00:00:10
Speaker 1: Everybody, welcome to Friar Territory, part of the Foul Territory Network of Darren Smith. That is Marty Caswell. The Padres just took three out of four from the Colorado Rockies. And compared to the last road trip they had, Marty, I will start this episode with a little bit of a hot take. I do think that going six and one on the road is better than going one and five on the road, which is what we were talking about the last time the Padres left San Diego and went through Tampa and Cincinnati. So this is better than that. And we'll get into some of the details here, but really, really good road trip for the Padres, who have really played well over the last 10 days or so, have improved their playoff chances dramatically, and now they get to come back home and face the Miami Marlins. Am I right about that, or is that just a little too far out there, right? 6-1, better than 1-5?
00:00:55
Speaker 2: Darren, I think winning more than you lose is actually a good thing. And now, listen, you and I sat here, both our hands and our toes... Trying to figure out the Padres magic number, which is now six. Six. Six. And I want to go ahead and send congratulations to you and to AJ Cassaville because you guys are, you are pained. You hate the half game. No more two and a half game lead, three and a half game lead. We now have a full number. So congratulations. Padres in control. Rest in peace to the.
00:01:29
Speaker 1: Half a game. Yes, we will not have to deal with that stupid metric again in 2026, barring something unforeseen like a rained out someplace else in some other part of the country. But Marty Sweep and the San Francisco Giants taking three out of four from the Colorado Rockies. People can throw buckets of cold water on this all they want. Don't care. Got to beat who's on your schedule. And if it's fortuitous scheduling, then so be it. I don't think anybody in the Padre Clubhouse really cares. But to your point, they are 84 and 69. The Colorado Rockies are 80 and 73. So they have given themselves some separation. I'm just about done looking in the rearview mirror at the Arizona Diamondbacks. I think I have my sights set ahead on both the Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago Cubs. because they are one game ahead in the loss column. The Padres are right behind them. But to your point, a magic number of six, which just for those that might not know what that means, means any combination of San Diego Padre wins and Arizona Diamondback losses, if that number equals six, then the Padres are going to qualify for the postseason, whether it's the six seed, five seed, four seed, still some stuff to determine here. So I'm not really going to get into any of the scheduling stuff or any of the Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants. You play who you play. Everybody's got to play these teams at some point. And the Padres happened to catch him here in the second week of September. And oh, by the way, the Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants caught the Padres at a time where they were playing really well as well, wouldn't they?
00:02:53
Speaker 2: Yes, they did, Darren. Is this your way of saying now that the final series versus the D-backs no longer counts? It's over. If you're the Padres, you're more interested in watching now, the scoreboard watching. We're turning our attention from the D-backs to the Cubs and to the Phillies.
00:03:15
Speaker 1: I'm mentally preparing for that. I know mathematically we're not there yet. And this is one of those things that, you know, somebody throws back in your face. Should that series mean something? And should the Padres completely collapse? And by the way, if they were to collapse at this point, it would be fire. Everybody really honestly would be to that point. That's not even a joke. That's not even hyperbolic. That is, if you give up this kind of lead for game lead with, and especially with that series at home, with just eight games left to play, Marty, that is the type of series that you do a lot of housecleaning following because you are this close now. As mentioned, 6-6 is the magic number. So, yeah, I don't want to spend too much time on that hypothetical, but I wouldn't even be joking about that. This is not the type of situation. Crazier things have happened in Major League Baseball. We all know that. But if one of those crazy things happens here, That's going to be a really, really long offseason and probably an extended long offseason for some people because I don't know how you would recover from that if you're a member of this Padres organization. But I don't think it's going to happen, so I don't want to spend a ton of time talking about it. The Dodgers did win the NL West officially, their fifth straight, 13 out of 14. So they won earlier in the day. On Thursday, the Padres will return home and they will play the Miami Marlins. It'll be Pavetta on the mound, followed by Mize, followed by Buehler. Uh, they will see the Marlins who have been pesky. They are, are, you know, well behind. They are seven, I think behind.
00:04:41
Speaker 2: Seven and a half, but they're still going for it. I mean, they use Dundee Alcantara out of the Alcantara Alcantara. They use him out of the bullpen after he started. And I believe, I believe that he is lined up to start on Sunday versus the Padres. So they're, they're, they're, they're hanging in there.
00:04:55
Speaker 1: What do you do? You drop it.
00:04:56
Speaker 2: I'm sorry.
00:04:57
Speaker 3: Okay.
00:04:57
Speaker 2: I'm sorry. Sorry about that.
00:04:59
Speaker 1: Just when I thought I was out, you sucked me right back into that one. So, No, I mean, you are right about that. They took two out of three from the Arizona Diamondbacks. So welcome to town. Welcome to town. We will give you a moment where we shower you with a little bit of praise before the Padres take to the field and beat their brains in. But, you know, here's the other thing, Marta, that I want to say about the Colorado Rockies here, right? Because, you know, we all can talk about the Rockies. They're going to lose 100 games. And everybody goes, oh, yeah, but it's a Coors Field, but it's a Coors Field, but it's a Coors Field, right? Which is always something. You know, it's always a thing you got to think about. But the last three games of the series, Marty, the Padres did not use Mason Miller.
00:05:37
Speaker 3: Yep.
00:05:37
Speaker 1: They did not use Adrian Morajon. They did not use Bradley Rodriguez. So, you know, you think about what good came from this over the last three days, as unlikely as that might have been.
00:05:48
Speaker 2: Shocking.
00:05:48
Speaker 1: Because the Padres won 9-3 on Thursday. They used, I think, Matsui and Canning. And then the other day they used Morgan and Matsui, and then they used Peralta and Vasquez in the loss. So they didn't have to use any of their high leverage guys, Marty, since Monday. What a nice development on top of the three wins.
00:06:06
Speaker 2: I remember thinking that if you're the Padres, you might get Jason Adam back on this last road trip. Now it sounds like he could join the team in Los Angeles. We'll see what happens. But thinking, okay, Jason Adam joining the Padres bullpen, it'll help them. You want resources and extra arm. But the last thing... The number one thing you want is you want to leave pitching-wise unscathed from Coors Field, and they did. It's rather shocking they did not have to use these guys, which sets them up very, very well, Darren. Three at home at Pecco Park with the Marlins. Off day on Monday, they can go watch the Giants and the Rams play at SoFi, and then they finish with the Dodgers, who are also still hunting for something before they come back to a series that may or may not matter versus the Diamondbacks. Couldn't go better for him.
00:06:53
Speaker 1: Best thing that happened, Padres took three out of four and took five or six out of seven on the road. But the next best thing really is for, I don't know how serious it was internally with regards to the high leverage guys, that they were being used so much and they were being brought into games where the Padres, especially in San Francisco, had a lead that looked like it was on its way to a laugher and all of a sudden here comes Adrian Morajon and here comes Mason Miller. But not having to do that over the last three days in Colorado and still, still return home winning three out of four, I think, outside of the results, is the next best thing that happened. And credit to Michael King, who gave you six innings there. There was a moment where he had the bases loaded, and I thought, I don't know, is this a situation where Craig Stammen is going to, as he said, play it like it's a postseason game? I wasn't sure.
00:07:39
Speaker 2: Eight straight quality starts for Michael King.
00:07:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was good. All right, when we come back, the other good things that happened on the series, we'll talk about it, whether it's the offense, whether it's rookies. collecting their first big league home runs, all of it coming up next on fire territory.
00:07:55
Speaker 3: No, we didn't plan this. And also no crats. We're not wearing the same exact Mack Weldon shirts. I've got a green and you've got the Heather blue.
00:08:04
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00:08:13
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00:08:16
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00:08:17
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00:08:49
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00:08:50
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00:08:56
Speaker 1: Hi, welcome back to Friar Territory, part of the Foul Territory Network. You can subscribe on YouTube, wherever it is that you get your audio podcasts. Padres, three out of four from Colorado, six out of seven on the road. They return home to face the Miami Marlins. They will throw Nick Pavetta Casey Mize and Walker Bueller, at least that's what's scheduled against the Marlins who are eight back in the loss column. So things are going really well. I don't know how you come up with these numbers, Marty, but you know, I'm always searching around on some of these websites just to see what playoff odds or what have you in the last seven days, the Padre playoff odds have increased 30%. That's how well they've played. That's the combination of them winning other teams losing, I guess shows you how quickly things can happen.
00:09:37
Speaker 2: And the number of games left and the number of games left too.
00:09:40
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:09:41
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:09:41
Speaker 1: I mean, it is, uh, the sand is coming out of the hourglass. That is for sure. Along the way, uh, Padres did some things offensively. Now this is, you know, you can take with a pinch of salt if you want, because it is Denver as we're watching Fernando Tatis Jr. Launch 450-foot home runs day after day. It's incredible.
