2022 MLB season preview: San Diego Padres

The San Diego Padres finished with a record of 79-83 last season. They were 18 games over .500 on August 10 but went 12-34 over the final 46 games. Bob Melvin took over as manager. Ruben Niebla was hired as a pitching coach. The Giants added 27-year-old Michael Brdar as their hitting coordinator.

Fernando Tatis Jr. suffered a wrist injury while riding a motorcycle and he could miss up to three months. The Padres didn't do a good job converting their low strikeout rate into offense last season. Jake Cronenworth, Manny Machado and Luke Voit are valuable pieces in the Padres' offense. Eric Hosmer is a serviceable hitter, but he's overpaid. Trent Grisham hit 15 homers and stole 13 bases last year. The bench players were below-average. They were fifth in plate appearances with a runner in scoring position. Jason Weingarten has a lot of Rookie of the Year shares of CJ Abrams.

Ruben Niebla is the new pitching coach for the Padres. He had a hand in developing Corey Kluber, Shane Bieber, Mike Clevinger and many other players. Joe Musgrove had his best season with the San Diego Padres and is a good bet for Cy Young Award. Blake Snell and Yu Darvish had disappointing seasons. Nierblas is familiar with both of them.   The Padres are looking for a rotation with some stability. They need to keep an eye on their young pitchers. The players are healthy. Yu is 35. Snells has had elbow problems.

Joe Musgrove is a good pitcher. He has elite spin rates and a career-high strikeout rate. Last season he had a 4.64 ERA over his last 33 innings with a .362 wOBA against.

The books have the San Diego Padres in the upper 80s for the upcoming season. Oddsmakers are smarter and more data suggests the team will win between 88-91. The team was on a 93-win pace before the bottom fell out.