Apr 9, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres center fielder Cameron Maybin (right) reacts after umpire Andy Fletcher (49) called him out on strikes during the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Now.

Oh you were looking for more than that?

Cameron Maybin has been awful to start the season. Again.  He has a total of two hits in 24 at bats, four strikeouts, two walks, with one of those being an intentional pass, and zero stolen bases. If you’re keeping track at home, that’s good for a whopping .083 batting average and .154 on-base percentage.

Maybin is known for being a slow starter, as he only compiled 15 total hits last April, but this is getting ridiculous. Maybin signed a 5-year deal with the Padres a couple years ago, and has done very little so far to deserve that contract.  He was obviously highly-touted coming out of high school and was drafted in the first round by the Tigers back in 2005, but he struggled to earn consistent playing time at the MLB level. He eventually made his way to San Diego via trade from the Marlins in 2010 and the Padres thought a change of scenery would revive what was once thought to be a plethora of potential.

Unfortunately, while he has been an above-average center-fielder, he is a huge liability at the plate right now. He looks extremely uncomfortable, especially against right-handers.

While it’s still very early in the season, this is a crucial time for the Padres. Their best hitter is still out in Chase Headley, starting catching Yasmani Grandal is serving his 50-game PED suspension (although Nick Hundley has been an adequate fill-in so far) and bopper Carlos Quentin could be headed to the DL (shocker) after getting hit on the wrist Tuesday night.  With plenty of division games left in the month, they cannot afford such a terrible April that they are too far in the hole to make up ground later in the season, you know, exactly like 2012.  Why keep Maybin in the lineup right now if he is a guaranteed out every single at-bat?  Black could go with a Denorfia, Venable, Guzman outfield and call it a day.

I am as big of a Maybin fan as anyone. But there’s obviously a trend in his game, where it takes him a couple months to heat up.  So give him some starts versus lefties and some spot starts versus righties so he can continue to see pitches and get into the flow of the season. But if Black sticks with him in the lineup every day, he very well could contribute to a 8-18 type of April, where the Friars are looking up at the other four teams in the NL West. Way up.

At 2-6 currently, what does Black have to lose?

Apr 5, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; San Diego Padres pitcher Jason Marquis (21) in the dugout during the fourth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

That week 1 probably wasn’t how Bud Black drew it up prior to the season.

After losing two of three in New York to start the year, the Padres got swept in Colorado over the weekend. After a couple of relatively close losses on Friday and Saturday, San Diego was blown out and never competitive on Sunday.

You never want to make too much of a big deal after only one week, but one could easily make the argument that only the Astros,  Marlins, and Pirates have looked worse than the Padres so far in 2013, and even that is debatable considering each of those other teams have played at least one above-average team (Rangers, Nationals, and Dodgers, respectively).  The Padres offense has struggled mightily to get going, even in the friendly hitting park of Coors Field. It really shows how much the team misses Chase Headley and Yasmani Grandal in the middle of the lineup.  The Padres have only scored 14 runs through six games and have the worst run differential in the entire league by far at -26.

Now that we’ve examined the ugliness, let’s turn our heads to the upcoming week and see if the Padres can get on track, as they open their home schedule on Tuesday against the Dodgers.

L.A. has started off playing good baseball, as they went 4-2 last week. On Tuesday, Clayton Richard will look to forget about his poor first outing as he takes on Josh Beckett in the opener. On Wednesday, the Padres lone bright spot in the rotation so far Eric Stults will go up against Chad Billingsley. The series finale will include Padres veteran Jason Marquis and Dodger newcomer and former AL Cy Young winner Zack Greinke. The silver lining is that the Padres avoid facing Dodgers’ ace Clayton Kewshaw in this series.

Of course, one of the big story lines is Adrian Gonzalez returning to San Diego for the first time in 2013. I’m sure he’ll get a warm reception, but that’s primarily because they’ll be more Dodger fans than Padres fans in attendance. My prediction for the series is that the Dodgers will take two of three from the Padres.

The weekend series will give the Padres a chance to avenge this past weekends sweep when the Rockies come to Petco for a three game set.  It’s too early to tell what the pitching match ups will be, but given that both the Padres and Rockies have three games and a day off before Friday, we’ll likely see some of the same pitching match ups as we did this past weekend. I think the offense will finally get going a bit and the Padres will win two of three this series.

One thing I will be paying close attention to is how the ball park plays with the new outfield dimensions.  Right field has been moved in 11 feet, right-center 11 feet as well, and left-center 12 feet. While we likely won’t know the complete ramifications until the end of the season, I’m sure the fences will, at the very least, make it “feel” much closer for the players than last season.

February 22, 2013; Peoria, AZ, USA; San Diego Padres manager Bud Black (20) looks on during the third inning against the Seattle Mariners at Peoria Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Throughout the years that the Padres have been playing at Petco Park, which, by the way, is hard to believe it’s already the 10^th season, they have always been known for pitching and defense. It’s well-documented that during the years when the Padres were winning and competing for the NL West title, it was not because they were waiting on the three-run homer. The Padres usually rely on consistent starting pitching and a stifling, shutdown bullpen. More times than not, it was the offense that would struggle to pick up the slack and take some pressure off of the pitching staff.

In 2013, I think we may have a little bit of a role reversal. Consider the Padres probable opening day starting lineup:

1. Cameron Maybin- CF

2. Everth Cabrera/Alexi Amarista- SS

3. Chase Headley- 3B

4. Carlos Quentin- LF

5. Yonder Alonso- 1B

6. Jedd Gyorko- 2B

7. Nick Hundley- C (Yasmani Grandal after his 50 game suspension)

8. Will Venable/Chris Denorfia/Kyle Blanks- RF

Call me crazy, but that is really not that bad of a lineup. In fact, I think it’s vastly underrated as far as league-wide perception goes.

While the Padres were only 23rd in the league last season in runs scored (651) and 22nd in team batting average (.247), they were much better during the second half of the season.  I think this lineup, with its combination of speedsters, contact hitters, and power guys, can continue where they left off in 2012 and be very productive with getting guys on base and driving them in.

Additionally, I think the moved-in fences at Petco Park will provide hitters with not only a physical advantage at the plate, but also a psychological advantage. In previous years, Padre hitters had admitted they felt intimidated by Petco’s spacious dimensions. Now, hitters know they are not at such a disadvantage, and should go to the plate more relaxed.

So as we approach the middle of spring training and with less than three weeks until opening day, the question for me is can the starting rotation remain stable and healthy enough to give the offense enough support? The recent developments with starting pitcher Casey Kelly does not help, as it’s feared that he may need Tommy John surgery. Kelly was projected to contribute in the rotation at some point this season, and was even thought to perhaps begin the season as the 4th or 5th stater for the Padres. Andrew Cashner is healthy and looks good so far, but Bud Black will likely bring him along slowly, as he has had a history of injuries. Other young guys like Anthony Bass, Eric Stults, Tyson Ross, and others are all vying to win spots in the rotation, but they are generally unproven at the major league level, with the exception of Bass to a certain extent.

We’ll see if Bud Black can work some magic and create a winning formula on the mound, but it will definitely be a challenge. And for the first time in a while, I am more confident in the Padres offense than pitching.

What do you think Padre fans?