00:09:58
Speaker 2: Xander Bogarts as well.
00:10:00
Speaker 1: Disappear into the trees. Xander Bogarts came a single short of the cycle. He hit a homer and a triple in the same inning, hit a double a little later on, and he had a couple of at-bats to pick up the fourth cycle in Padres history. And oddly enough, it would have been the third cycle at Coors Field.
00:10:16
Speaker 2: Matt Kemp. No, I'm sorry. Let's go ahead and tell the audience right now. You were in attendance at that game, but you left that game. You left that game early before Matt Kemp, Darren, had his finest moment as a member of the San Diego Padres since he was traded by the Dodgers.
00:10:33
Speaker 3: Yes.
00:10:34
Speaker 2: You left it. Will Myers.
00:10:35
Speaker 1: His only memorable moment at the Padres.
00:10:37
Speaker 2: That was actually, that was it. And you left.
00:10:39
Speaker 1: He hit the first cycle in Padres history. That was 2015. Yeah, I was there. I don't remember the order exactly, but I remember he had two of the four. And I thought as I was packing up my stuff, because wife was coming into town, I had to go pick her up at the airport. I remember thinking, could this happen? What's the likelihood it's going to happen? And then it happened. Then Will Myers did it. Jake Cronenworth did it a couple of years ago. And Xander Pogart, like a lot of other Padres, came up one hit short, one single short. I thought maybe we were going to have one of those situations where he hits a ball in the gap. Like he has to make a decision, do I just stop?
00:11:11
Speaker 2: Stops at first base. Why would you not?
00:11:13
Speaker 1: I don't know. At any rate, the other thing that happened was that Ethan Salas, Marty, on Wednesday hit his first big league home run and then hit his second big league home run. And, again, I'm sure somebody out there, because people are miserable all across this globe, especially on social media, will point out that this happens in Colorado, which, whatever. He hits his first two home runs. And I was really struck by something that Craig Stammen said, Marty, after the game on Wednesday. I'm going to read you this quote, courtesy of MLB.com, our friend A.J. Cassaville. This is a quote from Craig Stammen. Quote, he can help us in the postseason. That's exactly what he said. He can help us in the postseason. Now, I don't know if Craig Stammen's tipping his hand because they feel like the plan is to include Ethan Salas on the postseason roster, or if he is publicly campaigning for Ethan Salas as a pitcher who would like an option behind the plate, a catcher who's known for some defensive ability, perhaps a little bit better than... Let's say Luis Camposano and a guy who can hit a little bit. I just thought that was such an interesting comment because we're not anywhere close to talking about postseason rosters. And this would certainly be one of the more debatable players, I think. But it sounds like the manager, unless he's just completely swept up in the moment, seems to be saying that should the Padres go to the playoffs, the manager would like Ethan Salas, 20-year-old Ethan Salas, on the postseason roster.
00:12:50
Speaker 2: Darren, did the Padres bring up Ethan Salas just for the experience of it all? Just so he can go ahead and see what it's like to be around a team and be hungry for the playoffs and know what that feeling is like and know the preparation that's behind it? They brought him up by a certain date for a reason, so he would be eligible for the postseason roster. And I'm thinking about this today, okay? Now, Nick Pavetta is going to start Friday versus the Marlins. His catcher is probably going to be Ethan Salas, who caught his first return back, correct? Correct. Today, mop-up duty in Colorado, Griffin counting on the mound, and they brought in Freddie Fermin to go ahead and give him some work, or maybe Camposano is exhausted. I mean, I have no idea. But I'm thinking right now, if we're assuming that Nick Pavetta is part of the rotation in the playoffs, I'd imagine Salas is his guy. If you're the Padres, do you feel better about the overall body of work for Mean right now, or is it going to be Ethan Salas? Maybe you'll carry three catchers. I don't know. Maybe you can use Camposone as a DH. But to me, there's no doubt they brought him up with every intention of him actually being on the playoff roster.
00:13:58
Speaker 1: Let me read the whole quote. He can help us in the postseason. I think he's going to help us for years to come. So there's a little bit of both there. So all these new experiences now, the good ones and the bad ones are things that he can use to become a better baseball player. This was following Ethan Salas and his two home run hit game in Denver, Colorado. It's an interesting, I, you know, again, I think sometimes Marty, I think Mike Schulte publicly did this in spring training of 2025, where he was attempting to convince the world. that Martin Maldonado was the next coming of Yadier Molina. Oh, this is like this guy. He's like Yadier Molina light. And what he was doing was publicly campaigning because we know which catchers he wanted on the roster and which catchers he did not want on the roster. And I've not noticed that trend from Craig Stammen. I've not noticed that as something that he does publicly, that he sends messages through the media. Mike Schutt would do this sort of stuff all the time. A lot of coaches do it all the time. But when he says that, he can help us in the postseason. It's the first time I really thought, you know, this guy, I think he's going to be on the postseason roster should the Padres qualify and something unforeseen doesn't happen. And I think you're right. I guess when you think about the date, they gave themselves some flexibility, the date that they called him up so that they could call him up and they could add him to the postseason roster. But to me, I guess I consider that more a formality just to keep your options open. than a probability that Ethan Salas would end up on the postseason roster. But now I feel like it's not a possibility, it's a probability. Potters go to the playoffs, and he's going to be there. And I think all three of them might be. Yeah, I can see that. Because I think certain guys do like throwing to Freddie for me. And I think that's the other thing either. It's easy for you and me and fans and others to say what the Potters should do, but ultimately a lot of this is going to be about what the pitchers want, right?
00:15:41
Speaker 2: The majority of your pitchers have thrown to Firmin over Salas. So that's just how it is. And also it could depend on, you know, does Casey Mize make your starting rotation? Does Robbie Ray? We already know that you don't need five starters in the playoffs, especially in a wildcard round, you need two to three.
00:15:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, but again, it gives the manager a little bit of flexibility. If you find yourself in a situation where one guy's DHing and then, you know, you're going to use that guy or you're going to pinch hit or whatever you're going to do, you're going to pinch hit for your catcher, right? So, you know, it does give you a little bit of flexibility. But like I said, I, you know, I... I don't know that I consider that a probability, but after reading that, again, I'm sometimes, Marty, I don't know if you know this or not, or if you would agree with this statement, sometimes I can be prone to overreacting to commentary.
00:16:28
Speaker 2: Shocking. But usually, Stamman kind of tells you how it is. To your point, he is not blowing smoke the way that Mike Schultz did. He's pretty candid when it comes to talking about his players and what he publicly says to the media.
00:16:42
Speaker 1: So I agree.
00:16:43
Speaker 2: It would shock me, Darren, if he wasn't on the playoff roster.
00:16:47
Speaker 3: Wow.
00:16:48
Speaker 1: Take that a step further.
00:16:49
Speaker 2: Okay, before— listen, we— I actually, speaking of Stammen, I did— I put out the signal. You know, I wanted people— I wanted, you know, just some commentary. What do people think of the job that Craig Stammen has done in his rookie season as Padres manager, right? Nine games to go, six of them— headed at Petco Park, barring historic collapse. This is going to be a playoff team for a team that went through a lot of turmoil offensively, injury-wise, especially when it comes to the rotation. And now Craig Stamman has them eyeing not just the final wild card, but possibly a series at Petco Park. So we'll get to that.
00:17:27
Speaker 3: Possibly.
00:17:28
Speaker 2: Possibly.
00:17:28
Speaker 1: Maybe.
00:17:29
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:17:30
Speaker 1: We've already given you the other teams, the Phillies and the Cubs and their records, etc., By the way, is everybody enjoying our new graphics that are watching on YouTube? Marty has just mastered this.
00:17:40
Speaker 2: She's just mastered.
00:17:41
Speaker 1: All the graphics, being able to put them up there. You think we have like a 10-person crew behind the scenes that are putting these graphics up?
00:17:47
Speaker 2: You've just jinxed me. Oh, look at that.
00:17:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know. We have Ethan Salas stats up there on the screen. Oh, I know. Isn't that amazing?
00:17:53
Speaker 2: Yeah. Who do you want to see, Darren? Who do you want to see next? Which teammate?
00:17:57
Speaker 1: Let's look at Jackson Merrill.
00:17:59
Speaker 2: Jackson Merrill?
00:18:00
Speaker 1: Let's put Jackson Merrill's stats up there.
00:18:01
Speaker 2: Okay, let's go.
