SD offense whole again with Cronenworth -- and does a whole lot of hitting
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DENVER -- Jake Cronenworth is back, and the Padres’ offense is whole again.
On Friday night at Coors Field, the Rockies felt it in full force.
For the first time since their first road trip of the season, the Padres had a fully healthy starting lineup, and it’s clearly a formidable one. They posted season highs in runs and hits, pouring it on in a 13-9 series-opening victory in Colorado.
“You get a full lineup, and a deep lineup,” said DH Gavin Sheets. “That's what we're capable of tonight.”
Sheets doubled twice and drove in four runs. Luis Arraez, Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill all tallied three hits, and the Padres finished with 16 overall. Martín Maldonado went deep.
And in his first game since April 8, Cronenworth reached three times via a single and a pair of walks. Prior to Friday’s game, the Padres activated Cronenworth from the 10-day injured list. He had missed a month after he was hit by a pitch and sustained a fractured right rib.
“Excited to be back and more or less ready to pick up right from where I left off,” Cronenworth said.
Cronenworth’s return gives the Padres a fully healthy offense for the first time since early April. San Diego endured IL stints from Jackson Merrill, Arraez, Jason Heyward and Brandon Lockridge, as well. Despite those injuries, the Padres’ 24-13 record is the third-best mark in baseball.
Still, they’ve clearly missed Cronenworth, who was reaching base at a .409 clip before he landed on the IL. Now that Cronenworth is back, the Padres are no longer scrambling to fill their lineup with role players and bench pieces.
“Every night we run a lineup out there, we feel confident about our ability to compete, shake hands at the end of a game," manager Mike Shildt said. "We've been able to do that. Tonight though, we got what has been our go-to lineup from the start of the season back in there. And it looked good. Looked really good.”
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During a brief two-game rehab stint at Triple-A El Paso, Cronenworth said he tested the area of the injury in numerous ways -- sliding into bases, diving for ground balls. He felt none of the pain he felt in the immediate aftermath of the injury, though he’s currently wearing a rib protector when he’s at the plate. (It detaches via velcro, and he takes it off when he’s in the field.)
The most interesting question regarding Cronenworth’s return will be the Padres’ offensive plans against left-handed pitching. When they were last fully healthy, Yuli Gurriel was serving in the DH spot. Gurriel has since been cut after his slow start.
Does the lefty-hitting Sheets assume full-time DH duties, having shown an ability to hit lefties as well as righties early this season? Could Jose Iglesias continue getting starts at second against lefties, bumping Cronenworth to first and Arraez to DH? With Oscar Gonzalez optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move, is Lockridge now an auto-start in left field against left-handers? Or might Sheets and/or Iglesias play out of position?
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The Padres are facing three Rockies righties over the weekend, so it may be a while before they have to answer these questions. But now that they’re finally healthy on offense, these are questions the Padres will be happy to answer.
“Lineup's a little deeper,” Cronenworth said. “It's just harder for the opposing pitchers to go through our lineup. Guys are having quality at-bats back to back to back.”
During Thursday’s off-day, Sheets said the coaching staff sent that lineup around to the players.
“I'm hitting seventh, and I've never been more excited to hit seventh in my life,” he said.
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Sure enough, the floodgates opened early. The Padres scored four in the third inning and five in the fifth. They carried a 13-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth, so naturally, it was disappointing that Robert Suarez needed to be called upon for a save, with the tying run on deck in the ninth. But he required only three pitches to end the game with a double play.
The Padres’ bats had provided their pitching staff with plenty of support, anyway. There could be more where that came from.
“Maybe not 13 [runs] a night,” Sheets said. “But I just think we keep it moving down the line for all nine. We make it extremely hard on pitchers. We’re a tough team to game-plan against, and I feel like one through nine, we can hurt you. We did tonight.”