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Padres End Season Optimistically
In the second half of the season, things were looking up for the Padres. A bunch of young players were called up, our best players were traded away, and we were winning. It lasted all the way to the end of the season.
After the All-Star break, the Padres had an incredible record. It really was an up and down season for the boys. They started off well, leading the NL West for a few weeks. But then they came down to earth, and down towards the cellar. They went on a 10-game winning streak, but spent a couple months deep in the cellar of the NL West. In the second half, they won an amazing amount of games but still hung out near the bottom of the division. The fans didn’t really notice though, so preoccupied were they will all this winning.
It was so much fun to see. All the young players who had been in our minor league system for quite a while were called up. We got to see Kyle Blanks, Will Venable. We got a look at some wonderful young pitchers like Clayton Richard, Mat Latos, and Luke Gregerson. We got to watch a dynamic young shortstop named Everth Cabrera all year. This kid is only 22 years old, and he hadn’t played above Single-A until the Padres brought him onto the Opening Day roster. He had an incredible season. Sure, he made some mistakes, but he’s young, and he’s only going to get better.
The fans lost their beloved Jake Peavy this season. That was quite the blow to the fans. I think we’ll be able to forgive the front office, since we got some great pieces in return, but man…that was hard.
Thankfully, we’ve been able to keep players like Kevin Kouzmanoff, Adrian Gonzalez, and Heath Bell. Kouz had a Gold-Glove caliber season at third base, and didn’t do too bad with the bat either. Adrian Gonzalez also had an incredible season. He hit 40 home runs and drove in 99 runs. Heath Bell got 42 saves in his first season as the Padres’ closer. We definitely miss “Trevor Time,” but Heath was a great replacement.
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With a new owner coming into power, and an open slot for a general manager, there’s definitely going to be a lot of changes around here. They may be hard, but they’ll ultimately be for the Padres’ good. I hope.
Enjoy the offseason, everyone.
GO PADRES!!
By Kaity Bergquist
MLBCenter.com San Diego Padres Correspondent
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