Padres News: Bob Melvin Feels Responsible for Friars’ Inability to Win Close Games

The Padres have been one of the worst teams in late-game situations.

San Diego has been horrid in close games. They are 1-and-10 in walk-off games, have the second-worst OPS in high-leverage spots, and are a shocking 0-and-10 in extra-inning games.

All the while, the Padres have one of the more powerful offenses in the major leagues, with a sixth-best 16 wins in which they outscored their opponent by six or more runs. They also have one of the league's best closers in Josh Hader, who holds a 0.84 ERA and 27 saves this season.

Bob Melvin reflected on the Padres' difficulty with winning those close matchups.

"We established a certain way of playing and, really, a culture (that) those are our type of games to win," Melvin said earlier this week. "And a lof of analytics and analysts will tell you that good teams blow teams out, that you're going to lose your share of one-run games and there's some luck involved in that. But as a manager, you don't feel that way. You feel like you're right in the middle of that. And the fact that it has not been good this year bothers me, and I feel very accountable for that."

(Via The Athletic)

In his career as a manager, Melvin has a .548 win percentage in extra-inning games. 

While the offense has stalled at times, the bullpen has struggled mightily this year, especially since late June. Melvin, who makes his pitching decisions with input from pitching coach Ruben Niebla, said that he rarely regrets his bullpen decisions, but hindsight is always revealing.

“I always go home saying, ‘OK, that didn’t work out,’” Melvin said. “But would I do anything different? Now, when you have hindsight, you’d always do something different. But based on what we had and who was available, I felt like it was the right thing to do, but I also take responsibility for it not working.”

While it wasn't a one-run game, the Padres lost the crucial series opener to the Diamondbacks on Thursday night by a narrow score of 3-1. The offense was only able to muster three hits.

Something needs to change for the Friars, and fast.