2006 San Diego Padres Predictions & Season Preview


June 5, 2008 | Posted By Larry Cook

These 2006 San Diego predictions show that they have a real shot at winning their division.  The inconsistency of the National League West makes it very difficult to gage who will be at the top of the division come October as bad teams can fall into a terrible rut at any time. We saw evidence of this in the Kansas City Royals last season. With this in mind, another division title in 2006 will be much harder for the San Diego Padres to attain with Barry Bonds returning to the lineup for the San Francisco Giants to give them legitimate challengers.

Some parks are hitter-friendly like Colorado’s and some are pitcher-friendly like Washington’s. I don’t know if Petco is pitcher friendly, but according to Padres players, it definitely isn’t hitter-friendly. The Padres finished just 3 games over .500 at Petco in 2004 and despite continued complaining about their ball park, they improved to 11 games over the .500 mark in 2005. I expect they’ll understand even more in 2006 that they aren’t going to be a long ball team and they’ll focus on hitting line drives which will improve their home record even more. I expect taking the Padres at home, especially within their division, to be a solid investment this season. This team doesn’t have an extremely potent lineup anyway you look at it, but Brian Giles may be the Padre that seems to have been hurt the most by the new ball park. Last season he only managed 15 home runs and 83 runs batted in, after being a consistent 30 or more round tripper guy in Pittsburgh. Khalil Greene will have to be a little better in the shortstop position with another year under his belt. I think he can emerge as a shortstop who can hit for power, with his stocky frame. And I think you are going to see Mike Piazza is way past his prime and won’t be able to produce in the catcher spot. Jake Peavy is a major bright spot on this team as the ace of the Padres staff. I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes his way to a higher caliber team for more money before too long. Chris Young is a young gun poised to make a big move this year after moving over from the American League. Do Chan Ho Park and Woody Williams have anything left in the tank? Who knows, but if one of them can produce then this staff is going to be decent from top to bottom. The bullpen still has Trevor Hoffman who managed 43 saves last season. Linebrink and Alan Embree are solid options in the setup position. It’s going to take a nice season from these arms in order for the Padres to do much damage in the National League West.

It’s important to note that the Padres really have a tough time on the road as they were just 36-45 last season. Inconsistent road play can be expected from young teams. With another year of experience under their belts, they should be able to improve slightly this season, but I’m not expecting anything drastic. The Padres are a team you are going to want to look at laying down on exclusively at home unless any further road trends develop which show better value.

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