• It’ll be years (decades?) before we can fully assess the Soto trade. But it sure has been fun to see both ends of that trade thriving this week. Soto is obviously on a tear, and he looks like perhaps the most fearsome hitter on the planet again.
But there have also been moments where MacKenzie Gore and CJ Abrams flashed their upside. Gore struggled with his command, but he brought upper-90s heat with filthy offspeed stuff on Tuesday night. Later in that game, Abrams launched a two-run homer.
"They have really bright futures,” said Padres manager Bob Melvin. “[Abrams] is a shortstop with power. He's got speed. Still at a young age, he looks very confident out there. He's always been a real confident player. I think that's one of his best attributes is he always thinks he's going to get a hit. He always thinks he's going to make a play.
"And then, Mack, watching him from the other side, he's pretty good. … Hearing the guys talk about how his stuff plays when they come back [in the dugout], fastball's on you, it's on top of you, it's top of the zone with good extension. And then obviously he has two good breaking pitches. They're both going to be really good players."
Good players, indeed. The Padres were never going to acquire Soto without those.
• There are plenty of damning numbers regarding the Padres’ offense right now, mostly tied to their inability to hit with runners in scoring position. But perhaps the most disheartening stat is this one: The Padres haven’t overcome a deficit of any size to win a game since May 5.
This is an offense that should be highly capable of mounting comebacks. These Padres, with this collection of hitters, should never feel like they’re out of a game. And yet, the margin for error has felt razor thin for their starting pitchers.
“I wish I had an answer for you,” said Melvin after the Padres’ 5-3 loss on Wednesday night. “… It’s been a problem for us. We should be able to push through and answer the challenge late in the game. We definitely have the guys to do it. We just have not, to this point.”
• When Manny Machado went down with a fractured metacarpal in his left hand, I certainly didn’t envision Rougned Odor delivering Machado-level production. But here we are.
Since May 16, the day after Machado sustained the injury, Odor is hitting .412/.500/.706. His bases-clearing double on Sunday remains the Padres’ only hit with runners in scoring position in the past week (a 1-for-29 stretch). Odor added a two-run homer on Wednesday, as the Padres’ comeback effort fell short.
“I’ve been feeling pretty good at the plate,” Odor said.
Meanwhile, Brandon Dixon, who has platooned with Odor in Machado’s absence, went deep on Tuesday against Gore.
• Nelson Cruz has been a big league hitter for nearly two decades. It blows my mind that in Year 19, Cruz could just pick up Jake Cronenworth’s axe-handle bat and start using it as though nothing were different. It feels like that change should seem drastic to a hitter. (Cronenworth credits his bat-handle switch for rejuvenating his career in the Minors.)
“It’s easy, I guess,” Cruz said. “It’s just the handle that’s different. But I feel like the balance is [better]. You can stay a little bit longer inside the baseball.”
In any case, Cruz is done using Cronenworth’s bats. Cronenworth’s bat manufacturer shipped a fresh batch to Cruz that arrived in D.C. this week. Same length and weight, but with Cruz’s name on it.