Tingler’s Thoughts on Padres-Dodgers, Caratini-Nola
Tags: Major League Baseball, Jayce Tingler, Padres, MLB, San Diego Padres

Tingler’s Thoughts on Padres-Dodgers, Caratini-Nola

As the Padres end a run of 17 straight game days Sunday with a seventh game against the Dodgers in a span of 10 days, Padres manager Jayce Tingler spoke about the Dodgers and the past two weeks in his daily media session.

“These battles have gone back and forth, each pitch is intense, each pitch has purpose,” Tingler said of the Dodger series. “These are two of the better teams at knowing the strike zone. We’re in intense, fun baseball games. I do know we have tomorrow (day off) circled.

“The Dodgers have been the benchmark over the last couple years. I’m more excited, focused on what we can become. I believe we have tremendous upside and I think we’ve tapped into only 40, 50, 60 percent of what we can be. We can’t show up at 70–80 percent and expect to win. Each game is important and we have to bring it.

“Over the past 17 games, we’ve seen everybody’s “A” game. We had challenges of losing a couple of starting pitchers. We’ve seen a lot of front-line pitching. We got (Trent) Grisham back in lineup. I’ve said this stretch is going to make us better for the summer. There are some positives. I like in general how we’ve managed the strike zone. There are moments with runners in scoring position where we could be better. We can take steps forward, that is going to determine if we’re a playoff or World Series-caliber team.

“Over the last week, I see the guys feeling more comfortable, starting to be loose. I’m seeing things tighten up on defense. If we keep the ball in the ballpark, we’re going to be a tough team to score against.”

Tingler on Sunday starter Joe Musgrove: “He’s been going through video. Victor (Caratini) has been in there last few nights and he knows this is a very tough lineup. Joe is going to work quick and mix his pitches.”

Tingler said Austin Nola is close to returning and also praised Caratini:

“We could see Nola in Arizona, it could be the Giants series as well,” Tingler said. “It’s possible. I don’t want to put a date on it. As long as we don’t have a setback or swelling or anything like that, we’re close. We feel like we’re making strides and getting close. Nola is playing in games in Arizona. He’s progressing and doing well. We’ll see where we are at tomorrow or so. All the reports have been positive. They haven’t had back-to-back games down there, but he’s had a heavy volume of work. We’re hopeful to get through off-day.”

As for Caratini, Tingler praised the catcher’s work Friday in the seventh inning Friday as Yu Darvish approached the end of his outing: “Caratini and I were communicating and we were on the same page,” said Tingler. “I felt good that Yu was going to get us through seven. We got the first out in the seventh, then (Luke) Raley laid the bunt down the line. I knew Yu was running on fumes. It looked like when pitching to (Austin) Barnes that maybe he had lost it.

“He got that punch out and Victor was saying that the ball has some snap, had some finish. Ultimately, you don’t want to go out and get your guy in that situation. That’s his game and at that point, Victor was communicating he’s got enough for one more hitter. That was great information. That’s ultimately what we want. That’s Yu’s game and he made a good pitch … (Mookie) Betts got a great swing on it and Manny (Machado) made a great play.”