Defense has clearly not been a strength of the San Diego Padres thus far in general manager A.J. Preller’s tenure.
During his first year, the year the Padres “went for it,” the team had the second worst UZR (ultimate zone rating “attempting to quantify how many runs a player saved or gave up through their fielding prowess” as defined by FanGraphs) in all of baseball.
San Diego also rated a whopping -28 drs (defensive runs saved). In contrast, the World Series champion Royals rated +56 drs, proving that winning teams do need to catch the ball and throw the ball, not just hit the ball.