SHILDT SAYS: Discussing the Recent Successes, RHPs Michael King and Randy Vásquez, Cs Kyle Higashioka and Brett Sullivan and RF Bryce Johnson
The Padres have won four straight and eight of their last nine games going into Saturday’s game in Boston despite missing some of their key players. Manager Mike Shildt discussed how that is happening.
“It’s a combination of things from day one,” said Shildt. “How we’re going to compete, how we’re going to operate, how we’re going to go about our business. There’s been a buy in from everybody. Clearly, there are a few guys not here that we miss — Fernando Tatis Jr., Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish, Xander Bogaerts, Luis Campusano, etc. It’s really about the greater good of the whole roster playing the game and getting contributions from everybody.”
Shildt discussed the importance of Saturday’s starter Michael King having experience at Fenway Park:
“I think having pitched here before as a Yankee helps Michael,” said Shildt. “He’s pretty familiar with the circumstances. Michael grew up in the rivalry here. Now he’s with us. He’s familiar with the environment here. We’re looking forward to seeing him compete today.
“I think he pitched exceptionally well in his last start though he had some balls fall in during the second inning. Sometimes the boxscore doesn’t really reflect how well you pitched. A lot of balls found holes. It was just one of those innings that you survive. He was good in the first, then good in the third through the sixth. He pitched exceptionally well and he and (Brett) Sullivan worked well together. We’re looking forward to seeing him pitch well today.”
Shildt gave an update on right-handed starter Randy Vásquez who had to leave Friday’s game early after being hit by a drive:
“There’s no fracture,” said Shildt. “There’s nothing serious there. There’s some swelling and soreness as you would expect. We’re expecting him to recover. Outside of missing a little bit of sleep because he sleeps on that right side he said he feels okay. I’m not sure what his plan is today … he was going to play some catch. It’s still a little early to talk about his next start. We’re getting an extra day with the day off, so we’ll see. But I think there is an expectation that there is a chance.”
Shildt on the bat of catcher Kyle Higashioka and why Sullivan is starting Saturday:
“We’re not naïve to the fact that Higashioka is swinging the bat really well,” said Shildt. “There’s also a relationship between King and Sullivan that we want to continue to move forward. So, Higgy will be back in there tomorrow to catch (Matt) Waldron. And he’s always available late.
“Higashioka has easy power. I don’t see him trying to do too much. I see him trying to put a good at-bat together. He’s driven the ball the other way for base hits trying to move the runner. I just see him being in a good place with his swing. He’s just putting good swings on the baseball and he has the power to carry it out of the ballpark.”
Shildt on Bryce Johnson starting back-to-back games in right field at Fenway Park: “It’s a combination of things. He’s played well. He made a nice play yesterday with a 15 percent probability of success. It’s a big right field. He’s a plus defender who has taken some nice at-bats. I think the decision was pretty straight forward.”
