San Diego, CA
Padres Daily: Some things to clean up; remembering ’21
Good morning from Miami,
Even as the Padres once again demonstrated their greatest virtue, their greatest weakness showed up.
You can read in my game story (here) about how the Padres fell behind by five runs yesterday and almost came all the way back before losing 7-6 to the Marlins.
The sole loss on their six-game road trip was completed only after an apparent home run by Ha-Seong Kim with two outs in the ninth inning was overturned.
And, yes, Dylan Cease had an off day. And so did the defense.
But those are not recurring issues.
Middle relievers surrendering crucial runs is.
The Padres were within a run, at 5-4 in yesterday’s seventh inning, when Yuki Matsui gave up a two-run homer.
The Padres relievers charged with not letting little deficits become big ones have failed time and again.
If you weren’t appreciative before this trip for what A.J. Preller was able to perpetrate at the trade deadline, you weren’t paying attention. If you’re not appreciative now, you must be a Dodgers fan.
It could be argued that as many as five of the Padres’ seven consecutive victories from Saturday to Saturday could have/would have been losses if not for Preller having acquired some combination of Jason Adam, Bryan Hoeing and Tanner Scott at the deadline.
As has been noted in this space — and by some players — the Padres would be well served to score early and/or often and not have to keep coming back to win games. Further, they have gotten just two quality starts in their past 12 games.
These tight contests are forcing their bullpen to work overtime. And the reality is, while winning four straight games by coming back in the final two innings is impressive, it is also a little bit lucky.
They won those games with big hits and a retooled bullpen, not to mention a couple fine plays by Manny Machado. But they were preilously close to losing all of them as well.
All this to say, as good as the Padres have been, they have some things to tighten up.
Update, flashback
Here is the state of the National League wild-card race:
You want another reason to appreciate what happened at the trade deadline?
You might recall it was not that long ago that a Padres team cratered at this point in the season.
Three years ago yesterday, the Padres dropped the finale of a series against the Marlins after winning the first two games. The Padres were 16 games above .500 and sat in the second of what were at the time two wild-card playoff spots, 4½ games ahead of the Reds.
What ensued was one the worst collapses in the history of Major League Baseball, as the Padres closed with a 12-34 record to finish the season 79-83. Just three times since the formation of the American Association in 1882 had a team with a winning record with 46 games to play have a worse record than the 12-34 mark the Padres posted.
There were myriad issues with that ’21 team that are not present this year.
The biggest problem — by far — that season was a lack of pitching depth. The rotation was hit by a rash of injuries, the bullpen was overworked, and the trade deadline provided no real reinforcements.
So that the Padres feel good enough about their starting rotation that they sent Randy Vásquez to Triple-A on Saturday and have the aforementioned new bullpen pieces should be the biggest comforts when pondering this season’s final 43 games.
Cease’s struggle
Cease wasn’t blaming his subpar start yesterday on his truncated start Tuesday.
After allowing the Marlins five runs (two earned) in the first two innings, Cease said he wasn’t rusty as a result of rain having cut short his start five days earlier in Pittsburgh after one inning and 14 pitches.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “I got good practice in. I think it was just one of those games. … I felt good going into it. I just wasn’t quite as crisp as I have been.”
Cease ended up completing five innings without any further damage, which did allow the Padres to chip away at a fixed deficit.
Even now, Cease has a 1.33 ERA over his past seven starts (40⅔ innings).
For all his excellence, however, yesterday was not entirely an anomaly. It was the fourth start this season in which he has allowed five or more runs in five or fewer innings.
Reynolds makes it to Miami
Hoeing and Scott, who the Padres got from the Marlins on July 30, spent portions of the weekend catching up with former teammates.
Yesterday, Sean Reynolds joined them, talking and laughing before the game with Marlins coaches and former minor-league teammates.
Then he went out and faced the team that drafted him in 2016 as a first baseman and moved him to pitcher in 2021.
“The journey to get to that mound was pretty incredible and definitely not how I saw my first time pitching in that stadium unfolding,” he said.
Reynolds, who was in Triple-A when he was acquired by the Padres along with Garrett Cooper at last year’s trade deadline, made his major league debut for the Padres on July 14. He was optioned July 28 and recalled yesterday, arriving in Miami a few hours before the game.
