CRAIG’S COMMENTS: Discussing Buehler, Injuries, Snapping Slumps and A.J. Preller

Walker Buehler at Petco Park

Before Monday night’s series opener against the Reds at Petco Park, Padres’ manager Craig Stammen discussed starting pitcher Walker Buehler:

“Buehler has definitely been pitching well,” Stammen began. “He was really good his last time out. Gave us six innings for the first time. We really like what we’ve seen from him. He has continued velocity in that 94–96 range. I think he feels good about where he is trending toward with a selection of different pitches that he hasn’t used in the past.

“He’s learning how to be the new Walker Buehler, who is still successful in the big leagues. The one thing that he brings to the table that we love having is that he’s been there and done that. We ask how many World Series starts have you had? And he’s one of the few guys who can say he’s had multiple World Series starts and knows how to compete at the highest level and knows how to get through games at the highest level.

“He’s executing his pitches with two strikes. That’s what it is with two strikes: can you execute the pitch you believe you’ve set up with the hitter. And when Walker is executing pitches at a high clip, he gets some strikeouts.”

Stammen discussed how the recent rash of injuries suffered by the Padres have affected the results:

“It’s never easy when you have injuries to key guys who have been a big part of our team, a big part of our success at the beginning of the year and the success the Padres have had over the last five, six years,” said Stammen. “We definitely miss them. It’s a good thing that we think most of those guys will all be back and we’ll be able to get them in the lineup.

“Hopefully, we start playing a little bit better baseball and start swinging the bats a little bit better. Then when we get those guys back, we’ll hit the ground running. The guys we have in the lineup now are also really good baseball players. They are Major Leaguers for a reason and we feel like we can win with the guys we have right now. Obviously, the guys we have on the injured list would make us a better team. They’ve proven that in the past. We believe both can happen throughout the year.”

Stammen on Miguel Andujar, who left Sunday’s game hurt: “He’s day-to-day. We’re evaluating him throughout the day to see how he is feeling. We’ll see if he can get ramped up with the potential of hitting tonight as a pinch-hitter and we’ll see about playing going forward.”

Stammen discussed catcher Luis Campusano (broken toe):

“Luis is still working through a progression here hitting-wise and catching-wise,” said Stammen. “He’s been catching bullpens and swinging a little bit off the tee. He’s still a little ways away from playing games and all that kind of stuff. He’s still working through it.

“The length of his rehab assignment depends on how well he’s hitting. The catching stuff he’s been able to stay pretty locked in on. He’s been able to keep throwing. He’s been able to catch bullpens. It’s just the moving around, the blocking and being able to get out of his crouch and throw down to second, those are the things that have been a little bit more difficult for him.”

Freddy Fermin at Petco Park

Stammen on catcher Freddy Fermin, who homered in a third straight game Monday night:

“It’s always nice when the balls fall in,” said Stammen. “One, it calms your mind a little bit that you will get a hit. I think sometimes when you see those line drives go at people and it happens multiple times in a row, the inclination is ‘I need to change something’ to get the hits. You can’t chase the result. A lot of times you stick to the same process that our guys are sticking to and eventually the line drives are going to fall in.”

Stammen on general manager A.J. Preller:

“A.J. Preller is going to do his job very well,” Stammen began. “He always does his job very well. It’s fun being the manager of an A.J. Preller-GMed team because you know he’s never going to rest until things are figured out or until he gets the right mix on the roster. A.J. is going to do his thing. He and I talk about different things and different concepts all the time. Some go through to fruition and some don’t. I just know he’s here to win. We’re here to win. And we’re going to figure it out.”