Padre Prowess

I think its safe to say the San Diego Padres aren't going anywhere, at least for now.

After Matt Latos one-hit the San Francisco Giants today, the Padres moved 3 1/2 games ahead of the Giants in the NL West standings, completing their second sweep of the Giants this season and surpassing the Philadelphia Phillies for the best record in the National League.

No, you did not read or hear that incorrectly.

By wins and losses, the Padres are the best team in the National League. Paper rosters tell a different story, but the scoreboard says all at the end of the day. And the Padres have been on the right end of it much more often than not this season, to the tune of a .647 winning percentage. Twelve of their 22 wins have come against division opponents. This was a team that started 3-6, only to turn around and win 12 out of 14, including eight in a row. Now they have won five out of six, and, if the season ended today, would be the #1 seed in the NL playoffs.

How is this possible for a team that has nobody? NOBODY? Adrian Gonzalez, sure. He's hitting .265. Chase Headley's batting .311 with nine stolen bases, out of nowhere. But this is a roster otherwise filled with no-names and rejects and journeymen. Somehow, the pitching staff has an MLB-best 2.69 team ERA through 34 games. With no one. Jon Garland must have remembered what he ate for breakfast during the 2005 season. Wade LeBlanc must feel like he's always pitching against the Dodgers in spring training. What is it with this team? Is this really going to last?

It just goes to show the importance of pitching in baseball, as it always has been and always will be. The Padres are the poster child for pitching's cause. They defy any preseason predictions that placed them in the cellar of the division with their young (and old) arms which have flat-out dealt so far. If you look at team ERA's across the league, you will see the top six in this order:

1. San Diego Padres - 2.69
2. St. Louis Cardinals - 2.70
3. Tampa Bay Rays - 2.78
4. San Francisco Giants - 3.10
5. New York Yankees - 3.46
6. Minnesota Twins - 3.51

Notice that each of these teams is a division leader at present, except for the Giants and Yankees, who are in second place in their respective divisions. The other two division leaders (Texas Rangers, #8 and Philadelphia Phillies, #9) are still in the top ten. Pitching is everything in a post-steroid dynamic that doesn't allow teams to rely on the 3-run homer any longer. You manufacture. You scrape by. You win wars of attrition. That's what the Padres have done, and that's why they've been so successful through the first fifth of the 2010 season - its the Padre prowess.