Gavin Sheets got turned around on a ball off the bat of Rowdy Tellez in the fourth inning Sunday, misplaying a hard-hit ball into a double that came around to score in a 6-1 loss to the Mariners.
It was just Sheets’ 10th start in left field in his career, second of the season and his first since April 2.
The Padres have all kinds of reasons to get Sheets more comfortable in left field.
Padres left fielders entered Sunday last in the majors in OPS (.483) and in weighted runs created-plus (39), while Sheets is second on the Padres with six home runs.
To date, the Padres’ two home runs from left fielders — tied for the lowest in the majors — have both come from veteran Jason Heyward, but he twice gave way this week to Brandon Lockridge against right-handed starters and on Sunday rode the bench as Sheets started in left field for the first time since April 2.
“You can see it more,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “We’ll play it by ear.”
Manny Machado serving as the DH played a role in the decision, too, as a day off his feet meant Sheets would have to shift to left field if the Padres wanted to keep Luis Arraez’ bat in the field.
Heyward leads the team with 19 starts in left field, but he’s hitting .177/.227/.278 and is not starting as often as he was at the start of the season. Of the others to start in left field, Oscar Gonzalez (12) and Tirso Ornelas (4) returned to the minors after not doing much to stand out at the position and Connor Joe was traded away. Lockridge has seven starts, but he doesn’t have the slug potential of Sheets, who is hitting .281/.333/.467 and is second on the team with 23 RBIs.
Sheets has 27 starts so far at DH, seven at first base and now two in left field.
The play in left field that Sheets got turned around had a 95% catch probability, but Shildt sees what he can bring to the position, especially if he keeps slugging.
“I think he’s played well all year when he’s gotten the few opportunities he’s had,” Shildt said. “ … I think he’s played really solid defense and done what he’s supposed to do. He’s throwing to the right base, and I think he’s more than capable of being a good defender for us.”
Tracking the Vedder Cup
The Padres will have to do quite a bit of heavy lifting if they’re going to get their hands on the yet-to-be-revealed Vedder Cup, which is being designed around a guitar gifted by Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder.
Not only will they have to sweep the Mariners in Seattle in August (25-27), they will have to outscore them by 13 runs in the series to win the first tiebreaker (the Mariners outscored the Padres 15-3 in the weekend sweep at Petco Park).
The Mariners are also leading the second tiebreaker: the highest exit velocity on a recorded hit, which so far is Tellez’s 111.7 mph home run on Friday night.
Why exit velocity?
E.V., for Eddie Vedder.
Notable
- RHP Yu Darvish (elbow) is expected to make the trip to Toronto but will not pitch in the Blue Jays series, Shildt said. The 38-year-old threw four innings in a rehab start for Triple-A El Paso on May 14, throwing 51 pitches in the game.
- Merrill’s right hand was wrapped in Sunday’s game because of a blister that popped. He said the blister likely developed from swinging, but is not a hindrance. “It’s just big — annoying,” he said.
