SHILDT SAYS: Discussing Darvish, road offense, defense, Machado’s day off, Merrill and Arraez
In his last start, Yu Darvish came off the injured list to shut out Cincinnati on three hits over five innings at Petco Park to halt the Padres’ five-game losing streak. Darvish returns to the mound Monday night as the Padres open a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Padres’ manager opened his pre-game media session Monday with thoughts on Darvish.
“His last outing was important for the timing of it and the ability to go out and throw zeroes when we had the lead,” said Shildt. “He did a great job and was very efficient with his pitch count. We pretty much took him to his limit. We could justify that based on how hard he was working, because he wasn’t working very hard. He was controlling counts, getting early outs. He was able to get through five innings on 70 pitches. We’re expecting more of the same tonight. We’re looking forward to seeing him pitch.”
Shildt then discussed Manny Machado, who got a full game off Monday.
“It’s fluid with Manny,” said Shildt. “When you think about Manny, first of all, it’s good that he’s played back-to-back games a couple times now at third. This day off made sense. We knew there was going to be a time when he got a full day off at some point on this road trip. We partnered with him to see what that would look like.”
“He’s listening to his body and it sounds odd to say, because he’s been with us every day taking at bats. But if you look at it from the field perspective and how he’s been on his feet in back-to-back games, it’s a spring training progression. He’s basically in his second week of spring training mode. Again, we talked about what a day off would look like. We consistently keep the conversation open. Today turned out to be that day.”
Shildt on the Padres leading the Major Leagues in road offense: “Our Petco Park approach to offense plays everywhere. That’s good at-bats. We just got a great addition in (Luis) Arraez. Use the whole field, take what the game gives you. Every situation is a situation. Just have a good at-bat, knowing what you are going to do relative to what you’re going to see and swing to match it.”
Shildt discussed the Padres’ defense, which has been nearly flawless over the past two weeks.
“You can look at team defense through a lot of different lenses,” said Shildt. “I would really say that team defense is relative to the level I take it to — like hitting the cut-off man, being in the right spot, making sure you don’t give up extra outs and making sure you’re holding on runners. I feel like our defense has been pretty darn good all year. Sure, making routine plays has gotten a little bit better. We had a few outliers … errors that can change the sample size.”
“But overall, I think our defense has been a strength. It’s been really, really good in all phases in the last two weeks. We had an error the last homestand where we weren’t where we needed to be backing up a base. Otherwise, the defense has been good.”
“We’re going to play consistent defense. It’s a game that can be complex in simple terms. If you don’t give anything away, keep double plays in order and make outs be outs, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that you’re winning. We’ve also been in a nice stretch where we’ve made people put the ball in play. We haven’t beaten ourselves with free passes. Typically, when you’re throwing a lot of quality strikes and controlling counts early, the defense is engaged and you’re making consistent, better and unexpected plays more consistently … which we’ve done very well also.”
Shildt discussed some of the things that impresses him about rookie center fielder Jackson Merrill.
“I’ve been super impressed with Jackson for a while now … going back to his minor league experiences. I got to know him a little bit there. You don’t expect a guy to come up at 20, now he’s 21, in a new position. It’s actually historic. He’s just done an amazing job.”
“Two things I’m really pleased with: A. He’s come up and not made the environment bigger than it is, which is way easier said that it’s done … and he’s been able to do that. That’s impressive. And B: When the league starts to look around — and the league figures you out quickly off all the data, technology and information … you don’t have to actually see a player now to know what he’s doing and how he’s doing it — but there is an adjustment the league has made to Jackson. The counter-adjustment that Merrill has made back makes it clear who he is and what he is. He gets a good pitch to hit and that is impressive as well.”
“With any hitter, it’s going to be a challenge. Are you hitting the ball at people? Are you chasing too much? Is there a combination to it. In his case, he’s getting back to keeping the ball in the zone and using the whole field. That’s what he was able to do the last series against Arizona. We’re looking for more of the same now.”
Shildt was asked about the moves made by general manager A.J. Preller.
“Specific to Luis Arraez, we’re super-excited,” said Shildt. “He’s an elite talent with the bat in this league. So, you put him at the top of our lineup with some of the people behind him. He’s going to lengthen and strengthen our lineup.”
“Clearly, the biggest thing is that A.J. is always going to be looking and we’re going to have moving parts. We’re going to be sure we have a continuity of how we play and there’s a consistently to the identity of how we compete … even how we look to bring everybody together on a daily basis. That’s important over the course of a long season.”
