Stats prove why Dylan Cease trade won’t be Padres last trade to upgrade pitching

A.J. Preller has continued to wheel and deal trying to get the San Diego Padres a roster capable of winning its first-ever World Series title. This past offseason alone we saw Preller trade Juan Soto to the New York Yankees and also turn around and acquire Dylan Cease from the Chicago White Sox just months later. Preller even made a massive blockbuster in early May, landing Luis Arraez from the Miami Marlins.

All of the roster turnover for San Diego hasn't amounted to much winning yet. The Padres enter play on Tuesday with a 22-22 record. It's good to see that they're not under .500, but they're already 6.5 games back of the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.

As discouraging as a .500 start 44 games into the season has been for the Padres, there is one clear reason why the team has been only average. San Diego's lack of a fifth starter has cost them dearly, and is something that Preller is going to have to address sooner than later.

Stats prove that the Padres must acquire another starting pitcher, and fast

The Padres have been outstanding, winning 21 of their 32 games in which one of Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, Dylan Cease, or Michael King starts. That's even with Musgrove struggling mightily and missing time, Darvish being up and down and missing time, and King being inconsistent at best.

If the Padres are ten games over .500 when one of those four starters take the ball, that means they're ten games under .500 when anyone else does. It's been a major struggle whenever that No. 5 spot comes up in the rotation, and there's no reliable depth option to speak of.

For the Padres to be a playoff team, they're going to need to upgrade the back end of their rotation. Matt Waldron has made eight starts and has a 5.49 ERA. Randy Vasquez, a player acquired in the Soto deal, has made four starts and has a 6.32 ERA.

The Padres don't need an ace, especially with how well Cease has pitched, but to say they need a serviceable arm would be a massive understatement. No team can go through a 162-game season without serviceable starting pitching depth. Preller is learning that the hard way. Expect him to make at least one. move to address this, like he did with Arraez, hopefully in the not-too-distant future.