Padres noteworthy numbers and trends from their opening homestand

ATLANTA — Greetings from Cobb County, where the Padres will attempt to overcome the formidable Braves and an ominous weather forecast over the next few days. From there, it will be on to Citi Field and a clash with the only National League roster more expensive than San Diego’s.

But the Padres have already faced a couple of tests. On their opening homestand, they split series with both the Rockies and the Diamondbacks. C.J. Cron has joined Charlie Blackmon as a Padre killer. Arizona appears to be on the rise. The NL West should be decently competitive this year.

In the meantime, let’s examine five noteworthy numbers and trends that emerged from the first six games of the season.

2:35: Average time of game

It took 123 brisk minutes for the Padres to complete Sunday’s 3-1 win against the Rockies. It was the quickest nine-inning major-league game of the young season (before the Twins and Marlins played a 117-minute game Tuesday). And it was the Padres’ quickest nine-inning game since they played a 121-minute contest on May 18, 2013.

No, Randy Jones hasn’t returned to the mound. Yes, the pitch clock clearly is having its intended effect. Through six games, the Padres’ average time of game is down 34 minutes from their first six games of 2022. Such a pace would add up to massive savings over a full season — maybe about 25 games’ worth in pre-pitch-clock terms.

Most players are fans of the idea of less wear and tear.

“The less time on our feet,” center fielder Trent Grisham said last month, “obviously the better.”

Not everyone, of course, loves just how quickly at-bats are flying by. In his lone plate appearance Tuesday, Manny Machado requested time, was not granted it and became the first player to be ejected over a pitch-clock-related dispute. A few days earlier, Juan Soto offered a pertinent opinion.

“I don’t like it at all,” Soto said of the pitch clock. “I’ve been trying to find a way how to get myself ready to go get everything locked in. You know, it’s just tough. These (hitters) out there are taking timeouts when they don’t need it. They just do it because they see the time and they get shorter time. If they get that extra three, five seconds more, they probably don’t call (timeout). … It’s tough to get the rhythm like that.”

In general, hitters appear to be facing a steeper adjustment than pitchers. Soto, known for his between-pitch idiosyncrasies, might be the Padres position player most affected by having less time. He has gone from averaging 20.2 seconds between pitches last season to averaging 15.7 seconds between pitches through six games this season.

To ease the transition, Soto said, he recently began trying something new in the box. He would not share what it was. “I can’t say it,” Soto said, laughing. “Then they pick it up.”

Whatever it is, players like Soto and Machado will draw additional scrutiny as baseball speeds into a new era.

21: Total bases for Bogaerts

Statistically, only one hitter has had a better six-game introduction with the Padres. In 2012, after returning from knee surgery, Carlos Quentin began his delayed season by going 12-for-23 with four doubles, five home runs and 31 total bases. For Quentin, half of those games came at Wrigley Field.

Xander Bogaerts has played each of his first six games this season at Petco Park, a venue that tends to suppress offense. Yet, so far, he is 9-for-22 with three doubles and three home runs, each long ball going out to left field.

Could Bogaerts actually be a better fit for San Diego’s marine layer than he was for Boston’s Green Monster?

“Having a big wall is good. It was just better for some guys that have a different swing type, you know, guys that launch the ball higher, but that’s not the swing that I’ve ever had,” Bogaerts said. “So now I know that whenever I get it on a good exit velo and it doesn’t have to be as high, it will just go out.”

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Although they preferred Trea Turner’s overall game, the Padres viewed Bogaerts as the best hitter among this past winter’s historic class of free-agent shortstops. It’s early, but his line-drive, all-fields approach has indeed been effective at Petco. The Padres also believe that, down the road, he could be a capable defender at multiple other infield spots. (They did not see similar positional flexibility in Carlos Correa, whom they did not meet with.)

Bogaerts, an affable, multilingual native of Aruba, might have been the best clubhouse fit, too.

“He’s all about team,” manager Bob Melvin said. “He’s one of those guys who commits to everything he does, whether it’s baserunning, whether it’s defensively, whether it’s at the plate. He puts in a ton of time and a ton of extra work. Just fully committed.

“And from what I’ve heard, not afraid to say some things, too, when needed in the clubhouse. We have several of those guys here. But that’s the one thing you hear pretty consistently from the guys over at Boston, is this guy’s a true leader. So you can’t have too many of those guys.”

8: Stolen-base attempts by opposing baserunners

That works out to an average of 1.33 per game — right in line with the major-league average last season and just under the league rate through Monday. “If stolen-base attempts continue to rise, I think that’s a good thing,” Theo Epstein told Doug Glanville and Jayson Stark on “The Athletic Baseball Show.” “But as far as it being too much, like, wake me up when we’ve left the 1980s in the dust.”

But a whopping six stolen-base attempts against the Padres came in Tuesday’s come-from-ahead loss to the Diamondbacks and their noted complement of speedsters. Five of those attempts were successful. In the eighth inning alone, Arizona stole second, scored on a safety squeeze, executed a successful sacrifice bunt that scored a run, stole second again and pulled off a double steal of home that was aided by what may have been an ill-advised throw to second by catcher Austin Nola. For a nightmarish half-inning for the Padres, it certainly felt like the clock had been turned back a few decades.

