NL West: 3rd
The Padres improved greatly in their first season at Petco Park, and are definite play-off contenders for 2005.
What went well?:
Rookie shortstop Kahlil Greene (.273, 15 HR, 65 RBIs) had a fantastic first year in the Majors, putting up very respectable numbers with the bat and wowing everyone with his outstanding defense.
Mark Loretta (.335, 16 HR, 76 RBIs) had another outstanding year, to form with Greene one of the best middle infields in the game.
The fact Phil Nevin was healthy added a big boost to the line-up, as he put his injury problems behind him to hit .289, 26 HR, 105 RBIs.
Ramon Hernandez continued his improvement with decent offensive numbers (.276, 18 HR, 63 RBIs) for a catcher.
The rotation was led by Jake Peavy, who went 15-6 with a 2.27 ERA, which would have been the best in the Majors had he pitched enough innings to qualify for the title.
David Wells added needed veteran experience to the rotation, chipping in with a 12-8 record with a 3.73 ERA.
Brian Lawrence (15-14, 4.12 ERA) and Adam Eaton (11-14, 4.61 ERA) had decent enough seasons to round out a deep rotation.
Trevor Hoffman (3-3, 2.30 ERA, 41 saves) led a very impressive bullpen.
Scott Linebrink (7-3, 2.14 ERA) proved himself as a reliable reliever and Akinori Otsuka (7-2, 1.75 ERA) performed brilliantly in his debut MLB season.
What didn't go well?:
Brian Giles hit .284 with 23 HRs and 94 RBIs, short of the expected 30 HR/100 RBI numbers, although there were numerous complaints that the new stadium was far too favourable to the pitchers and made hit too hard to go deep.
Ryan Klesko (.291, 9 HR, 66 RBIs) displayed a worrying lack of power from a guy who you would expect 25 homers from..
Rod Beck (0-2, 6.38 ERA) had personal problems, and followed an outstanding 2003 season filling in as closer with a woeful 2004.
Sean Burroughs (.298, 2 HR, 47 RBIs) hits for a decent average, but unless he can hit .330 or so, many clubs would want to see much more power.
What about next year?:
The Padres were in play-off contention right up until the end of last season, and I would expect more of the same from Bruce Bochy's team.
If Giles and Klesko return to form, they can combine with Nevin and Loretta to give the Padres a formidable heart of the line-up, and the addition of Dave Roberts to the top of the line-up will create plenty of run-scoring situations and take some pressure off Burroughs.
The loss of Wells to Boston hurts, but now is the time for Peavy to prove his great season was not a fluke. Lawrence and Eaton must prove they are not merely .500 pitchers by raising their games further.
The Padres probably won't get much attention, but they definitely have the talent to make the play-offs.