 James Shields has performed better after the All-Star break in recent seasons. Right-hander James Shields has agreed to a four-year contract with the San Diego Padres, according to multiple reports. The agreement adds one of baseball’s biggest innings-eaters to the Padres, who continued a busy offseason with the deal. Padres add another
Shields is the latest in a string of acquisitions by the Padres, who have had a very busy offseason, most notably in revamping their outfield with trades for Matt Kemp, Justin Upton and Wil Myers. Shields and free agent Brandon Morrow will be the two newcomers in the team’s rotation, which is currently headed by Andrew Cashner and Tyson Ross. The team also should be helped by Josh Johnson and Cory Luebke, who is expected to return from Tommy John surgery in 2015. Padres starters ranked ninth in the majors with a 3.55 ERA last season, but half of their games were at pitcher-friendly Petco Park. Looking at ERA minus, which provides added context to ERA, they ranked 19th. The team’s starters ranked 23rd in the majors in innings pitched. In fact, the Padres’ rotation has ranked 22nd or 23rd in innings in each of the past three seasons. Shields has a track record of logging a lot of innings. He’s one of three pitchers to throw at least 200 innings in each of the past eight seasons (when he was with the Tampa Bay Rays and Kansas City Royals), along with Justin Verlander and Mark Buehrle. What Shields does best
Shields has won in the past with the help of a highly regarded changeup, one that netted 109 strikeouts in 2012, second most in the majors. He’s scaled back the use of it as a wipeout pitch over the past two seasons, going with his fastball a little more frequently in two-strike situations. But he still ranked fifth in strikeouts with the pitch last season with 67. Though Shields struggled in the 2014 postseason, he closed the regular season strong, with a 2.48 ERA in his last 13 starts. This is something that he has done consistently over the past three seasons. In that span, his ERA before the All-Star break has been 3.66. After the break, it has been 2.83. The Padres' player payroll has been on a fairly consistent uptick the past five seasons. Their Opening Day payroll in 2010 was $37.8 million. It steadily rose and was $90.6 million last season. Before signing Shields, their 2015 payroll was $83.6 million.
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