FriarNotes: Cease One of Many Gems for Padres Since the All-Star Break; Notes on Bogaerts, Merrill, Profar, Arraez, Higashioka, Vásquez
Dylan Cease out-did himself.
Last week, it was noted that Cease had become the first pitcher in Padres’ history to work back-to-back games in which he allowed no runs and one or fewer hits over six or more innings.
Then he followed that with the second no-hitter in Padres history Wednesday afternoon in Washington, D.C.
What was an amazing run turned into an almost incredible run. Cease has given up two hits over his last 22 innings.
Opposing hitters from Atlanta, Cleveland and Washington have gone 4-for-65 with seven walks against 30 strikeouts. That’s a .062 batting average and a .153 on-base percentage for a 0.500 WHIP, an average of 12.3 strikeouts per nine innings and a 4.29-to-1 strikeouts-to-walk ratio.
Cease now leads the National League with 22 starts and 168 strikeouts. He is 10–8 on the season with a 3.50 earned run average and a 0.985 WHIP. He is averaging 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings while allowing only 6.1 hits per nine innings with a 4.2-to-1 strikeouts-to-walk ratio.
Behind Cease, the Padres just completed their first-ever season sweep against the Washington/Montreal franchise and are riding a five-game winning streak while going 5–1 on the road since the All-Star break.
But Cease is not alone. Since the All-Star break, Padres starting pitchers have a 1.10 earned run average and a 0.610 WHIP — giving up five runs on 17 hits, seven walks and a hit batter with 35 strikeouts in 41 innings.
And the night before Cease’s no-hitter, the Padres got a season-high 20 hits against the Nationals while scoring 12 or more runs for the fifth time this season.
NOTES:
— 2B Xander Bogaerts has hit safely in seven of his eight games since returning from the injured list, going 15-for-32 (.469) — raising his batting average from .219 to .256. Bogaerts has a .500 on-base percentage in the eight games, although he has yet to get an extra-base hit.
— CF Jackson Merrill went 6-for-12 with a double, a triple, three RBIs and three runs scored with a walk and a stolen base in the Padres three games in Washington. Now the Padres play three games in Baltimore — giving the rookie six straight games in the Major League equivalent of his childhood backyard. Born in Baltimore, Merrill was raised in Severna Park, Maryland.
— 1B-DH Luis Arraez has hit in all five of his games since the All-Star break, going 7-for-21 with two doubles, a home run, four RBIs, two walks, a stolen base and two runs scored.
— LF Jurickson Profar went 7-for-26 in six games against the Nationals this season with a double, three home runs, 10 RBIs for a .654 slugging percentage and a .950 OPS.
— C Kyle Higashioka is 5-for-15 since the All-Star break with two doubles, a home run and five RBIs. Higashioka has 11 home runs and 29 RBIs in 97 at-bats since the start of June and a career-high 12 home runs on the season.
— RHP Randy Vásquez is 2–1 over his last five starts and the Padres are 4–1. In those five games, Vásquez has given up five runs on 24 hits and six walks with 16 strikeouts in 26 1/3 innings for a 1.71 ERA and a 1.139 WHIP.
