Is Yasmani Grandal A Catcher Or A Magician?

Some things are simply not easy to explain. Right about now, I'd like to add "What kind of magic does Yasmani Grandal possess?" to the list of our universe's mysteries.

On Saturday, the Padres were coming off an ugly loss to the Rockies and fighting for the worst record in baseball. They decided to make a change at catcher, sending Nick Hundley to AAA Tucson and bringing up Yasmani Grandal, one of the hottest prospects in baseball.

I want to know if he brought Wonderboy with him, because what's happened since has defied logic.

Just as Roy Hobbs suddenly changed the fortunes of the New York Knights, Yasmani Grandal has turned the Padres in to a juggernaut.

The Padres beat the Diamondbacks 8-6 on Wednesday night, completing their first sweep ever in Arizona. Not even in 1998, when the Padres went to the World Series and the Diamondbacks were a 97-loss expansion team, had San Diego swept a 3-game series in Phoenix.

Can it be any coincidence that Grandal is around for it to happen?

Since they called him up, the Padres are 5-0 (their first 5-game win streak of the season). On Wednesday Grandal didn't start. Sure enough, in the 8th inning, with the game tied 4-4, Yasmani came on to pinch-hit and promptly smacked a 2-run home run. It's almost as if his mere presence inspires offense.

San Diego scored two more runs in the 9th inning, giving them 4 runs in 7 innings without Grandal, 4 runs in 2 innings with him.

Chris Denorfia went 4-5 with 3 runs scored hitting in the leadoff spot.

The Padres finish their 10-game road trip 7-3, easily their best stretch of the season on the road OR at home. Grandal has hit 4 home runs. The Padres have scored 33 runs, their most prolific 5-game stretch of the season.

Is it all because of Grandal? Probably not. But I'm not going to rule it out completely.


(nbcsandiego.com)