2023 Padres Season Review: Jose Espada and Luis Garcia

2023 Regular Season Statistics

Luis Garcia: 0.1 fWAR, 61 G, 59.2 IP, 4.07 ERA, 1.391 WHIP, 53 K, 24 BB, 6 HR, 6 HBP

Jose Espada (Minors and Majors): 35 G, 83.1 IP, 2.81 ERA, 1.926 WHIP, 110 K, 44 BB, 7 HR, 2 HBP

Positives From This Season

There definitely were some struggles from Garcia this season but he didn’t allow an earned run in May and finished 2023 with a 1.96 ERA in his final 22 games and 23 innings of 2023 (post trade deadline).

I’m not going to act like I know a ton about Espada but it’s still a great accomplishment for him to go from Double-A San Antonio to Triple-A El Paso to the major league club this season. With the Padres trying to trim payroll in 2024, Espada may end up getting some more time on the mound because he’ll be on a rookie salary ($720,000).

Negatives From This Season

Garcia had some outings this year where he allowed too many runs to take the Padres out of games. For example, he got just one out and allowed four runs in a two-run loss to Arizona in April. Even when he didn’t allow a run it seemed like there was always runners on base.

He was the target of a lot of Padres fans frustrations on social media but I’m not so sure the Padres view Garcia as such a bad pitcher. Sure, the Padres probably don’t want to pay him over $3 million to come back in 2024 but they could offer him a one-year deal for less to see if they can get something more out of him.

I have nothing negative to say about Espada since he had just one appearance at Petco Park. He didn’t allow a run in his one inning on September 24.