The Padres have been in a slump the past two weeks and have now fallen a game behind the Reds for the second wild card spot. Obviously it is time to panic. At least the Padres seem to think so, as they used their patellar tendon and fired their pitching coach, Larry Rothschild. He was in his second season with them after having been the Yankees long time pitching coach. It seems Blake Snell, Chris Paddack, and Ryan Meadows underperforming expectations was his fault.
One thing about Blake Snell—he did win the 2018 AL Cy Young, but his ERA in 2017 and 2019 were both over 4. Perhaps his carrying and ERA over 4 now shouldn’t be all that surprising.
Larry Rothschild was also the first ever manager of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He wasn’t the GM and thus did not assemble those pitiful teams, so their pitiful performance can’t be laid entirely at his feet. Maybe that experience turned him off on being the skipper, as the 67-year-old’s career since then has been as a pitching coach with the Cubs, then Yankees, then Padres.
Fan Interference 