The additions of Josh Hader and Josh Bell have not gone splendidly for the San Diego Padres.
The San Diego Padres‘ big swings at the MLB trade deadline have resulted in big misses, as Josh Hader and Josh Bell have provided next to no return on investment for the playoff-contending NL West franchise.
San Diego dealt for the former Milwaukee Brewers closer to bolster its bullpen. Bell came to sunny Southern California as part of the blockbuster deal that ripped superstar Juan Soto away from the Washington Nationals. All the while, Hader and Bell have not lived up to their lofty expectations since coming aboard in late July. They have a few weeks to get this ship turned around, but still…
Josh Hader’s ERA in a Padres uniform was an awful 12.34 entering Friday night’s home game vs. Washington. Now, it is an unmitigated disaster of 16.20 after allowing three earned runs vs. the Nationals. The four-time NL All-Star and three-time Hoffman winner now has his ERA at 5.30 on the season split between both NL franchises. What an absolute train wreck we have on our hands.
Similarly, Bell was slashing a truly pitiful .135/.274/.173 since joining the Padres entering Friday’s home game vs. the Nationals . As expected, those numbers actually got worse, as Bell is now hitting .121/.250/.151 over the course of 16 games in a Padres uniform. This guy was a borderline All-Star candidate in Washington, and was hitting a formidable .301 at the plate for the Nationals.
All the while, the Padres find themselves a ridiculous 18 games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers…
Josh Hader, Josh Bell have been nothing short of lemons for the San Diego Padres
Although San Diego projects as one of three wild card teams in the National League this season, there are no guarantees they are getting in. Milwaukee is only one game back of the Padres for the No. 6 seed in the Senior Circuit. While San Diego is only one game off the Philadelphia Phillies’ pace for the No. 5 seed, the Atlanta Braves are 8.5 games better than them as the NL’s No. 4 seed.
The good news for the Padres is there are only seven teams really in the mix to make the postseason in the NL, eight if you count the rival San Francisco Giants, who are hovering right around .500 in the second half of August. Unfortunately, the Padres are probably not going to do better than the No. 5 seed this year with Atlanta and the New York Mets humming in the NL East.
Ultimately, this does not look to be the year for the Padres. Should they hold off the Brewers for presumably the last spot into the postseason, there are no guarantees they will get out of the NL Wild Card round. The worst part is they are not going to be playing at home. San Diego made these big moves to attempt to keep pace with the Dodgers and both have completely backfired on them.
There is time for the Padres to right the ship, but these last few weeks have been very concerning.