53-year old manager Bud Black seemed to work his magic wand last year for the Padres who finished last season 90-72 (55.6%), just missing the playoffs. The Padres are now 317-332 (48.8%) in Black’s first four years in charge. This year is going to be much more challenging for the Padres’ manager as the offense looks pretty iffy for 2011. They won’t be able to replace Adrian Gonzalez’ bat, so the success of the Padres is going to fall on Black’s pitching staff once again.

The Padres will have a outstanding bullpen once again in 2011. It all starts with 33-year old righty closer Heath Bell. Bell pitched in 67 games (0 starts) for the Padres last year and he was 6-1 with 47 saves, a 1.93 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. He has now pitched in 290 games (0 starts) in his first four years with the Padres and he is 24-15 with 91 saves, a 2.54 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. Bell has only given up 236 hits while whiffing 338 batters in his first 311 1/3 innings with the Padres. I look for him to have another outstanding year in 2011.

32-year old righty Mike Adams has turned into one of the best set-up men in all of baseball since coming to San Diego. Adams pitched in 70 games (0 starts) for the Padres last year and he was 4-1 with a 1.76 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. He has now pitched in 161 games (0 starts) in his first three years with the Padres and he is 6-4 with a 1.81 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP. Look for Adams to be lights out once again in 2011.

26-year old righty Luke Gregerson is also a nasty late reliever for the Padres. He pitched in 80 games (0 starts) for the Padres last year and he was 4-7 with 2 saves, a 3.22 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP. Gregerson has now pitched in 152 games (0 starts) in his first two years with the Padres and he is 6-11 with 3 saves, a 3.23 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. He has whiffed 182 batters in only 153 1/3 innings so far in his career with the Padres while only giving up 109 hits, which shows how nasty he is.

25-year old righty Ernesto Frieri looks like a pitcher on the rise for the Padres. He pitched in 33 games (0 starts) for the Padres last year and he was 1-1 with a 1.71 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. Frieri has now pitched in 35 games (0 starts) in his first two years with the Padres and he is 1-1 with a 1.60 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. He has only given up 18 hits in his first 33 2/3 innings in the majors and he has 43 whiffs as he has been making getting major league hitters out look pretty easy so far in his career.

29-year old lefty Joe Thatcher is going to start this year on the D.L. He pitched in 65 games (0 starts) for the Padres last year and he was 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP. Thatcher has now pitched in 164 games (0 starts) in his first four years with the Padres and he is 4-6 with a 3.27 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. The Padres need him to get better soon.

32-year old righty Chad Qualls is trying to rebound from an awful 2010 season. He pitched in 70 games (0 starts) for the Rays & D-Backs last year and he was 3-4 with 12 saves, a 7.32 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP. Qualls gave up an amazing 85 hits in only 59 innings last year as he wasn’t missing many bats. Qualls has now pitched in 460 games (0 starts) in his first 7 years in the majors and he is 32-26 with 51 saves, a 3.82 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP.

27-year old righty Samuel Deduno came into this season as the Rockies’ #27 prospect. He pitched in 4 games (0 starts) for the Rockies last year and he was 0-0 with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. Deduno also pitched in 10 games (all starts) in A+AAA-ball last year and he was 3-3 with a 3.83 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. He appears to have a nice upside.

35-year old lefty Randy Flores might get some action due to Thatcher’s injury. He pitched in 58 games (0 starts) for the Rockies & Twins last year and he was 2-0 with a 3.19 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. Flores has now pitched in 350 games (3 starts) in his first 8 years in the majors and he is 11-5 with 4 saves, a 4.61 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP.

34-year old righty Geoff Geary pitched in 16 games (0 starts) for the Astros last year and he was 1-3 with a 8.10 ERA and a 2.00 WHIP. He has now pitched in 287 games (0 starts) in his first 7 years in the majors and he is 16-10 with 1 save, a 3.92 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. Geary hopes to get his career back on the right path in San Diego in 2011.

30-year old righty Pat Neshek was a late addition to the Padres’ pen this spring. He pitched in 11 games (0 starts) for the Twins last year and he was 0-1 with a 5.00 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. Neshek has now pitched in 132 games (0 starts) in his first four years in the majors and he is 11-6 with a 3.05 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP. If Neshek can stay healthy, he might have a big year for the Padres as he’s very talented.

26-year old righty Luis Perdomo pitched in 1 game (0 starts) for the Padres last year and he was 0-0 with a 9.00 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He has now pitched in 36 games (0 starts) in his first two years with the Padres and he is 1-0 with a 4.87 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. Perdomo is going to have a hard time making the Padres in 2011 due to the depth of the pen.

24-year old lefty Aaron Poreda took a big step backward last year. He pitched in 39 games (1 start) in AA+AAA-ball and he was 1-2 with a 3.83 ERA and a 1.76 WHIP. He only gave up 31 hits in 54 minor league innings last year but he walked 64 batters which is amazingly awful. Poreda last pitched in the majors back in 2009 with the Padres. He has pitched in 14 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA and a 1.73 WHIP. Unless Poreda tightens his control up quite a bit, the Padres aren’t going to let him anywhere near San Diego.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE PADRES BULLPEN IN 2011: A+

The Padres have placed 23-year old righty starting pitcher Mat Latos on the 15-day disabled list due to a right shoulder strain. Latos pitched in 31 games (all starts) for the Padres last year and he was 14-10 with a 2.92 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. He only gave up 150 hits and 50 walks last year, while whiffing 189 batters in 184 2/3 innings pitched! He is by far the ace of the Padres’ pitching staff, but they still need to handle him with kid gloves because they want to protect his shoulder.

The Padres have released 32-year old righty swinging 1B/OF Oscar Salazar. Salazar played in 85 games for the Padres last year and he was 31 of 131 (.237 avg, .653 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 3 homers, 19 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He played in 140 games in his two years with the Padres and he was 60 for 239 (.251 avg, .720 OPS) with 31 runs scored, 6 homers, 38 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Padres might miss Salazar a little bit as he was a solid bench player for them the last couple years.

The Padres have acquired 24-year old righty reliever Eddie Kunz from the Mets for 23-year old lefty swinging 1B Allan Dykstra. Kunz pitched in 42 games (12 starts) in AAA-ball last year and he was 7-8 with 3 saves, a 5.34 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP. His only major league experience came back in 2008 with the Mets. Kunz pitched in 4 games (0 starts) for the Mets in 2008 and he was 0-0 with a 13.50 ERA and a 2.25 WHIP. Allan Dykstra played in 113 games in A-ball last year and he was 93 of 386 (.241 avg, .810 OPS) with 54 runs scored, 16 homers, 70 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Kunz has a good arm and he’s just the kind of guy the Padres seem to be able to coach up to his potential, so I like this deal for the Padres.