It occurred to me as I looked up at the Padres' pitching matchup tonight just how much of the Padres' 2025 season has hinged on the choices of the New York Yankees. Tonight, for his first start since April, Nestor Cortes will be taking the mound for San Diego. He was supposed to be a key part of the Brewers' rotation, after being traded for Devin Williams, who, uh...hasn't been much better, but got hurt instantly and is only now being activated by a completely different team.
Cortes is one of several ex-Yankees currently populating this pitching staff. J.P. Sears was just demoted after a rough start, but he's very much in play. Randy Vazquez has become a major player in this rotation, he's got a 3.93 ERA in 22 starts without being too showy. Rob Marinaccio is down in the minors after being mediocre in prior appearances with the big club. Jhony Brito and Michael King are both hurt. Wandy Peralta's one of the many excellent members of the bullpen. And now we've got Cortes. That's a ton of Yankees, and, importantly, not all of them got here in the Soto deal. It also goes further than that, as Dylan Cease is here because he was traded for Drew Thorpe, one of the seeds from the Soto deal from New York. Again, so many Yankee decisions make up this Padres team.
Now, to be fair, it's not as simple as 'the Yankees gave away the future for Soto and Soto left'. Trent Grisham, the other piece of this deal, has been fantastic this year, notching his first 20-homer year, and earning starts alongside Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge. It's not like the Yankees completely struck out. You also have to remember that it's not as much of an ex-Yankee colony as the A's can be, or even as Colorado is looking now. But still, it's weird seeing this many ex-Yanks playing well in San Diego, or at the very least playing better than the Yankees.
The Padres, after a very rough stretch, have sparked fire again since the ASG break. They're at 63 wins, 3 away from the Dodgers, and are riding a strong trade deadline where Mason Miller and Ramon Laureano joined the team. Manny Machado leads the league in hits and is on his way to a 30-homer year. Pivetta and Cease have been electric at the top of the rotation, and even Darvish is channeling his old self. You're even seeing Xander Bogaerts' best season since joining the team, with a defensive turnaround and a steady base-stealing run. He's maybe not THE greatest hitter right now, but he's way better than he was last year.
Meanwhile, the Yankees, uh...just won a game for the first time in a while. David Bednar actually held down a save. Paul Goldschmidt had a pinch-hit homer. It's...a start I guess.
Fundamentally, the bones of a good team are here. Anthony Volpe's getting hot again, the homers are coming. Cody Bellinger completely works as a Yankee outfielder. Warren and Schlittler are coming into their own. Now Goldy's getting hot. The middle infield defense needs to be tooled with. Chisholm and Volpe need to be doing drills and nailing reps before you let them out there again. The lackadaisical approach is not working, just like letting Devin Williams take the ninth isn't working. This team has to respond to this drought rather than acting like everything's fine. Two teams have lapped the Yankees, and they need to reclaim the narrative and make the playoffs. The rest of the league is waiting for permission to laugh at them. They can't allow that to happen.
Coming Tomorrow- He didn't pitch in the Bristol Speedway game, but honestly I feel like he got out easy there.
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