Is Padres Hitting Coach Damion Easley Next Off The List?

Damion Easley became the Padres hitting coach in 2020 by replacing Johnny Washington. We had faith that we would have seen the same, lethal offense that San Diego showed last season; however, this year has been frustrating on all ends. Sloppy baseball with errors, struggling pitching since the summer and of course, the inconsistent and weak hitting that has not brought many runs across the plate.

Well San Diego, if you want a miracle to happen, maybe I am your guy. I said earlier this week that pitching coach Larry Rothschild needs to be off the team and that just happened. So let me try again and try to go 2-for-2 at the plate. (That is better offensive numbers than the Padres can do at the moment.) My second target here is hitting coach Damion Easley and he certainly will not be the last if this Padres team continues to slack and miss the playoffs. (I am looking at you Jayce Tingler.)

Anyways, by focusing on Easley, it has not been fun watching this Padres hitters like it was last season. They do not seem as threatening and I can't take them seriously when playing from behind or scoring very few runs. One thing is certain. The lack of stolen bases now is seriously hurting this team and I am not sure why they have stopped being so aggressive on the base paths. (That topic will be more on Tingler soon.)

The Padres are currently 68-59. In 14 of those games, they have managed to score just one run. They are 0-14 in that case. San Diego has scored three runs the most this season with 18 total games (10-8 record). Comparing the offense to 2020, the Padres scored six runs 14 times during a 60-game season!

As of right now, the Padres rank #11 in the Majors with Runs/Game at 4.67. Sure has not seemed that way as of late as those runs are not enough with the pitching struggles. Another piece that is deflating the offense is the way the team has left runners stranded and just have not been putting together significant at-bats. With runners left in scoring position, the Padres rank #26 by having 3.56 runners stranded per game. Everytime I mention the RISP numbers, it seems that it is always a constant 1-5 with RISP or 2-7. Add double plays in that conversation. #25 in that category by averaging 0.79 which is not good. Caratini and Hosmer are tied with 11 GDP's.

It also seems that the Padres lack power and are no longer the famous "Slam Diego" team. I hate to say that I really do. But 1.18 home runs per game. Really? Now the long ball is not everything but it sure helps when the team is leaving runners on base and grounding into double plays often. Fernando Tatis Jr is carried this team by providing some sort of spark in the lineup but it still is not enough to push the team back into contention mode. It is just frustrating. It is flashing me back to what the Padres offense was in 2019 in some ways. Thankfully that have much better plate discipline with 3.71 walks per game.

It would not look good for the Padres to cut off Easley right after they just did Rothschild. But at the end of the day, it is a business. Decisions have to be made and San Diego is running out of options. This team now lacks the fear that they once had when stepping up to the plate. Consistent hitting within games has not happened. The power has been slacking from the offense. All of those miraculous comebacks the past two seasons have been great, but the Padres should not be playing from behind often. Recreate the aggressive ways to get in scoring position and make them touch home or Easley better pack his bags.