00:18:02
Speaker 1: Look at that wipe. Isn't that amazing? 25 home runs, 85 runs batted in for Jackson Merrill. Look at this. 444 slugging percentage. This guy, wow. This is incredible work, Marty, that you're doing.
00:18:15
Speaker 2: Thank you. I'll tell you this. The thing that kind of gets me is the conversation, Darren, that we would have with different guests. And this is when the offense was really struggling, when Fernando Tatis was looking for his first home run, when Manny Machado was slumping, when Jackson Merrill was slumping. And we're like, you know, when the season ends, I expect them to play better, but the back of their baseball card is not going to replicate what they've shown in their career. The back of Jackson Merrill's baseball card looks like Jackson Merrill. Same thing for Tatis. The difference would be Manny Machado, the average is way down at 220. But man, the second half comeback, and we had this conversation with Kyle Glazer last week, they have been two of the best players in all of baseball, Darren, in the second half. That's been just a remarkable turnaround for both these guys. Indeed.
00:18:58
Speaker 3: All right.
00:18:59
Speaker 1: Well, Marty put out another bat signal. She wanted to know what do the Padres fans think How do they think Craig Stammen is? Look at this. Another graphic. All the innings pitch leaders. Look at my guy Walker Buehler there sitting second. Where would they be without him? I don't know.
00:19:13
Speaker 2: I don't know.
00:19:15
Speaker 1: I hope he gets to 10. I hope he's got a couple more starts in him. I know those numbers mean something to the pitchers, even in modern baseball, that they don't. All right, when we come back, we're going to read some of these tweets and take a temperature of the fan base to see how much credit they're giving. Craig Stammen, rookie manager of the Padres. That's coming up next on Friar Territory. Well, down the stretch they come. Padres have nine more games to go. They're all in Southern California. So wherever you might be living in Southern California, if you want to catch the Padres and you haven't yet secured tickets, let us recommend SeatGeek.com.
00:19:50
Speaker 2: You.
00:19:50
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00:20:06
Speaker 2: Darren, the Padres' magic number right now is six as we speak. There's a good chance they could clinch a wild card spot when they are in Los Angeles. Say you want to go ahead and watch the Rams and the Giants play on Monday, and you want to watch the Padres and Dodgers on Tuesday. There's one place to go where they can take care of tickets for both events, and that is SeatGeek, the number one ticketing app for a reason, over 70,000 events.
00:20:30
Speaker 1: We always talk about baseball, but it's other sporting events now. The calendar is so crowded. It's hard to keep up. Every day of the week, something's happening. Plus, there's a million concerts out there. But it is MLB's official ticketing app. Of course, we have a code for you guys that want to go catch a baseball game. Territory 10. 10% off your next set of MLB tickets at SeatGeek. The link is in the description. Download the app. Have that code automatically added to your account with SeatGeek. All right, final segment of Friar Territory, part of the Fowl Territory Network, by the way. Rocking my gear today.
00:21:04
Speaker 2: Very nice. Very nice. Where's the hat?
00:21:06
Speaker 1: I told you. It's around here somewhere.
00:21:09
Speaker 2: Okay. Nice soft t-shirt.
00:21:11
Speaker 1: Going to let the hair flow today. By the way, Marta, completely apropos of nothing, do you remember the teams that qualified for the playoffs in 2025?
00:21:18
Speaker 2: The teams that qualified for the playoffs? No, not all of them.
00:21:22
Speaker 1: Just the NL. Just the NL.
00:21:24
Speaker 2: Cubs, Brewers, Dodgers.
00:21:25
Speaker 1: I hate when people do this to me, so I'm sorry.
00:21:26
Speaker 2: That's okay. Go ahead. Cubs, Brewers, Dodgers. Seattle, Mariners, Yankees, yeah, Blue Jays. Yeah.
00:21:36
Speaker 1: The NL picture, where I'm going with this, is the NL picture looks very close to last year. Last year was the Phillies, the Braves, and the Dodgers were the division winners.
00:21:44
Speaker 2: Same path.
00:21:45
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Reds were a wild card team, played the Dodgers in the first round, and then the Potters and the Cubs. So it's one team different. There's one team here that looks a little different. It's because the Atlanta Braves are healthy and are going to be going to the playoffs. American League looks a lot different. Toronto, Cleveland, and Seattle were your division winners last year. So Boston, New York, Detroit, those were your wildcard teams. All right. You put out the bat signal, Marty. I felt like this was a good question to chum the waters, see what comes to the surface. How do you think Craig Stammer's doing as a manager? You put it out there on social media.
00:22:21
Speaker 3: I did.
00:22:22
Speaker 1: How would you– What would you say? Like, what kind of results did you get?
00:22:25
Speaker 2: I got mixed results. A lot of people are waiting for the playoffs to see what happens. Here's from Nick, results-based industry. He gets a B +. Obviously, there have been some mistakes, but he has one of the worst starting pitching rotations, no-name players getting at-bats, and underproduction from the Stars in the first half. All of this, and they are in the playoffs. Okay, that, to me, Darren, sounds like a fan who didn't want to see Jace Bowen or Samad Taylor and guys like that getting meaningful at-bats. From Faith Keeper, his in-game management has room for improvement. The debacle with Buehler's exit due to forgotten mound visit surprised, too, at how he's overworked certain relievers, Bradley, Morajon. Maybe that's gotten us a few more Ws, wins, but will it be at our expense in the playoffs? Well, these are both good comments from both of you, but Darren, I would tell you that right now, again, and we talked about this to start the show, the good news is we haven't seen Mason Miller or Major Adrian Morajone in a couple of days, right? So they have gotten some rest, but I know there was criticism there early on at the in-game management, and I think one thing that's good about Craig Stammen, admits when he's wrong, and he's learning on the fly. I would be shocked if we see that same mistake from Craig Stammen again with the pitching changes with Buehler, so.
00:23:39
Speaker 1: I mean, you almost never see that mistake. It was such a fluke. I mean, if there were a series of mistakes that he made, then, you know, you'd say the rest of that stuff. I'm sorry. It is subjective saying that you overuse certain guys in certain spots. That's totally subjective. It's a mistake when you forget how many mountain visits you have in a game like that is that is a mistake and he owned it. And I don't know what more people want him to do. Like, like, do you want him to fall on the sword for that? Like, what is he supposed to do? So I can live with it because it doesn't seem to have impacted the team, right? It was a mistake. They ended up winning that game, which was immaterial to me. But, you know, they've gone on this streak now. So it's not like everybody in the clubhouse is all of a sudden saying, well, we can't trust this guy. What are we supposed to do? You know, that's not what happened here. So from that standpoint, Marty, I.
00:24:28
Speaker 3: Agree with you.
00:24:29
Speaker 1: I think he's been very open about the fact he's got a lot to learn and he continues to learn. And I think that that's refreshing because, you know, We came from a manager who never made a mistake ever in his life.
00:24:39
Speaker 2: All right, Darren, from Bruce B plus very good grade for a rookie. The starting pitching has been horrendous and he's managed to get his flawed team into a playoff playoff spot as of now.
00:24:52
Speaker 1: All right.
00:24:53
Speaker 2: From Michael. All right, Michael, I'm not a fan. And unless they go deep in the playoffs, Padres need to move on. Wow. So it's playoffs or bust for Michael.
00:25:04
Speaker 1: Deep in the playoffs. Deep in the playoffs. Not even just getting there.
00:25:07
Speaker 2: No. Winning a wild card series versus, say, the Braves or the Cubs, whoever else, is not enough. You have to go to what? NLCS? NLCS is considered deep in the playoffs?
00:25:19
Speaker 1: I always think winning one series. I guess it depends what's waiting for you on the other side. We know what it might be. It might be either the Dodgers or it might be the Milwaukee Brewers, as we discussed the other day. I'll read this one for you from Scott Baldwin, 730. B-plus, made some rookie mistakes. Overall, he's been doing great. Worked with the team that he's got. Very thin rotation to work with for a majority of the year. Made some savvy moves to get wins in July. Should be also noted that he got great seasons out of Campy and France, Thai France. Yeah, those are good points. Those are really, really good points. So, you know, I think if you take into account the fact that everybody understands, including Craig Stammen, that he had never done this before, and he's sitting, Marty, as of the time of this recording, on 84 wins. with nine games to play, which is a legitimate, the way they're playing is a legitimate opportunity to get to 90. With this team? With a team that half the fan base thought should have sold at the trade deadline three months ago? You know what I mean? Like, yeah, I think he deserves his due. Even if he's not your flavor, particular flavor, I think he's absolutely deserved his due on this because, you know, we put up the list of all the pitchers there. Some of these guys that we were talking about, not exactly what it looks like today.
