This is a preview of the Joe Sheehan Baseball Newsletter, an e-mail newsletter about all things baseball, featuring analysis and opinion about the game on and off the field from the perspective of the informed outsider.
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Credit A.J. Preller for everything he did right this year -- stuff I agreed with, stuff I didn’t agree with, stuff I think he got lucky on. If you want, credit Mike Shildt, who was deeply unimpressive in St. Louis, with doing a better job than he did with those Cardinals just by avoiding the big mistakes. Acknowledge that this team shaved 4% off its strikeout rate, changing the shape of its offensive output -- more singles, fewer walks, less power -- and improving it a bit relative to the league.
All of that narrative -- much of it fact-based! -- eventually runs into this:
2023 Padres through nine innings: 80-68-14 (.537 WPct.), +120 run differential
2024 Padres through nine innings: 74-64-9 (.534 WPct.), +61 run differential
2023 Padres in extra innings: 2-12, -15 run differential
2024 Padres in extra innings: 8-1, +10 run differential
All of that narrative -- much of it fact-based! -- eventually runs into this:
2023 Padres through nine innings: 80-68-14 (.537 WPct.), +120 run differential
2024 Padres through nine innings: 74-64-9 (.534 WPct.), +61 run differential
2023 Padres in extra innings: 2-12, -15 run differential
2024 Padres in extra innings: 8-1, +10 run differential
