Padres News: 3 Friars Players On The Hot Seat Before 2023 Trade Deadline
What a season it has already been for the San Diego Padres. The headlines were pretty crazy heading into Spring Training and even though certain experts were fearful of the bottom of the lineup not being able to produce runs and thought maybe Fernando Tatis Jr's return would bring some negative energy to the clubhouse, I think it's safe to say nobody saw predicted the rollercoaster ride that Friars fans have been on these past two and a half months.
Even looking back to the beginning of the season, San Diego dropped their first two games to the Colorado Rockies and they couldn't produce more than four runs in their first five games. Bringing together Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, Juan Soto and eventually Tatis had the baseball world thinking they were about to witness home run derby's every night.
But let's look at the positives real quick. Other than batting average (where the Friars rank 27th in the MLB) they have trended upwards towards the middle of the pack when it comes to major hitting stats as they have a .320 OBP and a .398 SLG. The stars are finally all starting to glue and they sit about eight games behind the 1st place Diamondbacks in the NL West with a 33-36 record.
Soto has started to smash the ball once again and Machado's IL stint seems to have him re-energized. The 2023 trade deadline will be here on August 1 before we know it but some of guys may not be rocking brown and gold anymore by then. Let's take a look at who is on the hot seat right now.
Austin Nola (Catcher)
The stigma heading into the 2023 season was that Austin Nola would slowly help develop Luis Campusano so he could be the team's catcher of the future. Things certainly have taken a twist as before he went down with injury, Campusano was able to slash .238/.227/.429 and build some excellent chemistry with the pitching staff.
On the other hand, Nola took a huge step down from last season as he's struggled mightily at the plate and has made some big errors on defense as well. His production was great when the Padres made the playoffs in 2022 but he is now seeing career lows all across the board with a slash line of .142/.265/.195 and just 16 hits in 133 at-bats.
Campusano's initial recovery date was eight weeks after his surgery and it has been four weeks thus far. With Gary Sanchez joining the Friars and making immediate noise, Nola will have to seriously turn things around this month if he has hopes of remaining on the big league roster.
Nabil Crismatt (Right-Handed Pitcher)
The Padres' bullpen is certainly one of their more interesting cases right now. They have tried a number of guys in different places and seem to be finding a solid rhythm right now. However, Nabil Crismatt was recently reinstated from the IL and it's come at a good time seeing how many players the Friars have gone through recently.
However, Crismatt will need to prove that he deserves his spot here. Prior to going down with some hip issues, he suited up in seven games this year and recorded an abysmal 9.82 ERA. He was then sent to the minor leagues in hopes of him improving but he only did slightly better with a 6.94 ERA.
He is 28-years-old and does not have a whole lot of time on his side.
Ryan Weathers (Left-Handed Pitcher)
It definitely does hurt to see Ryan Weathers continue to struggle after everything he's already gone through in his young career. He still holds the potential that he once did before injuries due to him being just 23-years old.
Unfortunately, after yet another poor start against the Cleveland Guardians that saw him allow six earned runs in a little over an inning, the Padres had no choice but to option him back to the minors. We'll have to see how he answers from here!