The Padres’ defense against opportunistic teams like the Diamondbacks bears watching. So does their catching timeshare. While reliever Luis García’s suboptimal times to home might have been the main culprit during Tuesday’s temporary track meet, Nola has been behind the plate for all eight opposing stolen-base attempts this season. He’s thrown out one runner. It’s on the Padres’ pitchers to help him out, but Nola’s average pop time of 2.01 seconds last season was 64th among catchers who made at least five throws on attempted steals of second base.

So far this season, backup catcher Luis Campusano hasn’t faced a steal attempt. The Padres have won both games he’s caught. “Campy’s done a really nice job,” said Melvin, a former big-league catcher who demands a lot from his catchers. The Padres will require a larger sample, but it feels like Campusano has a significant opportunity in front of him.

18: Inches of horizontal break on a Weathers slider

Last season, Steven Wilson changed the grip on his breaking pitch and went from a gyroscopic slider with distinct drop to a slower, sweeping slider, or what is known in baseball as a “sweeper.” The idea, advocated by Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla, was to come up with a slider that generally yielded less damage, even if it meant less swing-and-miss.

“It’s like high-risk, high-reward,” Wilson, who studied economics and business analytics at Santa Clara University, said last September. “It’s like a risky stock to invest in, or you can invest in the S&P and throw sweepers.”

Wilson has noticeably increased his sweeper usage early in this, his second big-league season. And he has been among the teammates helping Ryan Weathers get a handle on a sweeper of his own. In Monday’s win against Arizona, Weathers threw 15 sweepers with an average horizontal break of 12 inches. Those pitches induced five swings and two whiffs, including an inning-ending strikeout of Evan Longoria.

“We have a lot of guys who throw sweepers, and they’ve all helped me out with it,” Weathers said after the game. “Tonight, just the seam was catching, and it had a lot of good movement on it.”

In his lone major-league outing last year, Weathers threw 28 gyro sliders with an average horizontal break of 3.1 inches. He spent most of the 2022 season languishing in Triple A — and attempting to find a slider grip that worked. With assistance from Niebla, he found one in the offseason. He joined the growing ranks of sweeper owners.

There were other improvements. Weathers gained an uptick in fastball velocity. (He averaged a big-league career-high 95.7 mph on Monday.) His changeup has become his No. 2 pitch, and he rode it to five innings of two-run ball against the Diamondbacks. Meanwhile, his low-80s sweeper might be another reason to believe the lefty, still only 23, could finally be equipped to provide useful rotational depth.

“Now it’s nice having, like, 94 to 95 (mph); 86, 87; 81, 82. It’s nice having that velo separation on my pitches,” Weathers said. “Something I feel like now, it has that legit bite to it.”

712: Days between big-league appearances for Honeywell

The right-hander made his big-league debut on April 11, 2021, opening a game for the Rays and pitching two scoreless innings before giving way to Michael Wacha. It was a long time coming; Brent Honeywell was once a heralded prospect before he endured 1,298 days and four elbow surgeries between professional pitching appearances. Still, on April 12, 2021, the Rays optioned him back to their alternate training site. He surfaced twice more for Tampa Bay that month, then never again.

On Monday, Honeywell officially returned to the majors, throwing two innings and striking out three in relief of Weathers. With the Padres fielding a taxed bullpen, he was called upon again for five outs Tuesday afternoon.

“I think my job is whenever we need help early, I’m the guy,” Honeywell said.

It’s not a glamorous job. Honeywell is no longer a heralded arm. For now, he isn’t even a backend starter like Wacha, who signed a four-year, $26 million contract with the Padres. And Honeywell is just beginning to learn the routines and unpredictability of big-league bullpen work.

But Honeywell, who is making $725,000 on a deal he signed in January, was thrilled to make his first Opening Day roster. After four arm surgeries, he still wields interesting stuff, including a mid-90s fastball, a darting changeup and his signature screwball. On Monday, Arizona’s Corbin Carroll hit an elevated screwball out for a solo home run. “Just a bad pitch,” Honeywell said. “I just didn’t execute a pitch and (Carroll) whacked it.”

“I feel like I’m more equipped to go after guys,” Honeywell said. “I’ve always attacked guys, but my stuff hasn’t lined up. My mind and what comes out of my hand just didn’t really match up, but I think (Monday) night was a better sense of, there’s definitely swing-and-miss still here.”

Honeywell isn’t the only depth piece with pedigree. When outfielder David Dahl delivered a pinch-hit, game-tying jolt in the ninth inning Monday, it was his first major-league home run since May 16, 2021. (It also was evidence that the one-time All-Star is feeling as well as he has since he underwent shoulder surgery in 2020. “I wasn’t able to do that the last couple years, go oppo with a homer,” Dahl said.) Backup infielder Rougned Odor is learning the outfield for the first time, a way for the former Rangers regular to contribute some versatility.

There are no guarantees these players stick on the roster. Joe Musgrove could make his season debut within a week or two. Fernando Tatis Jr. is eligible to return from suspension on April 20. Adam Engel is beginning a rehab assignment after injuring his hamstring at the end of spring training.

In the meantime, Dahl, Honeywell and Odor will have chances to reestablish themselves.

(Photo of Ryan Weathers: Orlando Ramirez / USA Today)