Nick Castellanos, Manny Machado Defend Padres Hitting Coach Amid Offensive Struggles

Despite the San Diego Padres continuing to win games this season, there is a glaring problem with the offense.

Multiple stars in the Padres lineup have gotten off to poor starts this year, and it's been an alarming trend. While this somehow hasn't hurt the team on the field, the Padres need to correct their problem sooner rather than later.

Steven Souza Jr. is the hitting coach for the Padres this year, and he took responsibility for the issues plaguing the organization. However, multiple players, including Manny Machado and Nick Castellanos, came to the defense of Souza amid the team's struggles.

“It’s the players,” Machado recently said to the San Diego Union-Tribune. “The players on the field hit or don’t hit. We get the information, and then we do what we do with it.”

Machado is one of the major stars on the Padres who has gotten off to a poor start. On the year, the veteran has hit just .180 with six home runs and 20 runs batted in, while putting up an OPS of .601.

Similarly to Machado, Castellanos backed Souza despite the offensive problems.

“Steven Souza is somebody who cares extremely much,” Castellanos said. “He’s somebody that is never going to show up to anything that matters to him not prepared. He has all of the right information. He goes above and beyond to give it to all of us."

Castellanos struggled early in his Padres tenure, partly due to the decreased role he had, but has been much better as of late,

Overall, he's hit .198 with three home runs and 18 runs batted in, while posting an OPS of .581.

San Diego is going to need its main players to break out of the funk at some point if they want to keep winning games deep into the season. But manager Craig Stammen isn't shying away from the offensive woes, and instead of blaming anyone else, has taken full responsibility.

“It’s not about him as a hitting coach,” Stammen said of Souza. “It’s about all of us collectively. It’s our hitting department. It’s all of us. … We’re struggling. Who is to blame? We’re all to blame. … Our performance, the buck stops with me, because I’m the manager.”

The Padres are finding ways to win games behind good starting pitching, an unbelievable bullpen and timely hitting. If the stars can find their way, they could be a real problem this season.

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