5/24/2024

​​Tus Padres?


Around three weeks ago, I turned on the TV and there was a baseball game. In the game, several times, a play-by-play guy indicated a player’s hitting performance against the Padres over the last several seasons. After watching that game, I began to think about a question.

 

That batter did hit well against the Padres. Over the last several seasons, which batters were the nightmares for the Padres pitching staff?

 

To understand a little bit more, I decided to check on the statcast website.

 

Batting Average
(Against Padres, min PA:100, 2020~2023)

Player

BA

C.J. Cron

.344

Nolan Arenado

.337

Freddie Freeman

.329

Starling Marte

.316

Thairo Estrada

.312

Mookie Betts

.308

Trea Turner

.304

Austin Slater

.300

Yonathan Daza

.289


Firstly, C.J. Cron played for the Rockies from 2021 to 2023 and during those 3 seasons, he did hit well against the Padres. He slashed .344/.380/.679 with 11 home runs and 29 RBI over 35 games against the Padres. In particular, he crushed 5 home runs against the Padres in 2021.

 

In addition, Nolan Arenado spent 8 seasons in the Rockies and playing against the Padres was very common for him. From 2020 to 2023, Arenado collected 32 hits and 10 RBI in 25 games against the Padres. Among those 32 hits, 5 of them were home runs. Nonetheless, last season, Arenado had only 1 hit in 12 plate appearances against the Padres.

 

Moreover, Freddie Freeman is always one of the most dangerous hitters in the majors. He won the 2020 NL MVP award. In his career, he has been hitting well against the Padres. From 2021 to 2023, Freeman blasted 8 home runs and collected 27 RBI against the Padres. Freeman inked a 6-year deal with the Dodgers in March 2022. Last 2 seasons, he owned an OPS over .900 against the Padres. In particular, he smashed 4 home runs and collected 17 RBI in 19 games against the Padres in 2022.

 

Well, by far in his career, Starling Marte’s OPS against the Padres is below .700. Nonetheless, over the last 3 seasons, Marte did hit well against the Padres. In particular, in 2021, Marte had 10 hits in 6 games against the Padres. Furthermore, Thairo Estrada began his career in New York and was sent to the Giants in 2021. From 2021 to 2023, Estrada had a batting average over .300 against the Padres.

 

Finally, from 2021 to 2023, Trea Turner owned a batting average over .300 against the Padres. Furthermore, over the last 4 seasons, Mookie Betts and Austin Slater each had a batting average of .300 or higher while hitting against the Padres pitching staff. And we have to focus on Mookie Betts. Betts blasted 5 home runs against the Padres in 2021 and last season, he crushed 6 home runs against the Padres. This year, Mookie Betts smashed the very first home run of the season and it was against the Padres.

 

Looking back at the last 4 seasons, we can see that several great hitters used to do damage against the Padres. C.J Cron spent 3 years with the Rockies. He and Arenado were 2 hitters that created some problems for the Padres pitching staff. Moreover, Freeman joined the Dodgers in 2022 and in the last 2 seasons, he and Mookie Betts certainly got their job done, which is to hit hard against the divisional rivals.

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