As the longest-serving player from San Diego, Wil Myers is frequently asked about the strong differences between the current version of the Padres and the other teams he has played for since his arrival in December 2014.
Overall, Myers’ answers are informative and complex. He spoke in depth about the organizational culture and the shift to a winning streak. But Myers puts it perhaps best on the eve of the regular season, when he was asked the same question for the umpteenth time. What is the difference exactly?
“We have really good players,” said Myers.
As simple as that. The Padres in 2021, which started 8-3 and winners of four straight to start their road trip, really have a lot of good players.
Myers among them, of course. The right Padres fielder won 3-for-5 with a homer and five RBIs as they opened a four-game series in Pittsburgh with a 6-2 victory.
Yu Darvish too. The veteran right-hander delivered exactly what the Padres needed after asking for six relief to take 8 1/3 innings in Texas on Sunday. Darvish saved a beleaguered San Diego ball hit with seven innings of one run. He was efficient and effective, hitting six and allowing just three hits.
“Not only yesterday, but there are also a lot of consecutive games going on,” Darvish said. He is fully aware that the Padres are in the early stages of 17 games in 17 days. “Really, the goal for me tonight was to stay in the game as long as possible.”
Early in the game, Darvish said he was getting in touch, to get quick outs. Sure enough, he expertly broke through four innings on just 52 lanes, though he scored only two strokes in that period. As the game progressed, Darvish began to expand a bit more in search of chases. He got them too.
“He was excellent,” said Padres manager Jayres Tingler. “Yes, you get the win. But it also puts some guys back in the bullpen for us, which is great. … He did exactly what we needed tonight. ‘
This was exactly the kind of outing the Padres intended for Darvish when they acquired him in December. He has now started working at least seven innings in seven of his last 13. He lasted at least six in 12 of those outings (except for an early exit on the opening day of this season, when he was in a number of places).
Padres throwers collectively posted an ERA period of 1.80 – the lowest point through 11 games in franchise history. And there is no disappointment to Darvish. San Diego’s two other big-off-season acquisitions – Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove – get the ball the next two nights.
“It’s a lot of fun to play behind,” Myers said of the Padres’ revamped rotation. ‘It’s pretty wild to see these guys with their nasty pitches. I’m glad I did not have to encounter them. ”
Musgrove, who was off his historic no-hitter on Friday night, was crowned the winner of the National League Player of the Week on Monday afternoon – a week after Eric Hosmer took home the honor. Five of the last 10 NL Players of the Week, dating back to last season, were Padres – more than the franchise has seen together in the last six years.
As Myers said: good players. And through 11 games this season, it was also different players who starred on different nights.
“It just shows you the team we have,” Myers said. ‘Every man we have in this series has the ability to take over a match, and if you fill a series with such guys, you’ll find a guy every night who’s going to be hot. This is what makes an excellent team. ”
The Padres look exactly like the complete team that Myers envisioned before the season. Sure, they’ve played eight of their 11 games against the latter teams since 2020 – but they win those games and win them convincingly (though not necessarily flawlessly).
‘You’ll go into a lot of games if you play it and play well [defense]”And I like offensive where we are,” Tingler said. “We still have a lot of room to improve, which is also exciting.”