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San Diego Padres 2015 MLB team preview and predictions

By Will Osgood

Mar 10, 2015; Peoria, AZ, USA; A San Diego Padres hat and glove are seen in the dugout against the San Francisco Giants at Peoria Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 10, 2015; Peoria, AZ, USA; A San Diego Padres hat and glove are seen in the dugout against the San Francisco Giants at Peoria Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /
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Aug 3, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Tyson Ross (38) pitches during the fourth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 3, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Tyson Ross (38) pitches during the fourth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports /

2015 Season Predictions

The Padres might be the hardest team in the league to figure out. There’s potential for this experiment to blow up, one way or the other. The Padres could tear the cover off the ball offensively, pitch as well or better than in 2014 and end up winning between 90 and 100 games.

Or they could continue to struggle offensively, as the franchise seems doomed to do for the rest of its time playing in Petco Park. It feels like the best way to project this thing is to flip a coin. It really seems like a 50-50 proposition.

Of course the good news is that the Padres pitchers benefit from that yard as well. According to Fan Graphs, newcomer James Shields has a career 35.7 percent fly ball percentage. Coincidentally he regularly allows 44.7 percent of batted balls to be hit into the ground. He’d be okay to flip those.

For his career he gives up 11.2 percent of all fly balls to go for home runs. That number will decrease greatly in 2015. The point we’re trying to get to is this: the Padres will continue to pitch. Of this there is no doubt.

They’ll remain one of the best staffs in the league. And they’ll certainly improve on their league-worst offense. They really only need to get to around 20th across the entire major leagues to put themselves in position to compete for a playoff spot.

And as many questions as there are about this odd concoction of talent, it should definitely be able to produce a top-20 offense. The feeling is that the Giants will again fall off in 2015, as they have after their past two World Series titles. That leaves just the Dodgers as legitimate competition for the NL West.

The Padres will fall short of the Dodgers, who are building a potential dynasty under new decision-maker Andrew Friedman. But they will have enough to gain the second Wild Card spot narrowly edging out the lovable losers from the South Side of Chicago and the Miami Marlins, in addition to the defending champions.

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