The San Diego Padres shocked the baseball world Monday afternoon when they made a change to their coaching staff.
The Padres have slipped in the race for the NL West, falling 13.5 games behind the first-place San Francisco Giants and 11 games back of the second-place Dodgers. To make matters worse, they’re not even one of the two current NL Wild Card teams. Is it time to panic? At this point in the season, yes.
San Diego is hoping to make one last push here with five weeks left until the season comes to a close. The Padres are hoping their latest coaching change will give them the spark they need.
The Padres dismissed Larry Rothschild, their pitching coach, on Monday. It’s a pretty stunning move this late in the season.
“The San Diego Padres relieved pitching coach Larry Rothschild of his duties, Manager Jayce Tingler announced on Monday,” the Padres announced, via MLB.com. “Ben Fritz will serve as interim pitching coach for the remainder of the 2021 season.”
The #Padres have dismissed pitching coach Larry Rothschild: pic.twitter.com/hnjTqCiPpq
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 23, 2021
Even baseball insider Jeff Passan thinks this is one of the most shocking coaching changes in recent baseball history.
“This isn’t quite Milwaukee firing Ned Yost on Sept. 15, but the Padres canning their pitching coach with five weeks left in the season is pretty close,” Passan said on Twitter.
Take a look at what others are saying about the Padres’ latest coaching change.
If the Padres miss the playoffs with the moves they had and expectations they’re easily the biggest 2021 disappointment. https://t.co/Qb5FhW62jP
— Balls Don’t Work (@GotNoSperm) August 23, 2021
GOOD. https://t.co/OCpvsVlX4k
— Anshel Sag (@anshelsag) August 23, 2021
The Chicago native and former Cubs’ pitching coach is out in San Diego in a pretty rare major coaching move in late August. https://t.co/EXwoZmLing
— Larry Hawley (@HawleySports) August 23, 2021
This isn’t quite Milwaukee firing Ned Yost on Sept. 15, but the Padres canning their pitching coach with five weeks left in the season is pretty close. https://t.co/y4LH8Q6tfi
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 23, 2021
This is long overdue https://t.co/KAuKyi8Ozx
— Travis Griffin (@TGriff24) August 23, 2021
It sounds like most fans are happy with the Padres’ latest coaching move. But is it too little too late? We’ll find out in a few weeks.
The post MLB World Reacts To Monday’s Significant Padres News appeared first on The Spun.
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