Starting pitchers are STRUGGLING right now

The Padres pitching is supposed to be the strength of the team and they just have not performed well so far this spring. There is a bit of concern building up since opening day is just around the corner.

Mat Latos is supposed to be the young staff ace and he has not had a good start the whole spring. He has struggled with his location and is getting hit hard. At one point, he gave up 5 runs in a start against minor leaguers.

Aaron Harang has been up and down this spring. He started off well, but then he had a start against his former team and has been on a roller coaster ride ever since.

Clayton Richard started his spring late due to an injury and is just starting to pick up innings. His start yesterday was shaky.

The competition for the 5th spot of the rotation was supposed to be led by Wade LeBlanc and he is pitching like he doesn’t want the job. Dustin Moseley and Cory Luebke have not exactly done much to take the job away from him though..

Tim Stauffer has been the only consistent starter this spring and we will hope that he can carry that momentum into the start of the season. He starts today against Reds and has already given up 2 runs in the first 2 innings.

Let’s hope that the magic of PETCO Park will rub off on our pitching staff and give them the confidence they need to pitch in the regular season. The pitching is the strength of this team and we will only go as far as the pitching leads us. I am confident that this group of guys will be able to pull it all together and that pitching coach Darren Balsley will be able to correct anything that is wrong with each guy.

Here are the numbers for the starting pitchers this spring:

That is a combined ERA of 6.27.