29-year old righty starting pitcher Kevin Correia was the best the Padres had to offer last season. He started 33 games for the Padres last year and he was 12-11 with a 3.91 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. This year Correia hasn’t been awful but he’s been nowhere near as good as he was last year. He has started 12 games for the Padres so far this year and he is 5-4 with a 4.98 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. I have a feeling that Correia is going to start pitching better soon as he’s not the fifth best starter (like he currently is) on the Padres’ pitching staff.

The Padres have placed 42-year old lefty swinging outfielder Matt Stairs on the 15-day disabled list with right knee soreness. Stairs has played in 32 games for the Padres this year and he is 9 of 47 (.191 avg, .583 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer, 7 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The Padres have called up 24-year old righty swinging outfielder Aaron Cunningham to replace Stairs on the active roster. Cunningham has played in 53 games in AAA-ball this year and he is 43 of 180 (.239 avg, .690 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 4 homers, 22 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has played in 45 games in his major league career and he is 28 of 133 (.211 avg, .609 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 2 homers, 20 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Cunningham was one of the better prospects the A’s had the last couple of years so maybe this time around in the majors he will excel.

Lefty starting pitcher Randy Jones didn’t have a long career for the Padres but in 1975 and 1976 no pitcher was better than him in the N.L. In 1975 he finished second to Tom Seaver of the Mets in the Cy Young Award voting despite leading baseball with 22 wins and the N.L. with a 2.24 ERA. But in 1976, Randy Jones won the Cy Young Award. In 1976, Jones pitched in 40 games (all starts) in which he was 22-14 with a 2.74 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. That year Jones completed 25 of his starts of which 5 of those were shutouts. He made the All-Star team twice in his 8 years with the Padres. Jones pitched in 264 games (253 starts) in his career with the Padres and he was 92-105 with 2 saves, a 3.30 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Jones is the Padres’ all-time leader in games started (253), innings pitcher (1,766), complete games (71) and shutouts (18). He is also #6 in games pitched (264), he’s tied for second in wins with Jake Peavy (92), #8 in ERA (3.30), #7 in WHIP (1.21) and he is #8 in strikeouts (677) in Padres’ history. Jones didn’t pitch long for the Padres but he made his mark there.

24-year old righty reliever Ernesto Frieri is looking good in AAA for the Padres. Frieri has pitched in 21 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball this year and he is 2-1 with 10 saves, a 2.35 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He has whiffed 31 batters while only allowing 9 hits in 23 innings pitched this year. Frieri made his major league debut last season with the Padres pitching in 2 games and working 2 scoreless innings. If the Padres need a reliever at some point this season Frieri will get a call if he keeps pitching like he is right now.