He worked a scoreless sixth inning, stranding a runner at third by striking out the final two batters, before yielding a single at the start of the seventh and being replaced by Matsui.
Round 3?
Machado struck out to end the eighth inning in consecutive games against Aroldis Chapman last week in Pittsburgh.
The first one ended on a 105 mph sinker than Chapman threw to the inside edge of the strike zone, freezing Machado, who then shook his head and grinned as Chapman looked back at him smiling.
Manny Machado was left speechless by this Aroldis Chapman 104.7 MPH fastball 😮 pic.twitter.com/w8opxiHUIO
— MLB (@MLB) August 8, 2024
“He dotted that 105,” Machado said before leaving Pittsburgh. “I mean, you gotta give your respect to that. I mean … there’s nothing you can do with that pitch right there.”
In their faceoff Thursday, Chapman got ahead with two splitters, one of them a called strike on a pitch up and away. Then he missed with a 101 mph sinker and Machado fouled off a 103 mph sinker before swinging over a splitter.
“That was tough (Wednesday),” Machado said. “And then he came (Thursday) and threw me a couple splits — one that was off the zone. But whatever, I’ll get my rematch next week.”
Next week is now. The Pirates are at Petco Park the next three days.
Tidbits
- Jackson Merrill was 0-for-4 yesterday, bringing an end to his hitting streak after six games. But he reached on a fielder’s choice and scored in a seventh consecutive game.
- Luis Arraez was 3-for-4 and has eight hits in 20 at-bats during a four-game hitting streak.
- David Peralta was 1-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. He is 7-for-16 with three doubles during a four-game hitting streak.
- A day after he stranded two inherited runners and went on to work 2⅓ scoreless innings, Jhony Brito was optioned to Triple-A. The Padres needed to fortify the bullpen, so Reynolds was recalled.
- Joe Musgrove will make his first start since May 26 tonight. I wrote yesterday (here) about some alterations Musgrove has made in his delivery to alleviate stress on his elbow.
All right, that’s it for me. Early flight this morning and then a Musgrove Monday night.
Talk to you tomorrow.
Originally Published:
I spent time in a hot dog stand on the edge of San Diego Bay, looking out a window that mattered. Mattered to a kid whose mom taught him to fish on this pier. They’d turn on a little transistor radio, find a signal through the static, stare at the water, and talk life and his dad. Dennis Borlek’s dad was out there, somewhere, commanding a naval submarine through god knows what. When his dad would dock in Point Loma weeks or months later, Borlek biked down the street along Shelter Island to see him and steal back stolen moments.
Later, Borlek helped midwife the craft beer scene, managing seminal spots like Small Bar and Liar’s Club. Wondering what to do with the rest of his life, he went back to that pier and saw a for-lease sign on the bait and tackle shop. He tore through the public library and spent the whole night learning how to write a business plan (he had no clue). A couple days later he found himself at the intimidating end of a massive conference table, pitching his dream to the very official Port of San Diego executives.
They gave it to the San Diego kid. Not sure if they ever imagined Fathom Bistro—the tiniest, mightiest craft beer and hot dog stand, filled with spear guns, ocean monster figures, and seafaring oddities—would still be there 13 years later, let alone be a local’s favorite. It’s the most San Diego place in the world. Borlek taught himself to make kimchi and puts it on his Explodo Dog. His friend Kevin, who played with him in a punk band, dresses as a pirate and works the door on weekends. Has done so for years.
And when Borlek stares out the window, he can see the sub base and the memories of his dad.
Later, a few beach towns over, I sat in an employee break area—a shaded back-alley alcove with grape vines that serves as an escape garden for the crew. The place used to be a taco shop. Owner Crystal White points to a window of a single bedroom behind the dough-mixing part of the kitchen. She lived there when she started, often finding herself on the roof at midnight, staring at a broken compressor, trying to will it into working.
