When the Padres signed 30-year old righty Jon Garland it raised my eyebrows a little bit. It told me that the Padres saw themselves as contenders and they were right about that. Garland has started 26 games for the Padres this year and he is 13-8 with a 3.25 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. He has been a nibbler as he has walked 71 batters in 157 2/3 innings but he’s missing a lot of bats as he has given up 138 hits. This is the 9th straight season that Garland has won at least 10 games. The younger pitchers on the Padres have been learning tricks from the 30-year old Garland and that’s a good thing too as signing him was a outstanding move for the team.

Some rookies are intimidated by the major leagues but 24-year old righty reliever certainly isn’t one of those. Frieri has pitched in 12 games (0 starts) for the Padres this year and he is 0-0 with a 0.87 ERA and a 0.77 WHIP. He has only given up 5 hits in 10 1/3 innings this season while whiffing 19 batters as he has been downright nasty. Frieri is fitting in well with the Padres who have a dominating pitching staff which is the biggest reason why they are still in first place in the N.L. West.

32-year old righty closer Heath Bell has been solid once again for the Padres in 2010. Bell has pitched in 33 games (0 starts) this season and he is 3-0 with 21 saves, a 1.93 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. In four years with the Padres, Bell has now pitched in 256 games (0 starts) in which he is 21-14 with 65 saves, a 2.63 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. Bell was rumored to be leaving the Padres via trade all last winter but they were smart to keep him. The Padres are 45-30 on the season and a lot of those games have been close ones making the closer very important to the outcome of their contests.

30-year old righty starting pitcher Jon Garland and 26-year old righty reliever Luke Gregerson have both been pitching outstanding so far this season. Garland has been awesome for the Padres this year as he has started 7 games in which he is 4-2 with a 1.71 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. He has only given up 30 hits in 42 innings pitching this season but he has walked 21 batters which is too many. If Garland tightens up his control a bit he might be able to sustain his solid pitching because he has good stuff and Petco Park makes average pitchers really good ones. Gregerson has turned into one of the Padres’ most dependable relievers so far this season. He has pitched in 16 games (0 starts) for the Padres this year and he is 0-0 with a 1.45 ERA and a 0.48 WHIP. Gregerson has been very aggressive in the strike zone as he has only walked 2 hitters while whiffing 19 in 18 2/3 innings. He has also been missing a lot of bats as he has only given up 7 hits this season. Look for the Padres to start pitching Gregerson later in games if he keeps pitching like he is right now.

25-year old lefty starting pitcher Wade LeBlanc is off to a outstanding start for the Padres this year. He has started 3 games for the Padres this year and he is 2-0 with a 0.52 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. LeBlanc has been really aggressive in the strike zone as he has whiffed 16 batters while only walking 4 in 17 1/3 innings. LeBlanc is building on his succes of last season for the Padres. Last year he started 9 games in which he was 3-1 with a 3.69 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. If LeBlanc keeps pitching like he is right now someone else will get bumped from the rotation when Chris Young comes off the D.L.