Padres Drop in Power Rankings

Friars land in the middle of the pack

Your San Diego Padres had a good last week of April. The Friars faced the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field and ended their week facing their divisional rivals San Francisco Giants, in a two-game series in Mexico City.

The Padres played in five games last week, going 3-2, but it wasn't enough to rise in the power rankings, at least according to the Athletic MLB staff. Last week is over and done with, and so is the month of April. The Padres land tied for 12 after being ranked number 10, and the staff lists reliever, Josh Hader, as their "Employee of the Month." 

T-12. San Diego Padres

Record: 15-14
Last Power Ranking: 10

Employee of the Month: Josh Hader

Yes, the lanky left-hander has a nice 0.69 ERA and leads the majors with 10 saves. (A quick aside: Hader is only 5-foot-11? I refuse to believe it.) But the guy really went the extra mile when it comes to using PitchCom. Instead of just trusting just any disembodied voice – that’s how you wind up plowing a baseball diamond into your cornfield, folks – Hader programmed his own voice into the device. And instead of having it say things like “You are soooo good-looking” and “Being 5-11 is still considered tall,” he has himself tell, uh, himself where to throw which pitch. The self-talk helps his performance, he says. Maybe, but here’s what I really want to see: Padres catcher Austin Nola dials up a pitch, Hader’s own voice tells him what to throw and then the San Diego closer…shakes himself off. – ZB

By their standards, the Padres had a sluggish April and will look for a much better May. 

The Padres' closer was not sluggish, not even a little bit. He's tied for the most saves in the majors at 10, his save percentage is 100%, he's pitched in 13 games for 13 innings, and he has a 0.69 ERA. 

Hader seems to be back to his old self, and the Friars need that from him. If the Padres have a slight lead going into the ninth, the game is pretty much over for the opposing team.