Trouble Ahead for the Padres?

The San Diego Padres were hoping not to get off to a bad start this baseball season. Well, unfortunately, they did, and with the why things are going right now, they definitely don't want to be playing the Houston Astros this early in the season.

Yesterday's 3-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies dropped them to 1-6 to start the season and questions have been surrounding this team, like the closer role of Brad Hand the ineptness on offense from most of their starting players. However, it didn't just start at the beginning of the regular season. Their chief-run producer Dinelson Lamet landed himself on the DL even before the Padres left to go back to San Diego from spring training. And now they're feeling the impact of his loss, since he is a big part of their run-production.

In Thursday's game, however, Joey Lucchesi was the main reason the Padres stayed in it til the end, and for the time being, the Padres are going to keep him in the rotation, with the hope that their offense will get things going and allow him to get some wins under his belt. However, that is hard to force, considering the Astros are up next and they've got good teams on the horizon.

The big question mark might be Brad Hand. Although he's had a fine career with the Padres so far, questions are now starting to arise if he's going to be able to be the closer role for the foreseeable future. My guess is no and that he'll return to the eighth inning role, where he's been good for the past few seasons. But right now, he's in the spot where he is, and the Padres might have to bite their tongue and wait for better results. However, I can understand their impatience with this.

Last Friday, Hand allowed five runs and blew a save, allowing the Brewers to walk away with the win. On Thursday afternoon, he walked the two first batters and eventually had the bases loaded before giving up another walk to bring in a run. There was groans from Padres fans, because they knew they had lost this game on him.

In his first four innings of 2018, Hand allowed eight runs on five hits and three walks. Those are numbers that are alarming, especially to manager Andy Green.

So with all that being said, are the Padres actually in trouble this early in the season? Perhaps, and especially since they have a hard schedule this early and with a weekend with the Astros on deck. I can't blame the whole thing on Brad Hand yet. He may be able to turn this around, before things get out of hand. But right now, the offense is the biggest blame in all of this, because Eric Hosmer hasn't really done much yet to move the needle. He's had a couple of hits, but not enough to really turn the tide for this team, while Wil Myers just landed himself on the DL with injuries. You also have Carlos Asauje and Freddy Galvis, who have yet to pick up the hits and the runs they need to get them some wins for this team. It's really not looking good on paper right now.

Here's the thing: We're still early on the season. There's time to turn things around. This is not the end of the world yet. However, I do understand the concern on a bunch of Padres fans and management. This is not the trend you want to have at the beginning of the season, especially when your offense looks inept at times. Perhaps things will change as the season goes along and people get adjusted to their roles. I just hope Green is not ready to push the panic button on this season, because the way things look, that's where it's headed: Panic mode.