27-year old righty reliever Luke Gregerson has turned in another fine year for the Padres. He has pitched in 60 games (0 starts) for the Padres so far this year and he is 3-3 with a 2.77 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. In his first three years with the Padres, Gregerson has pitched in 212 games (0 starts) in which he is 9-14 with 3 saves, a 3.11 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. He has only given up 166 hits in his first 208 2/3 innings while whiffing 216 batters, and those are some pretty impressive numbers.

The Padres invested quite a bit in bringing in 33-year old righty swinging 2B Orlando Hudson and 31-year old righty swinging shortstop Jason Bartlett last winter and the results have been sub par in 2011. Hudson got a 2-year, $11.5 million dollar deal with a team option for the 2013 season (which he likely won’t see). Hudson has played in 113 games for the Padres so far this year and he is 92 for 378 (.243 avg, .682 OPS) with 51 runs scored, 7 homers, 42 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. Jason Bartlett came to the Padres in a deal over the winter for infielder Cole Figueroa, righty reliever Adam Russell, righty reliever Brandon Gomes and lefty reliever Cesar Ramos. Bartlett has played in 135 games for he Padres so far this year and he is 135 of 538 (.251 avg, .628 OPS) with 61 runs scored, 2 homers, 40 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. Figueroa didn’t make it to the majors yet for the Rays, but Gomes, Russell and Ramos have all pitched for them this year. They have combined to pitch in 129 games (0 starts) for the Rays this year and they are 3-4 with a 3.50 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. The bottom line is that the Padres need Hudson and Bartlett to play better in 2012 than they did this year.

The Padres have shut down 24-year old righty swinging rookie 3B James Darnell for the rest of the season due to a shoulder injury. Darnell played in 18 games for the Padres this year and he is 10 for 45 (.222 avg, .627 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer, 7 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has also played in 111 games in AA+AAA-ball this year and he is 131 of 422 (.310 avg, .953 OPS) with 82 runs scored, 23 homers, 79 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Darnell came into this season as the Padres’ #12 prospect according to Baseball America, so he could have a bright future.

It’s too bad that 28-year old righty swinging catcher Nick Hundley has missed so much time this year, because the Padres could have used his bat. Hundley has played in 72 games for the Padres this year and he is 72 for 245 (.294 avg, .846 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 8 homers, 26 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 295 games in his first four years with the Padres and he is 248 of 972 (.255 avg, .736 OPS) with 109 runs scored, 29 homers, 123 RBIs and 6 stolen bases.

The Padres were smart not to deal 33-year old closer Heath Bell at the trade deadline. Bell has pitched in 58 games (0 starts) for the Padres so far this year and he is 3-4 with 37 saves, a 2.65 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. The Padres have played a lot of close games, making Bell even more valuable than usual as he has saved 37 of the Padres’ 63 wins this year. Bell has now pitched in 348 games (0 starts) in his first five years with the Padres and he is 27-19 with 128 saves, a 2.56 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. Bell has been a more than worthy successor to Trevor Hoffman as the closer for the Padres.