00:26:32
Speaker 2: You're exactly right. And by the way, that tweeter gave us a good comment on Luis Camposano and on Ty France. It's one thing, Darren, to go ahead and get the best out of your superstars. You're talking about Datis and Machado. That was the whole argument for hiring Albert Pujols, right? He has a bond with those guys. But also, there's something to be said about what he was able to do with Luis Camposano and get the best from a guy who had lost his confidence, who a year ago, Darren... preferred to be in AAA getting at bats in El Paso than riding away on a bench. Camposano, who was actually part of the playoff roster, but didn't sniff and at bat, did not catch a game. And he's like, what am I doing here? So when you can get something from utility players and from that bullpen, I think there's something to be said about how Craig Stammer has gotten the most from everybody.
00:27:24
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:27:24
Speaker 2: All right. Yeah.
00:27:25
Speaker 1: I mean, I would agree with you on that. And, you know, listen, he's also a rookie manager, so I don't even know what the expectations were, right? Like, I'll give you an example, Marty, from something that I think a lot of our viewers and listeners know means something to me. The Knicks. So, you know, the Knicks got rid of Tom Thibodeau because they went into the playoffs and, you know, they bombed out in the Eastern Conference Final. And they said, we've got to be better than this. And the expectation was, you've got to move beyond the Eastern Conference Final. Mike Schilt, at least according to the reporting, he left on his own. You know, he quit. And the expectation was that they were going to go out there and there were two rookie managers who they were choosing between. One was Albert Pujols and the other one apparently was Craig Stammen late in the game. Rookie managers haven't had a great track record winning the World Series. Alex Cora, Bob Brenly, Ralph Houck, Eddie Dyer, Bucky Harris.
00:28:14
Speaker 3: That's it.
00:28:14
Speaker 1: The list isn't a long one. And we talked about this. So I don't know where they set the expectations when they hired Craig Stammen anyway. But it wasn't like they were like, Mike Schilt, run that guy out of town. We need a manager in here who can get this team beyond the wildcard. It was sort of like, well, we're not really sure what this is. And the ownership situation is completely in flux. And at least he's a really positive guy who we think maybe could relate to players in the clubhouse. And it's worked.
00:28:40
Speaker 2: To your point from Steven. Seems like the vibes are good, which is his main job, but his in-game managerial skills leaves a lot to be desired. And terrify me, come playoffs. Knock on wood. Okay, from Damon. He was a B. Okay, I think we're pretty consistent with a B for Craig Stammen. He was underqualified for the job, but has him on the brink of the playoffs. Bullpen management has been horrific at times. That seems to be a theme from Padres fans. Can easily see him getting outmanaged in the playoffs. I think year two will be better. Ownership stability is huge, too. So, Darren, I think we have a pretty common theme. People are terrified that he could get outmanaged by a more experienced manager. They're worried about the bullpen management. But the good news, again, heading in the playoffs, bit of a lead. for that final spot. And they rested. They rested Mason and Adrian in Coors Field of all places, which is a good sign.
00:29:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, the whole bullpen management thing is so interesting to me because, you know, it implies that everybody knows everybody's exact situation, right? What everybody's dealing with. what the telemetry tells you in between outings, et cetera. And I don't know how many people have access to that. It's always easier to manage a bullpen on social media or on podcasts than it actually is in real life. And yeah, I think there were times where the game sped up on him a little bit, even a guy who was a relief pitcher, but he's a relief pitcher. So I always think these things are so subjective. And I don't know. Outside of Bruce Bochy, I'm trying to think of the last Padre manager. And even Bruce Bochy, there are lots of fans who are like, hey, maybe it's time for something different. I mean, who was the last manager that everybody thought was really dialed in on how to use a bullpen? It feels like it's a common theme regardless of who the manager is. Does everybody think Albert Pujols would have been better at this than Craig Stammen?
00:30:29
Speaker 2: No chance.
00:30:30
Speaker 1: At that specific thing.
00:30:32
Speaker 2: Bud Black?
00:30:35
Speaker 1: Oh, Buddy. We love Buddy, but there was so much criticism. I mean, I still see today people randomly on social media like Buddy Black, terrible manager. Great guy. Andy Green had a good press conference with the Mets. Oh, he was a terrible manager. And you're like, what did he have to work with? So however it is that people evaluate this stuff, Marty, is always a little bit fuzzy to me. It's always opaque, but everybody's entitled to their opinions. The theme I get is most people seem to think Craig Stammen didn't get in the way of anything. He's not necessarily due credit, but he didn't get in the way of anything.
00:31:09
Speaker 2: How about this? I'll leave this on a positive note. Of the rookie managers that A.J. Preller has hired, Andy Green being the first, and we know he was not brought to San Diego to win, He was the bridge to the next era, to the next era. He was... Andy Green was brought here to manage four Rule 5 roster guys on the Padres' opening day roster. That was his role. And then Jace Tingler. I would say that Craig Stammen, so far, of the three, has surpassed them in terms of, well, he's a better roster, but he has them on the edge, Darren, of the playoffs.
00:31:47
Speaker 1: Well, um... Marty, I understand it was COVID, but Jace Tingler's first year, he was a finalist for manager of the year. Was he not?
00:31:55
Speaker 2: He was a finalist for manager of the.
00:31:57
Speaker 1: Year, and the Padres went to the playoffs, and everybody's arm fell off, and they lost to the Dodgers.
00:32:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, Ryan Weathers made his major league debut in the playoffs in a bubble.
00:32:06
Speaker 1: Unfortunately, Denelson LeMet and Mike Clevenger, both their arms fell off before they could even pitch against the Dodgers. Buddy Black was a manager of the year with the Padres. Everybody's like, that guy. That guy couldn't manage. Nice guy, though. Glad all you dorks in the media liked him. But you're like, what does he need to do? He was the manager of the year with the Padres. I think he might have won one with Colorado, but I'm not sure. Anyway, it's always a funny conversation. People are just convinced. And some would just say it's about your record. Well, if it's about your record, this guy's going to approach 90, you would think. Now, again, if this thing goes completely pear-shaped over the next week, all bets are off. Everybody out. Terrible manager. But I don't suspect that's going to happen.
00:32:48
Speaker 2: Darren, I'm sorry. As we're wrapping things up, I'm mentally counting in my head. So Michael King, of course, makes a start. His eighth straight quality start. His next start would be when?
00:32:57
Speaker 1: Move him. I think they have the opportunity to move him with the off day.
00:33:00
Speaker 2: You can skip him on Monday. You can skip him on Monday. So was today possibly his final start of the regular season? Unless, right?
00:33:11
Speaker 1: I don't think so.
00:33:13
Speaker 2: Why not? Would you save Michael King for like game one?
00:33:18
Speaker 1: I think what you want to do is you want to line him up for Tuesday the 29th, which is the first wild card game. And I think to do that, let's see, he pitched today Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. I think you can play around a little bit with it. I jotted this down, but I have a stack of paper in front of me that is disturbing. So I don't want to go rifling around through it. But you do have the option to move him so that it's not– because if you pitch him Tuesday, then it's Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Yeah. You would have the option, I think.
00:33:47
Speaker 2: You're not pitching him that final weekend unless it's the only reason.
00:33:51
Speaker 1: You do it. You're going to go foot on the gas until you actually qualify. Yeah. You know, we can sit here and talk about it like it's a fait accompli, but it's not. And you know how superstitious these baseball people are. They don't want to talk about it like it's a done deal.
00:34:05
Speaker 2: And you don't want to interrupt your routine.
00:34:08
Speaker 1: But I do think you have some flexibility with him to do with him what you want based on what it is you think you're going to need. Because the one thing I don't think you're going to do, unless you absolutely have to, is pitch him Tuesday and then Sunday. Tuesday against the Dodgers, Sunday against the Diamondbacks. But if you absolutely positively need that game, which it appears less and less likely, then you would like to have him. Otherwise, then you take the day off and you tell him he's starting game one of the playoffs on Tuesday, a couple days after the season ends. So we can talk about that as the week goes on. But the magic number is six with nine games to play. It's a pretty good feeling.
00:34:47
Speaker 2: Six of nine at home.
00:34:49
Speaker 1: Coming back home for a three-game weekend series. Off to Los Angeles and then the Diamondbacks. This is it. Where did the season go? Wow. Feels like it just started yesterday. For Marty Caswell, I'm Darren Smith. Thank you all very much for your support of Friar Territory, either on YouTube or wherever you get your audio podcasts. And we'll see you next time.
