Fresh off their best month of the season (16-11) the Padres look to keep things rolling against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Friars have been somewhat snake bitten this year as Arizona has outscored them 51-36 in the season series, but things could turn around in a hurry if the Padres can take advantage of four favorable pitching matchups.
First on the hill is Tyson Ross who is in the midst of a true breakout season, and he shows no signs of slowing down. Since being named an All-Star in July all Ross has done is increase his K% by half a point and cut his home runs in half leading to an ERA of 2.10 in the second half. In his three starts versus Arizona this year he has struck out sixteen batters, while only surrendering two walks, in nineteen innings.
Going for Arizona today is Trevor Cahill. Even though Cahill was DFA’d earlier this year (lol KT) he has pitched much better than his peripherals would indicate. Be it luck or bad defensive positioning behind him the ball simply isn't falling his way as his .345 OBABIP is over sixty points above his career average. The Vista HS product is currently sporting a career best K-BB% (9.9%) and HR/9 (0.62), so while his ERA may make him look like one of the leagues worst pitchers, his 96 FIP- (fielding independent pitching adjusted for league and park factors) shows he is slightly above average.
First pitch is scheduled for 1:10.
"We want happy [baseball]. Happy [baseball]. If you want sad things, watch the news."
-Bob Ross, a (possible?) relative of today's starter.