The San Diego Padres Have The Worst Offense In MLB History
The 2016 Major League Baseball Season is less than a few days old and I’m ready to declare that the San Diego Padres have the worst offense in the history of the sport. Is that declaration coming too quickly? Maybe. Is it being made hastily with very little deep research done? Absolutely. Is it wrong? Nope.
San Diego opened the season in classic Padres fashion by: getting shut out at the hands of Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Friars lost 15-0. At home. On Opening Day. San Diego managed a whopping four hits – two of which came in the ninth inning – while striking out 10 times.
On Tuesday Scott Kazmir toed the slab for the Dodgers, and in six innings he allowed just one hit while striking out five. For the game, San Diego’s feckless offense managed just two knocks as they lost 3-0. It was the third time in team history that the Padres had opened a season by getting shutout in their first two games. As a long-suffering San Diego sports fan, I was shocked they hadn’t done that at least six times. It certainly felt like they had.
The coup de grâce came on Wednesday night, as Kenta Maeda made his major league debut for the Dodgers. He tossed six shutout innings and also hit a home run, giving him one more run than the Padres have scored all season. By the time the disaster of a game ended, San Diego had been shut out again and managed just five hits, but they did break a major league record. Yes, the Padres will now go down in history as having the worst opening to a season in baseball history, as they were held scoreless in a record 27 innings to open a season.
Drop the confetti people, the Padres finally have a record-breaking offense!
In their opening series, the Friars were outscored 25-0. Just let that marinate for a minute. They managed just 11 hits and just one extra base knock in 92 freaking at bats. The team’s batting average current sits at a stout .120, while its OPS is a robust .269.
Look, I know the Padres are rebuilding, and general manager A.J. Preller has done a nice job stocking the farm system with premiere talent so far (Manuel Margotand Javier Guerra could be stars), but the product at the big-league level is an utter embarrassment.
I guess when your biggest acquisition of the offseason is Jon Jay – a guy who hit .210 last year – this should be expected. Justin Upton is gone, Wil Myers has immense natural hitting talent but has started slow, Matt Kemp continues to slowly decompose in right field and the rest of the roster is a mishmash of “never was” guys. Not even catcher Derek Norris’s beard can save this group. But hey, at least B.J. Melvin Upton Jr. is still cashing those checks!
Norris and Myers might eventually get going, but there is no guarantee they give the Padres the power to actually score runs on a consistent basis. In fact, I have zero confidence they can do it.
Settle in for a long season Padres fans. Offensive help is situated squarely in the minor leagues and I don’t expect it to come any time soon. Until then, enjoy San Diego’s record-breaking offense. The team’s opponents certainly will.