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 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.

23-year old righty reliever Anthony Bass came into this season as the Padres’ #22 prospect according to Baseball America. He’s proving why so far with the Padres this year. Bass has pitched in 20 games (1 start) for the Padres so far this year and he is 1-0 with a 2.03 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. He has also pitched in 14 games (all starts) in AA+AAA-ball this year and he was 7-4 with a 3.62 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. The Padres hope he keeps up the good work until the end of the year.

33-year old righty starting pitcher Aaron Harang had a rough time from 2008-2010 with the Reds. In those three years, he pitched in 78 games (75 starts) in which he was 18-38 with a 4.71 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. The Padres then signed him to a prove it, 1-year deal over the winter and the results have been pretty good. Harang has pitched in 22 games (all starts) for the Padres so far this year and he is 14-3 with a 3.96 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. He has pitched much better at home this year, but most Padres’ pitchers do. I think they would be smart to bring him back in 2012 as long as he isn’t looking to break the bank.

23-year old righty starting pitcher Mat Latos has been red hot so far in August. Latos has started 4 games so far in August and he is 1-2 with a 2.67 ERA and a 0.81 WHIP. He has only given up 18 hits while walking 4 batters so far this month in his first 27 innings as he has been electric. Latos has now pitched in 24 games (all starts) for the Padres so far this year and he is 6-12 with a 3.83 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. The Padres hope to get Latos some wins to reward him for pitching so well.