Speaker 1: Everybody, welcome to Friar Territory, part of the Foul Territory Network of Darren Smith. That is Marty Caswell. The Padres just took three out of four from the Colorado Rockies. And compared to the last road trip they had, Marty, I will start this episode with a little bit of a hot take. I do think that going six and one on the road is better than going one and five on the road, which is what we were talking about the last time the Padres left San Diego and went through Tampa and Cincinnati. So this is better than that. And we'll get into some of the details here, but really, really good road trip for the Padres, who have really played well over the last 10 days or so, have improved their playoff chances dramatically, and now they get to come back home and face the Miami Marlins. Am I right about that, or is that just a little too far out there, right? 6-1, better than 1-5?
00:00:55
Speaker 2: Darren, I think winning more than you lose is actually a good thing. And now, listen, you and I sat here, both our hands and our toes... Trying to figure out the Padres magic number, which is now six. Six. Six. And I want to go ahead and send congratulations to you and to AJ Cassaville because you guys are, you are pained. You hate the half game. No more two and a half game lead, three and a half game lead. We now have a full number. So congratulations. Padres in control. Rest in peace to the.
00:01:29
Speaker 1: Half a game. Yes, we will not have to deal with that stupid metric again in 2026, barring something unforeseen like a rained out someplace else in some other part of the country. But Marty Sweep and the San Francisco Giants taking three out of four from the Colorado Rockies. People can throw buckets of cold water on this all they want. Don't care. Got to beat who's on your schedule. And if it's fortuitous scheduling, then so be it. I don't think anybody in the Padre Clubhouse really cares. But to your point, they are 84 and 69. The Colorado Rockies are 80 and 73. So they have given themselves some separation. I'm just about done looking in the rearview mirror at the Arizona Diamondbacks. I think I have my sights set ahead on both the Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago Cubs. because they are one game ahead in the loss column. The Padres are right behind them. But to your point, a magic number of six, which just for those that might not know what that means, means any combination of San Diego Padre wins and Arizona Diamondback losses, if that number equals six, then the Padres are going to qualify for the postseason, whether it's the six seed, five seed, four seed, still some stuff to determine here. So I'm not really going to get into any of the scheduling stuff or any of the Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants. You play who you play. Everybody's got to play these teams at some point. And the Padres happened to catch him here in the second week of September. And oh, by the way, the Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants caught the Padres at a time where they were playing really well as well, wouldn't they?
00:02:53
Speaker 2: Yes, they did, Darren. Is this your way of saying now that the final series versus the D-backs no longer counts? It's over. If you're the Padres, you're more interested in watching now, the scoreboard watching. We're turning our attention from the D-backs to the Cubs and to the Phillies.
00:03:15
Speaker 1: I'm mentally preparing for that. I know mathematically we're not there yet. And this is one of those things that, you know, somebody throws back in your face. Should that series mean something? And should the Padres completely collapse? And by the way, if they were to collapse at this point, it would be fire. Everybody really honestly would be to that point. That's not even a joke. That's not even hyperbolic. That is, if you give up this kind of lead for game lead with, and especially with that series at home, with just eight games left to play, Marty, that is the type of series that you do a lot of housecleaning following because you are this close now. As mentioned, 6-6 is the magic number. So, yeah, I don't want to spend too much time on that hypothetical, but I wouldn't even be joking about that. This is not the type of situation. Crazier things have happened in Major League Baseball. We all know that. But if one of those crazy things happens here, That's going to be a really, really long offseason and probably an extended long offseason for some people because I don't know how you would recover from that if you're a member of this Padres organization. But I don't think it's going to happen, so I don't want to spend a ton of time talking about it. The Dodgers did win the NL West officially, their fifth straight, 13 out of 14. So they won earlier in the day. On Thursday, the Padres will return home and they will play the Miami Marlins. It'll be Pavetta on the mound, followed by Mize, followed by Buehler. Uh, they will see the Marlins who have been pesky. They are, are, you know, well behind. They are seven, I think behind.
00:04:41
Speaker 2: Seven and a half, but they're still going for it. I mean, they use Dundee Alcantara out of the Alcantara Alcantara. They use him out of the bullpen after he started. And I believe, I believe that he is lined up to start on Sunday versus the Padres. So they're, they're, they're, they're hanging in there.
00:04:55
Speaker 1: What do you do? You drop it.
00:04:56
Speaker 2: I'm sorry.
00:04:57
Speaker 3: Okay.
00:04:57
Speaker 2: I'm sorry. Sorry about that.
00:04:59
Speaker 1: Just when I thought I was out, you sucked me right back into that one. So, No, I mean, you are right about that. They took two out of three from the Arizona Diamondbacks. So welcome to town. Welcome to town. We will give you a moment where we shower you with a little bit of praise before the Padres take to the field and beat their brains in. But, you know, here's the other thing, Marta, that I want to say about the Colorado Rockies here, right? Because, you know, we all can talk about the Rockies. They're going to lose 100 games. And everybody goes, oh, yeah, but it's a Coors Field, but it's a Coors Field, but it's a Coors Field, right? Which is always something. You know, it's always a thing you got to think about. But the last three games of the series, Marty, the Padres did not use Mason Miller.
00:05:37
Speaker 3: Yep.
00:05:37
Speaker 1: They did not use Adrian Morajon. They did not use Bradley Rodriguez. So, you know, you think about what good came from this over the last three days, as unlikely as that might have been.
00:05:48
Speaker 2: Shocking.
00:05:48
Speaker 1: Because the Padres won 9-3 on Thursday. They used, I think, Matsui and Canning. And then the other day they used Morgan and Matsui, and then they used Peralta and Vasquez in the loss. So they didn't have to use any of their high leverage guys, Marty, since Monday. What a nice development on top of the three wins.
00:06:06
Speaker 2: I remember thinking that if you're the Padres, you might get Jason Adam back on this last road trip. Now it sounds like he could join the team in Los Angeles. We'll see what happens. But thinking, okay, Jason Adam joining the Padres bullpen, it'll help them. You want resources and extra arm. But the last thing... The number one thing you want is you want to leave pitching-wise unscathed from Coors Field, and they did. It's rather shocking they did not have to use these guys, which sets them up very, very well, Darren. Three at home at Pecco Park with the Marlins. Off day on Monday, they can go watch the Giants and the Rams play at SoFi, and then they finish with the Dodgers, who are also still hunting for something before they come back to a series that may or may not matter versus the Diamondbacks. Couldn't go better for him.
00:06:53
Speaker 1: Best thing that happened, Padres took three out of four and took five or six out of seven on the road. But the next best thing really is for, I don't know how serious it was internally with regards to the high leverage guys, that they were being used so much and they were being brought into games where the Padres, especially in San Francisco, had a lead that looked like it was on its way to a laugher and all of a sudden here comes Adrian Morajon and here comes Mason Miller. But not having to do that over the last three days in Colorado and still, still return home winning three out of four, I think, outside of the results, is the next best thing that happened. And credit to Michael King, who gave you six innings there. There was a moment where he had the bases loaded, and I thought, I don't know, is this a situation where Craig Stammen is going to, as he said, play it like it's a postseason game? I wasn't sure.
00:07:39
Speaker 2: Eight straight quality starts for Michael King.
00:07:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was good. All right, when we come back, the other good things that happened on the series, we'll talk about it, whether it's the offense, whether it's rookies. collecting their first big league home runs, all of it coming up next on fire territory.
00:07:55
Speaker 3: No, we didn't plan this. And also no crats. We're not wearing the same exact Mack Weldon shirts. I've got a green and you've got the Heather blue.
00:08:04
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00:08:13
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00:08:16
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00:08:17
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00:08:49
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00:08:50
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00:08:56
Speaker 1: Hi, welcome back to Friar Territory, part of the Foul Territory Network. You can subscribe on YouTube, wherever it is that you get your audio podcasts. Padres, three out of four from Colorado, six out of seven on the road. They return home to face the Miami Marlins. They will throw Nick Pavetta Casey Mize and Walker Bueller, at least that's what's scheduled against the Marlins who are eight back in the loss column. So things are going really well. I don't know how you come up with these numbers, Marty, but you know, I'm always searching around on some of these websites just to see what playoff odds or what have you in the last seven days, the Padre playoff odds have increased 30%. That's how well they've played. That's the combination of them winning other teams losing, I guess shows you how quickly things can happen.
00:09:37
Speaker 2: And the number of games left and the number of games left too.
00:09:40
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:09:41
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:09:41
Speaker 1: I mean, it is, uh, the sand is coming out of the hourglass. That is for sure. Along the way, uh, Padres did some things offensively. Now this is, you know, you can take with a pinch of salt if you want, because it is Denver as we're watching Fernando Tatis Jr. Launch 450-foot home runs day after day. It's incredible.