A blue-collar kid who fell in love with bread, she moved to San Diego with a business plan and zero cash. Banks don’t loan money to bread dreamers. Fate, kismet, and door-knocking found her enough investors. In the weeks leading up to opening that dream—perfect croissants, kouign-amanns, sandwiches, pizzas, baguettes fermented with wild La Jolla yeasts—she was outside hammering and painting. Locals would pause to ask what she was putting into the spot. “A bakery!” she’d reply.
“Oh, we don’t need one of those,” they’d say. Eight years later, White has moved out of the bedroom, and Wayfarer Bread is one of the best bakeries in the land. I ask if she’ll ever open another location. “I grew up dirt poor,” she says. “This has surpassed even my wildest dreams. This is enough. Please make sure you mention Emma Koehler, K-O-E-H-L-E-R, my kitchen manager. She deserves the credit now.”
These are the people and the stories behind “Best Restaurants.” This issue is dedicated to them, the culture they’ve gritted into being. On the surface, the annual tradition—naming a list of “winners,” my favorite places and my honest answers to “who has the best taco/pizza/Thai…”—is a good-natured competition among friends. But the deeper point is that it’s a way to highlight hundreds of places that have risked it all to build a little magic across the city. Sure, some owners were born in the stars and used that dust to make more stars. But many or most restaurants started with a scrappy go-getter or two. And now those places are filled with dozens or hundreds of people who love the work, show up day in and day out, for years. People like Koehler and the ones we feature in our story, “Behind the Line”.
So please use this list as a beachhead. Try these places, email me ([email protected]) to say “thanks” or “you truly messed up.” Eat, drink, commune, say hello, get to know the stories of the people making your favorite food. Make your own list, and share it with us.
PARTNER CONTENT
Chef Aidan Owens Thinks Your Fish is Boring
A Holistic Approach to Women’s Wellness and Leadership
(Note: Fathom didn’t win anything, probably because there’s no category for “Best Hot Dog Craft Beer Stand on a Pier with a Pirate,” which is a shortcoming on our part. So I put him here because he should be a part of any conversation about best San Diego things.)
San Diego, CA
Automated license plate readers and public surveillance cameras are coming to Imperial Beach
The city of Imperial Beach will soon install four Automated License Plate Readers and two additional “public safety cameras” in hopes of improving public safety.
On June 3, Imperial Beach city councilmembers voted to enter into an agreement with the San Diego Sheriff’s Office to place four license plate readers manufactured by surveillance giant Flock Safety at four proposed intersections, and they will also install two cameras in the city to monitor for criminal behavior.
The cameras, part of a two-month pilot program, seek to improve public safety in the South Bay coastal town.
The four proposed locations for the license plate cameras are Imperial Beach Boulevard and 13th Street, Palm Avenue and 13th Street, 13th Street and Elm and 9th Street and Elm Ave.
The proposed locations for the public cameras are on the median of Palm Avenue and 8th Street, Palm Avenue and Seacoast Drive and Imperial Beach Boulevard and Seacoast Drive.
For the license plate readers, city staff said they have proven their usefulness in cities and unincorporated areas throughout San Diego County for years.
“[License Plate Reader] technology has contributed to multiple arrests, including identifying suspects’ vehicles involved in retail thefts, gas station thefts, and vehicle burglaries. [License Plate Readers] have also assisted in identifying a suspect vehicle in an international hit-and-run homicide in Lemon Grove and a vehicle involved in a [pellet] gun case in Encinitas,” reads the city’s staff report to the city council.
City staff said the Sheriff’s Office recommends a total of eight license plate readers, but the city opted for four.
“This is a pilot program. We have to consider the trade-off of privacy for security,” said public speaker Vivian Dunbar. “People have been falsely arrested and falsely identified through the use of these cameras.”
Imperial Beach Mayor Pro-Tem Jack Fisher said that while he understands the privacy concerns, the benefits outweigh any negatives. “This is one of those programs where IB is not leading the charge. A few weeks back, everyone was aware of the tragedy that happened at the Islamic Center of San Diego and the license plate readers were key in tracking those individuals down. It’s good for us to do our part.”
Added Fisher, “The era of big brother has passed, if you have a cell phone, you know there is already tracking.”
The council unanimously voted in favor of the pilot program.
Utility man Samad Taylor was selected to the Major League roster from Triple-A El Paso in a corresponding move.
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