It wasn't the kind of season about which I great baseball books are penned, but at 1 least it was a playoff season for the Padres. They finished 82-80 — five games worse than they were in 2004 — and still won the National League West by five games, before quickly getting swept out of the playoff s by the Cardinals.
Pitching was the team's strength, with righthander Jake Peavy leading the way with 13 wins and a 2.88 ERA, good for sixth in the NL. Trevor Hoffman had a bounce-back season as closer, saving 43 games with a 2.97 ERA. The most productive hitter was Brian Giles, who scored 92 runs and had a .423 on-base percentage, third-best in the NL.
The rest of the roster was plagued by injuries. Second baseman Mark Loretta played in just 105 games because of a thumb injury, and shortstop Khalil Greene missed 40 games with a variety of injuries, denting one of the best middle-infield combinations in the game. Adam Eaton was 9-1 when he injured a finger in June, and he finished 11-5. Injuries also held back outfielder Dave Roberts and catcher Ramon Hernandez.
The Padres made a commitment to Giles, Hoffman and Roberts by re-signing them after the season, but the rest of the roster went through a major shakeup, with Loretta, Eaton and Hernandez among those who won't be back in 2006. It's not as if the Padres were a budding dynasty, and new additions like Vinny Castilla and Mike Cameron should boost an offense that finished 14th in the NL in runs in 2005. And in the NL West, as the Padres know, merely good might be good enough. |