00:09:58
Speaker 2: Xander Bogarts as well.
00:10:00
Speaker 1: Disappear into the trees. Xander Bogarts came a single short of the cycle. He hit a homer and a triple in the same inning, hit a double a little later on, and he had a couple of at-bats to pick up the fourth cycle in Padres history. And oddly enough, it would have been the third cycle at Coors Field.
00:10:16
Speaker 2: Matt Kemp. No, I'm sorry. Let's go ahead and tell the audience right now. You were in attendance at that game, but you left that game. You left that game early before Matt Kemp, Darren, had his finest moment as a member of the San Diego Padres since he was traded by the Dodgers.
00:10:33
Speaker 3: Yes.
00:10:34
Speaker 2: You left it. Will Myers.
00:10:35
Speaker 1: His only memorable moment at the Padres.
00:10:37
Speaker 2: That was actually, that was it. And you left.
00:10:39
Speaker 1: He hit the first cycle in Padres history. That was 2015. Yeah, I was there. I don't remember the order exactly, but I remember he had two of the four. And I thought as I was packing up my stuff, because wife was coming into town, I had to go pick her up at the airport. I remember thinking, could this happen? What's the likelihood it's going to happen? And then it happened. Then Will Myers did it. Jake Cronenworth did it a couple of years ago. And Xander Pogart, like a lot of other Padres, came up one hit short, one single short. I thought maybe we were going to have one of those situations where he hits a ball in the gap. Like he has to make a decision, do I just stop?
00:11:11
Speaker 2: Stops at first base. Why would you not?
00:11:13
Speaker 1: I don't know. At any rate, the other thing that happened was that Ethan Salas, Marty, on Wednesday hit his first big league home run and then hit his second big league home run. And, again, I'm sure somebody out there, because people are miserable all across this globe, especially on social media, will point out that this happens in Colorado, which, whatever. He hits his first two home runs. And I was really struck by something that Craig Stammen said, Marty, after the game on Wednesday. I'm going to read you this quote, courtesy of MLB.com, our friend A.J. Cassaville. This is a quote from Craig Stammen. Quote, he can help us in the postseason. That's exactly what he said. He can help us in the postseason. Now, I don't know if Craig Stammen's tipping his hand because they feel like the plan is to include Ethan Salas on the postseason roster, or if he is publicly campaigning for Ethan Salas as a pitcher who would like an option behind the plate, a catcher who's known for some defensive ability, perhaps a little bit better than... Let's say Luis Camposano and a guy who can hit a little bit. I just thought that was such an interesting comment because we're not anywhere close to talking about postseason rosters. And this would certainly be one of the more debatable players, I think. But it sounds like the manager, unless he's just completely swept up in the moment, seems to be saying that should the Padres go to the playoffs, the manager would like Ethan Salas, 20-year-old Ethan Salas, on the postseason roster.
00:12:50
Speaker 2: Darren, did the Padres bring up Ethan Salas just for the experience of it all? Just so he can go ahead and see what it's like to be around a team and be hungry for the playoffs and know what that feeling is like and know the preparation that's behind it? They brought him up by a certain date for a reason, so he would be eligible for the postseason roster. And I'm thinking about this today, okay? Now, Nick Pavetta is going to start Friday versus the Marlins. His catcher is probably going to be Ethan Salas, who caught his first return back, correct? Correct. Today, mop-up duty in Colorado, Griffin counting on the mound, and they brought in Freddie Fermin to go ahead and give him some work, or maybe Camposano is exhausted. I mean, I have no idea. But I'm thinking right now, if we're assuming that Nick Pavetta is part of the rotation in the playoffs, I'd imagine Salas is his guy. If you're the Padres, do you feel better about the overall body of work for Mean right now, or is it going to be Ethan Salas? Maybe you'll carry three catchers. I don't know. Maybe you can use Camposone as a DH. But to me, there's no doubt they brought him up with every intention of him actually being on the playoff roster.
00:13:58
Speaker 1: Let me read the whole quote. He can help us in the postseason. I think he's going to help us for years to come. So there's a little bit of both there. So all these new experiences now, the good ones and the bad ones are things that he can use to become a better baseball player. This was following Ethan Salas and his two home run hit game in Denver, Colorado. It's an interesting, I, you know, again, I think sometimes Marty, I think Mike Schulte publicly did this in spring training of 2025, where he was attempting to convince the world. that Martin Maldonado was the next coming of Yadier Molina. Oh, this is like this guy. He's like Yadier Molina light. And what he was doing was publicly campaigning because we know which catchers he wanted on the roster and which catchers he did not want on the roster. And I've not noticed that trend from Craig Stammen. I've not noticed that as something that he does publicly, that he sends messages through the media. Mike Schutt would do this sort of stuff all the time. A lot of coaches do it all the time. But when he says that, he can help us in the postseason. It's the first time I really thought, you know, this guy, I think he's going to be on the postseason roster should the Padres qualify and something unforeseen doesn't happen. And I think you're right. I guess when you think about the date, they gave themselves some flexibility, the date that they called him up so that they could call him up and they could add him to the postseason roster. But to me, I guess I consider that more a formality just to keep your options open. than a probability that Ethan Salas would end up on the postseason roster. But now I feel like it's not a possibility, it's a probability. Potters go to the playoffs, and he's going to be there. And I think all three of them might be. Yeah, I can see that. Because I think certain guys do like throwing to Freddie for me. And I think that's the other thing either. It's easy for you and me and fans and others to say what the Potters should do, but ultimately a lot of this is going to be about what the pitchers want, right?
00:15:41
Speaker 2: The majority of your pitchers have thrown to Firmin over Salas. So that's just how it is. And also it could depend on, you know, does Casey Mize make your starting rotation? Does Robbie Ray? We already know that you don't need five starters in the playoffs, especially in a wildcard round, you need two to three.
00:15:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, but again, it gives the manager a little bit of flexibility. If you find yourself in a situation where one guy's DHing and then, you know, you're going to use that guy or you're going to pinch hit or whatever you're going to do, you're going to pinch hit for your catcher, right? So, you know, it does give you a little bit of flexibility. But like I said, I, you know, I... I don't know that I consider that a probability, but after reading that, again, I'm sometimes, Marty, I don't know if you know this or not, or if you would agree with this statement, sometimes I can be prone to overreacting to commentary.
00:16:28
Speaker 2: Shocking. But usually, Stamman kind of tells you how it is. To your point, he is not blowing smoke the way that Mike Schultz did. He's pretty candid when it comes to talking about his players and what he publicly says to the media.
00:16:42
Speaker 1: So I agree.
00:16:43
Speaker 2: It would shock me, Darren, if he wasn't on the playoff roster.
00:16:47
Speaker 3: Wow.
00:16:48
Speaker 1: Take that a step further.
00:16:49
Speaker 2: Okay, before— listen, we— I actually, speaking of Stammen, I did— I put out the signal. You know, I wanted people— I wanted, you know, just some commentary. What do people think of the job that Craig Stammen has done in his rookie season as Padres manager, right? Nine games to go, six of them— headed at Petco Park, barring historic collapse. This is going to be a playoff team for a team that went through a lot of turmoil offensively, injury-wise, especially when it comes to the rotation. And now Craig Stamman has them eyeing not just the final wild card, but possibly a series at Petco Park. So we'll get to that.
00:17:27
Speaker 3: Possibly.
00:17:28
Speaker 2: Possibly.
00:17:28
Speaker 1: Maybe.
00:17:29
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:17:30
Speaker 1: We've already given you the other teams, the Phillies and the Cubs and their records, etc., By the way, is everybody enjoying our new graphics that are watching on YouTube? Marty has just mastered this.
00:17:40
Speaker 2: She's just mastered.
00:17:41
Speaker 1: All the graphics, being able to put them up there. You think we have like a 10-person crew behind the scenes that are putting these graphics up?
00:17:47
Speaker 2: You've just jinxed me. Oh, look at that.
00:17:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know. We have Ethan Salas stats up there on the screen. Oh, I know. Isn't that amazing?
00:17:53
Speaker 2: Yeah. Who do you want to see, Darren? Who do you want to see next? Which teammate?
00:17:57
Speaker 1: Let's look at Jackson Merrill.
00:17:59
Speaker 2: Jackson Merrill?
00:18:00
Speaker 1: Let's put Jackson Merrill's stats up there.
00:18:01
Speaker 2: Okay, let's go.
00:18:02
Speaker 1: Look at that wipe. Isn't that amazing? 25 home runs, 85 runs batted in for Jackson Merrill. Look at this. 444 slugging percentage. This guy, wow. This is incredible work, Marty, that you're doing.
