Posted Record: 21-6-2 (+42.6 units)
Thanks to everyone for your comments in yesterday's thread. I do read them all and appreciate you all
Might have had one too many beers last night. I don't think I'll be celebrating Cinco De Mayo with alcohol. However, I do plan on taking in some baseball.
The Padres made a huge acquisition yesterday by adding two time batting champ, Luis Arraez to the roster. He batted leadoff and promptly went 4-6, raising his average to .315. A 3rd batting title could be on the way soon. He'll likely be setting the table for SD the rest of the season. The addition of Arraez changes everything for this offense. They were already ranked 7th in offensive efficiency. However, when you put an on-base machine in front of Fernando Tatis and Manny Machado, I only see them climbing those rankings. At the moment, they're slashing; 258 AVG/324 OBP/410 SLG/734 OPS. I predict they'll be in the top 5 soon and likely remain there. Especially when you consider Machado is just starting to heat up. Lastly, what you can't put numbers around is what an addition like Arraez does for morale. My understanding is the team was ecstatic when they heard he'd be joining them. It showed in their 13-1 win yesterday.
The Padres will be looking for the sweep today over the Arizona Diamondbacks. They'll be sending knuckleballer, Matt Waldron to the mound. At first, I was hesitant about backing him. He does own one of those 6 losses in my record. However, after further review, I'm giving him another chance. The roof will be closed today and I think that significantly favors the knuckleball. And he doesn't need to be perfect anyway. Just keep them in the game and the offense should do the rest.
His counterpart will be Ryne Nelson. Nelson is coming off the 15 day IL and skipping his rehab assignment. I think that's a bad idea and tells you how desperate the Dbacks are for starting pitching. In addition, the Padres saw Nelson last year and have good numbers vs him. As a team in 53 ABs, they hit him for; 302 AVG/383 OBP/679 SLG/1.062 OPS.
I don't know what's wrong with the Dbacks. They went from playing in the World Series to one of the worst teams in the NL. Other than Zac Gallen, they're not pitching well, ranking near the bottom is all of baseball. Offensively, they're a little better, ranking 15th. Although, I think that's a tad high due to two blowouts (14-1 and 17-1) when the opposition conceded and used position players and/or left their pen out to dry near the end of the game.
I'm on the Padres for the sweep at -105 for 6 units.
Cheers and BOL to everyone
Dropping my kid off at a Cinco De Mayo party. Will be back later if anyone has questions/comments about the play.