Padres News: San Diego's Bullpen Falling Apart, LA Takes Advantage

And it is not their fault.

One of the biggest red flags surrounding the San Diego Padres heading into this season was undoubtedly their bullpen. There were a lot of mixed feelings and concerns about whether the front office invested too much into their hitting power and didn't pay enough mind to the relief pitchers but few thought they would prove to be so important early on.

With the Friars sitting just below .500 and losing a ton of close games in the later innings, the bullpen has been overworked. Five players have taken the bulk of responsibilities in this first month and a half and they've begun faltering amidst a big series against the Dodgers.

Josh Hader has still been taking care of business as their closer and the MLB recognized with a special honor off the bat to show for it. However, the likes of Luis Garcia, Brent Honeywell, and others are starting to throw more pitches than preferred and make slight mistakes.

In Friday's 2-4 loss, it was Tim Hill who allowed back to back home runs from Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman to put LA ahead and decide the game. Obviously, the Padres didn't get much on offense either but that money has already been invested on that end.

The same cannot be said for the bullpen, where nothing is guaranteed.

Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman go back-to-back to make it a 4-2 ballgame! 💥💥

(via @Dodgers)pic.twitter.com/T4ZhYdONnk

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) May 13, 2023

"A Padres reliever has suffered the loss in each of the team’s past four defeats, all decided in the seventh inning or later. The Padres’ bullpen as a whole has thrown just 6⅓ more innings this season than it had through 39 games last season. But five relievers have seen the bulk of the work, and that workload is in every instance an increase over what they did last season."

(Via The San Diego-Union Tribune)

Xander Bogaerts assured that the batters must perform as well because nobody should expect relievers should be perfect once they enter the game but adjustments do need to be made soon.