looked at what contributed to their struggles last season and looked at the changes that were made.

What ever happened to the mantra "We Believe?"

This San Diego Padres team will surprise a lot of people, so for those of you who have jumped back on the bandwagon, I'm glad to have you back.

Enjoy the ride. It will be a better season than we saw in 2008.

Believe it!