00:18:15
Speaker 2: Thank you. I'll tell you this. The thing that kind of gets me is the conversation, Darren, that we would have with different guests. And this is when the offense was really struggling, when Fernando Tatis was looking for his first home run, when Manny Machado was slumping, when Jackson Merrill was slumping. And we're like, you know, when the season ends, I expect them to play better, but the back of their baseball card is not going to replicate what they've shown in their career. The back of Jackson Merrill's baseball card looks like Jackson Merrill. Same thing for Tatis. The difference would be Manny Machado, the average is way down at 220. But man, the second half comeback, and we had this conversation with Kyle Glazer last week, they have been two of the best players in all of baseball, Darren, in the second half. That's been just a remarkable turnaround for both these guys. Indeed.
00:18:58
Speaker 3: All right.
00:18:59
Speaker 1: Well, Marty put out another bat signal. She wanted to know what do the Padres fans think How do they think Craig Stammen is? Look at this. Another graphic. All the innings pitch leaders. Look at my guy Walker Buehler there sitting second. Where would they be without him? I don't know.
00:19:13
Speaker 2: I don't know.
00:19:15
Speaker 1: I hope he gets to 10. I hope he's got a couple more starts in him. I know those numbers mean something to the pitchers, even in modern baseball, that they don't. All right, when we come back, we're going to read some of these tweets and take a temperature of the fan base to see how much credit they're giving. Craig Stammen, rookie manager of the Padres. That's coming up next on Friar Territory. Well, down the stretch they come. Padres have nine more games to go. They're all in Southern California. So wherever you might be living in Southern California, if you want to catch the Padres and you haven't yet secured tickets, let us recommend SeatGeek.com.
00:19:50
Speaker 2: You.
00:19:50
Speaker 1: SeatGeek is MLB's official ticket marketplace. Tickets are going to be fully guaranteed, instantly fulfilled into your account after purchase. I've used SeatGeek. I trust them. 35 million downloads. SeatGeek is the number one rated ticketing app.
00:20:06
Speaker 2: Darren, the Padres' magic number right now is six as we speak. There's a good chance they could clinch a wild card spot when they are in Los Angeles. Say you want to go ahead and watch the Rams and the Giants play on Monday, and you want to watch the Padres and Dodgers on Tuesday. There's one place to go where they can take care of tickets for both events, and that is SeatGeek, the number one ticketing app for a reason, over 70,000 events.
00:20:30
Speaker 1: We always talk about baseball, but it's other sporting events now. The calendar is so crowded. It's hard to keep up. Every day of the week, something's happening. Plus, there's a million concerts out there. But it is MLB's official ticketing app. Of course, we have a code for you guys that want to go catch a baseball game. Territory 10. 10% off your next set of MLB tickets at SeatGeek. The link is in the description. Download the app. Have that code automatically added to your account with SeatGeek. All right, final segment of Friar Territory, part of the Fowl Territory Network, by the way. Rocking my gear today.
00:21:04
Speaker 2: Very nice. Very nice. Where's the hat?
00:21:06
Speaker 1: I told you. It's around here somewhere.
00:21:09
Speaker 2: Okay. Nice soft t-shirt.
00:21:11
Speaker 1: Going to let the hair flow today. By the way, Marta, completely apropos of nothing, do you remember the teams that qualified for the playoffs in 2025?
00:21:18
Speaker 2: The teams that qualified for the playoffs? No, not all of them.
00:21:22
Speaker 1: Just the NL. Just the NL.
00:21:24
Speaker 2: Cubs, Brewers, Dodgers.
00:21:25
Speaker 1: I hate when people do this to me, so I'm sorry.
00:21:26
Speaker 2: That's okay. Go ahead. Cubs, Brewers, Dodgers. Seattle, Mariners, Yankees, yeah, Blue Jays. Yeah.
00:21:36
Speaker 1: The NL picture, where I'm going with this, is the NL picture looks very close to last year. Last year was the Phillies, the Braves, and the Dodgers were the division winners.
00:21:44
Speaker 2: Same path.
00:21:45
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Reds were a wild card team, played the Dodgers in the first round, and then the Potters and the Cubs. So it's one team different. There's one team here that looks a little different. It's because the Atlanta Braves are healthy and are going to be going to the playoffs. American League looks a lot different. Toronto, Cleveland, and Seattle were your division winners last year. So Boston, New York, Detroit, those were your wildcard teams. All right. You put out the bat signal, Marty. I felt like this was a good question to chum the waters, see what comes to the surface. How do you think Craig Stammer's doing as a manager? You put it out there on social media.
00:22:21
Speaker 3: I did.
00:22:22
Speaker 1: How would you– What would you say? Like, what kind of results did you get?
00:22:25
Speaker 2: I got mixed results. A lot of people are waiting for the playoffs to see what happens. Here's from Nick, results-based industry. He gets a B +. Obviously, there have been some mistakes, but he has one of the worst starting pitching rotations, no-name players getting at-bats, and underproduction from the Stars in the first half. All of this, and they are in the playoffs. Okay, that, to me, Darren, sounds like a fan who didn't want to see Jace Bowen or Samad Taylor and guys like that getting meaningful at-bats. From Faith Keeper, his in-game management has room for improvement. The debacle with Buehler's exit due to forgotten mound visit surprised, too, at how he's overworked certain relievers, Bradley, Morajon. Maybe that's gotten us a few more Ws, wins, but will it be at our expense in the playoffs? Well, these are both good comments from both of you, but Darren, I would tell you that right now, again, and we talked about this to start the show, the good news is we haven't seen Mason Miller or Major Adrian Morajone in a couple of days, right? So they have gotten some rest, but I know there was criticism there early on at the in-game management, and I think one thing that's good about Craig Stammen, admits when he's wrong, and he's learning on the fly. I would be shocked if we see that same mistake from Craig Stammen again with the pitching changes with Buehler, so.
00:23:39
Speaker 1: I mean, you almost never see that mistake. It was such a fluke. I mean, if there were a series of mistakes that he made, then, you know, you'd say the rest of that stuff. I'm sorry. It is subjective saying that you overuse certain guys in certain spots. That's totally subjective. It's a mistake when you forget how many mountain visits you have in a game like that is that is a mistake and he owned it. And I don't know what more people want him to do. Like, like, do you want him to fall on the sword for that? Like, what is he supposed to do? So I can live with it because it doesn't seem to have impacted the team, right? It was a mistake. They ended up winning that game, which was immaterial to me. But, you know, they've gone on this streak now. So it's not like everybody in the clubhouse is all of a sudden saying, well, we can't trust this guy. What are we supposed to do? You know, that's not what happened here. So from that standpoint, Marty, I.
00:24:28
Speaker 3: Agree with you.
00:24:29
Speaker 1: I think he's been very open about the fact he's got a lot to learn and he continues to learn. And I think that that's refreshing because, you know, We came from a manager who never made a mistake ever in his life.
00:24:39
Speaker 2: All right, Darren, from Bruce B plus very good grade for a rookie. The starting pitching has been horrendous and he's managed to get his flawed team into a playoff playoff spot as of now.
00:24:52
Speaker 1: All right.
00:24:53
Speaker 2: From Michael. All right, Michael, I'm not a fan. And unless they go deep in the playoffs, Padres need to move on. Wow. So it's playoffs or bust for Michael.
00:25:04
Speaker 1: Deep in the playoffs. Deep in the playoffs. Not even just getting there.
00:25:07
Speaker 2: No. Winning a wild card series versus, say, the Braves or the Cubs, whoever else, is not enough. You have to go to what? NLCS? NLCS is considered deep in the playoffs?
00:25:19
Speaker 1: I always think winning one series. I guess it depends what's waiting for you on the other side. We know what it might be. It might be either the Dodgers or it might be the Milwaukee Brewers, as we discussed the other day. I'll read this one for you from Scott Baldwin, 730. B-plus, made some rookie mistakes. Overall, he's been doing great. Worked with the team that he's got. Very thin rotation to work with for a majority of the year. Made some savvy moves to get wins in July. Should be also noted that he got great seasons out of Campy and France, Thai France. Yeah, those are good points. Those are really, really good points. So, you know, I think if you take into account the fact that everybody understands, including Craig Stammen, that he had never done this before, and he's sitting, Marty, as of the time of this recording, on 84 wins. with nine games to play, which is a legitimate, the way they're playing is a legitimate opportunity to get to 90. With this team? With a team that half the fan base thought should have sold at the trade deadline three months ago? You know what I mean? Like, yeah, I think he deserves his due. Even if he's not your flavor, particular flavor, I think he's absolutely deserved his due on this because, you know, we put up the list of all the pitchers there. Some of these guys that we were talking about, not exactly what it looks like today.
