Padres blew it with Yasmani Grandal

LOS ANGELES — Before we get to the quote, let's make clear that Yasmani Grandal looks back on his time with the Padres fondly.

He has friends in San Diego he still roots for. He exudes gratitude toward the organization that birthed his Major League career. He said he would have loved to have represented the Pads in the All-Star Game like he will the Dodgers on Tuesday.

But when asked about his old club's pitching philosophy, Grandal couldn't help but speak his mind.

"(Stuff) comes back to bite you in the (behind)," he said.

Sorry about the parentheses. Family newspaper. You can probably fill in the blanks, though.

Grandal spent his final season in San Diego as an untrusted catcher whose offensive talents were minimized. He started just 67 games behind the plate and, consequently, struggled to find his swing.

Andrew Cashner didn't pitch to him at all. Tyson Ross permanently switched to Rene Rivera in late June, then Ian Kennedy did the same in mid-July.

Granted, the latter pair each had slightly more success with Rivera than Grandal, and Rivera was just as effective in the batter's box. But in retrospect, the Padres' reluctance to use Yasmani every day may have been like repeatedly taking the popcorn kernels out of the microwave just before they were going to pop.

In 128 games last year — many of which he entered midway through the contest — Grandal hit .225 with 15 home runs. Through the first 67 games of this year — 65 of which he started — Grandal was hitting .278 with 14 home runs.

Yasmani said he he would have been more consistent with his bat if he were a regular part of the Padres' lineup, but he never approached then-manager Bud Black about it. He didn't talk to Cashner, Ross or Kennedy about his behind-the-plate banishment, either, although he has a pretty good idea of why it happened.

Despite the general San Diego approach being to throw down and away, Grandal thought the power pitchers should be throwing inside in the early part of the count before using the outer half of the plate to record the out. But the veteran hurlers weren't catching his drift, and as a result, he wasn't catching their pitches.

Of course, it may have gone beyond mere strategical disagreements. Grandal served a 50-game PED suspension in 2013, which, according to reports he would get, cost him much of the Padres' clubhouse.

He stayed positive, though. After last season, Grandal texted Cashner, Ross, Kennedy, Odrisamer Despaigne and Yangervis Solarte among others to see how he could improve his relationship with his teammates.Only Ross responded.

A few weeks later, Yasmani was part of a package shipped to the Dodgers in exchange for Matt Kemp. And while he didn't know it at the time, it was the best day of Grandal's career.

Heading into Friday's game against the Brewers, Grandal had more home runs and a better slugging percentage than any catcher in the National League. And in addition to upping his caught-stealing percentage from 13 percent last year to 26 percent this year, he also is the second-best pitch framer in baseball, according to statcorner.com.

Perhaps that's why Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke have no issue throwing to Yasmani. In fact, Greinke praised Grandal's consistency in calling his strengths after extending his scoreless-inning streak to 35.1 innings Thursday.

The cumulative effect has been Yasmani being selected to his first All-Star game after two disappointing seasons in San Diego, all the while batting clean-up for a first-place team.

"I'm the happiest I've ever been," said Grandal, adding that Kennedy was the only current Padre to congratulate him on his All-Star selection.

Don't think Yasmani doesn't pay attention to the Padres, though. After the hitters they added to the lineup this offseason, he expected his former team to compete with the Dodgers for the NL West crown.

San Diego's pitching, however, has disappointed, and Grandal can't help but wonder if that would be the case had his advice been heeded.

It wasn't, though. Didn't seem anybody wanted to hear what he had to say.

And now, one year later, Grandal's new team isn't hearing the Padres' footsteps.


(sandiegouniontribune.com)