Bob Melvin Sounds Off on Padres Pitching in 8-5 Loss on Tuesday

All the bullpen had to do was close out strong.

To start off the 2023 season, the starting pitching staff of the San Diego Padres has not been perfect. However, they have been solid enough to put the Friars in consistent positions to win their games,

Guys like Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha made their debuts and did what was asked of them. Even on Opening Day when Blake Snell failed to go five innings due to too many pitches thrown, he still only allowed three runs and struck out nine batters. On Wednesday, Yu Darvish played long-awaited first game with the team and exited after helping them build a 5-1 lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks and only allowing three hits.

The bullpen, on the other hand, is proving all of the Padres' doubters right. Immediately when Nabil Crismatt stepped on the pitching mound, Arizona began their comeback and never looked back as they won 8-6.

Team manager Bob Melvin detailed what he's seen from the bullpen thus far in his postgame press conference.

Bob Melvin shares his thoughts with the media after splitting the series today against the D-Backs🔊@Padres | #PadresLive pic.twitter.com/pEeI8OjVHW

— Bally Sports San Diego (@BallySportsSD) April 4, 2023

"With Garcia in the eighth and Hader in the ninth, we had several guys unavailable today." said Melvin. "They weren't going to pitch, Honeywell was one of the. Unfortunately, we got into a predicament and we had to use him and he picked us up. Obviously, those results weren't great and it ended up being an ugly game for us. We could've gotten ourselves out of some jams earlier and not have gotten into that predicament. We just didn't play well defensively, we didn't throw enough strikes today, and got into some positions where they could steal some bases."

(Via Bally Sports San Diego)

It will be really interesting to see how long the Friars let their bullpen fight through the struggles and see if it costs them more games. There have already been rumors of trades for better pitchers so their vision will become clearer as the season goes on.

The Padres get to rest today as they travel and then start a four-game series against the Atlanta Braves on Thursday.