CRAIG’S COMMENTS: Looking for a series victory going into the All-Star break and thoughts on Xander Bogaerts

Xander Bogaerts at Petco Park

After splitting a four-game series with Arizona, the Padres host the Toronto Blue Jays for three games at Petco Park heading into the All-Star break. Padres’ manager Craig Stammen discussed the importance of this series before Friday’s opener:

“We started off pretty tough here at home,” Stammen said while reviewing the season’s first half. “We got on a little bit of a winning streak and thought we had the ship going in the right direction. And then we’ve just had to manage a tough stretch right here. But there is an opportunity to finish off the first half with a winning homestand going into the All-Star break. It’s an important series for us to build some momentum going into the second half.

“We had a winning streak early but whenever you’re playing .500 ball, that’s kind of what it is, two steps forward, two steps back. You win a couple, lose a couple, sweep a team, get swept by a team. That kind of stuff. The thing is, we’ve hung in there amongst a lot of injuries and not great performances at times. Hopefully, that bodes well for the second half and things even out in our favor.

“It’s always good to get the mid-season days off at the All-Star break. Most people work five days and get the weekend off. We don’t have the luxury of having that. The All-Star break is something that gives us a little bit of a good reset within the season.

“You can put the first half behind you and look forward to the second half of a little bit shorter time period — and one that is leading up to the playoffs. We have our work cut out for us, but I think the guys are excited about the second half. They know there is a lot left on the table for them. ”

Stammen on JP Sears starting Friday night: “Same thing as he did last time and the biggest thing is him throwing strikes. It sounds easy, just throw it over the plate. But it’s more about throwing quality strikes. We’ve seen that in two of his three starts, where he’s really executed a lot of his pitches — his sweeper, his cutter, his backdoor changeup down-and-away to righties and then his high fastball, which is always kind of his most effective pitch. If he gets those pitches in the zone and starts locating them where he wants to, he’s going to have a good start.”

Stammen on shortstop Xander Bogaerts:

“He’s had a little bit of a tough stretch here for the last couple of months,” Stammen began. “We’re trying to give him a little confidence boost at a place in the lineup where he’s hit a lot over the course of his career and done very well there. We’re just trying to mix it up and see if we can get one of who we think is one of our best players going. He’s been frustrated. The other day he was talking and said ‘I’m trying to hit the ball to right field and I physically feel like I can’t.’

“He’s battling his swing right now. He’s battling his body, battling his mind, all those kinds of things. We’re trying to get him to go back and just play baseball like he did when he was in Aruba and he became this big prospect and took the Red Sox to the World Series. Just because you’re 33, it doesn’t mean you can’t act like a kid and play like a kid.

“He is a total grinder. He’s a very hard worker. He’s very in tune with what is going on. He’s very honest with what’s going on, too. That’s what the All-Star break is for, a little time to relax. It’s hard to tell players, ‘Hey, don’t work as hard.’ That’s against everything in our intuition. But if you are working smart and doing the right thing, there’s nothing we can say about that.”