00:26:32
Speaker 2: You're exactly right. And by the way, that tweeter gave us a good comment on Luis Camposano and on Ty France. It's one thing, Darren, to go ahead and get the best out of your superstars. You're talking about Datis and Machado. That was the whole argument for hiring Albert Pujols, right? He has a bond with those guys. But also, there's something to be said about what he was able to do with Luis Camposano and get the best from a guy who had lost his confidence, who a year ago, Darren... preferred to be in AAA getting at bats in El Paso than riding away on a bench. Camposano, who was actually part of the playoff roster, but didn't sniff and at bat, did not catch a game. And he's like, what am I doing here? So when you can get something from utility players and from that bullpen, I think there's something to be said about how Craig Stammer has gotten the most from everybody.
00:27:24
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:27:24
Speaker 2: All right. Yeah.
00:27:25
Speaker 1: I mean, I would agree with you on that. And, you know, listen, he's also a rookie manager, so I don't even know what the expectations were, right? Like, I'll give you an example, Marty, from something that I think a lot of our viewers and listeners know means something to me. The Knicks. So, you know, the Knicks got rid of Tom Thibodeau because they went into the playoffs and, you know, they bombed out in the Eastern Conference Final. And they said, we've got to be better than this. And the expectation was, you've got to move beyond the Eastern Conference Final. Mike Schilt, at least according to the reporting, he left on his own. You know, he quit. And the expectation was that they were going to go out there and there were two rookie managers who they were choosing between. One was Albert Pujols and the other one apparently was Craig Stammen late in the game. Rookie managers haven't had a great track record winning the World Series. Alex Cora, Bob Brenly, Ralph Houck, Eddie Dyer, Bucky Harris.
00:28:14
Speaker 3: That's it.
00:28:14
Speaker 1: The list isn't a long one. And we talked about this. So I don't know where they set the expectations when they hired Craig Stammen anyway. But it wasn't like they were like, Mike Schilt, run that guy out of town. We need a manager in here who can get this team beyond the wildcard. It was sort of like, well, we're not really sure what this is. And the ownership situation is completely in flux. And at least he's a really positive guy who we think maybe could relate to players in the clubhouse. And it's worked.
00:28:40
Speaker 2: To your point from Steven. Seems like the vibes are good, which is his main job, but his in-game managerial skills leaves a lot to be desired. And terrify me, come playoffs. Knock on wood. Okay, from Damon. He was a B. Okay, I think we're pretty consistent with a B for Craig Stammen. He was underqualified for the job, but has him on the brink of the playoffs. Bullpen management has been horrific at times. That seems to be a theme from Padres fans. Can easily see him getting outmanaged in the playoffs. I think year two will be better. Ownership stability is huge, too. So, Darren, I think we have a pretty common theme. People are terrified that he could get outmanaged by a more experienced manager. They're worried about the bullpen management. But the good news, again, heading in the playoffs, bit of a lead. for that final spot. And they rested. They rested Mason and Adrian in Coors Field of all places, which is a good sign.
00:29:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, the whole bullpen management thing is so interesting to me because, you know, it implies that everybody knows everybody's exact situation, right? What everybody's dealing with. what the telemetry tells you in between outings, et cetera. And I don't know how many people have access to that. It's always easier to manage a bullpen on social media or on podcasts than it actually is in real life. And yeah, I think there were times where the game sped up on him a little bit, even a guy who was a relief pitcher, but he's a relief pitcher. So I always think these things are so subjective. And I don't know. Outside of Bruce Bochy, I'm trying to think of the last Padre manager. And even Bruce Bochy, there are lots of fans who are like, hey, maybe it's time for something different. I mean, who was the last manager that everybody thought was really dialed in on how to use a bullpen? It feels like it's a common theme regardless of who the manager is. Does everybody think Albert Pujols would have been better at this than Craig Stammen?
00:30:29
Speaker 2: No chance.
00:30:30
Speaker 1: At that specific thing.
00:30:32
Speaker 2: Bud Black?
00:30:35
Speaker 1: Oh, Buddy. We love Buddy, but there was so much criticism. I mean, I still see today people randomly on social media like Buddy Black, terrible manager. Great guy. Andy Green had a good press conference with the Mets. Oh, he was a terrible manager. And you're like, what did he have to work with? So however it is that people evaluate this stuff, Marty, is always a little bit fuzzy to me. It's always opaque, but everybody's entitled to their opinions. The theme I get is most people seem to think Craig Stammen didn't get in the way of anything. He's not necessarily due credit, but he didn't get in the way of anything.
00:31:09
Speaker 2: How about this? I'll leave this on a positive note. Of the rookie managers that A.J. Preller has hired, Andy Green being the first, and we know he was not brought to San Diego to win, He was the bridge to the next era, to the next era. He was... Andy Green was brought here to manage four Rule 5 roster guys on the Padres' opening day roster. That was his role. And then Jace Tingler. I would say that Craig Stammen, so far, of the three, has surpassed them in terms of, well, he's a better roster, but he has them on the edge, Darren, of the playoffs.
00:31:47
Speaker 1: Well, um... Marty, I understand it was COVID, but Jace Tingler's first year, he was a finalist for manager of the year. Was he not?
00:31:55
Speaker 2: He was a finalist for manager of the.
00:31:57
Speaker 1: Year, and the Padres went to the playoffs, and everybody's arm fell off, and they lost to the Dodgers.
00:32:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, Ryan Weathers made his major league debut in the playoffs in a bubble.
00:32:06
Speaker 1: Unfortunately, Denelson LeMet and Mike Clevenger, both their arms fell off before they could even pitch against the Dodgers. Buddy Black was a manager of the year with the Padres. Everybody's like, that guy. That guy couldn't manage. Nice guy, though. Glad all you dorks in the media liked him. But you're like, what does he need to do? He was the manager of the year with the Padres. I think he might have won one with Colorado, but I'm not sure. Anyway, it's always a funny conversation. People are just convinced. And some would just say it's about your record. Well, if it's about your record, this guy's going to approach 90, you would think. Now, again, if this thing goes completely pear-shaped over the next week, all bets are off. Everybody out. Terrible manager. But I don't suspect that's going to happen.
00:32:48
Speaker 2: Darren, I'm sorry. As we're wrapping things up, I'm mentally counting in my head. So Michael King, of course, makes a start. His eighth straight quality start. His next start would be when?
00:32:57
Speaker 1: Move him. I think they have the opportunity to move him with the off day.
00:33:00
Speaker 2: You can skip him on Monday. You can skip him on Monday. So was today possibly his final start of the regular season? Unless, right?
00:33:11
Speaker 1: I don't think so.
00:33:13
Speaker 2: Why not? Would you save Michael King for like game one?
00:33:18
Speaker 1: I think what you want to do is you want to line him up for Tuesday the 29th, which is the first wild card game. And I think to do that, let's see, he pitched today Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. I think you can play around a little bit with it. I jotted this down, but I have a stack of paper in front of me that is disturbing. So I don't want to go rifling around through it. But you do have the option to move him so that it's not– because if you pitch him Tuesday, then it's Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Yeah. You would have the option, I think.
00:33:47
Speaker 2: You're not pitching him that final weekend unless it's the only reason.
00:33:51
Speaker 1: You do it. You're going to go foot on the gas until you actually qualify. Yeah. You know, we can sit here and talk about it like it's a fait accompli, but it's not. And you know how superstitious these baseball people are. They don't want to talk about it like it's a done deal.
00:34:05
Speaker 2: And you don't want to interrupt your routine.
00:34:08
Speaker 1: But I do think you have some flexibility with him to do with him what you want based on what it is you think you're going to need. Because the one thing I don't think you're going to do, unless you absolutely have to, is pitch him Tuesday and then Sunday. Tuesday against the Dodgers, Sunday against the Diamondbacks. But if you absolutely positively need that game, which it appears less and less likely, then you would like to have him. Otherwise, then you take the day off and you tell him he's starting game one of the playoffs on Tuesday, a couple days after the season ends. So we can talk about that as the week goes on. But the magic number is six with nine games to play. It's a pretty good feeling.
00:34:47
Speaker 2: Six of nine at home.
00:34:49
Speaker 1: Coming back home for a three-game weekend series. Off to Los Angeles and then the Diamondbacks. This is it. Where did the season go? Wow. Feels like it just started yesterday. For Marty Caswell, I'm Darren Smith. Thank you all very much for your support of Friar Territory, either on YouTube or wherever you get your audio podcasts. And we'll see you next time.
