Padres Find Staff Catalyst in Deshaies : Baseball: Left-hander proves his naysayers wrong.

Jim Deshaies was told he would be staying in San Diego for a day. He packed his duffel bag, left his family behind and didn’t even bother inquiring about a pass to Sea World.

But a funny thing happened on Deshaies’ return trip to Las Vegas. He never left San Diego. He hung around for another week . . . was told to stay until the end of the month . . . and then emerged as a fixture in the Padre starting rotation.

While the Toronto Blue Jays decided to spend nearly $1 million in salary and two prospects for David Cone in the pennant stretch, and the Atlanta Braves are expected to go after Boston reliever Jeff Reardon, the Padres couldn’t be more ecstatic with their discovery.

It cost nothing more than a $59 plane ticket from Las Vegas and a prorated share of $200,000 salary for the Padres to find the man who has allowed them to linger in the National League West race. The Padres open a three-game series at 7:35 tonight against the Pittsburgh Pirates seven games behind the Braves.

Deshaies is 3-3 with a 2.63 ERA in his eight starts with the Padres. It’s the lowest ERA among the Padre starters, and with a little luck, Deshaies could have at least six victories. He has yielded more than two earned runs in only two of his starts, and never more than seven hits.

“It’s like we struck gold,” Padre General Manager Joe McIlvaine said recently. “He’s been a big boost to us and is one of the big reasons we’re still in the hunt.”

Who’d have thought that a guy whom the Houston Astros didn’t want back--not to mention dumped by the Oakland Athletics and Kansas City Royals in spring training--would turn out to be the one free agent the Padres might retain in the off-season.

While the Padres probably will save $9.5 million salaries by parting company with catcher Benito Santiago, starter Craig Lefferts and relievers Randy Myers and Larry Andersen at the end of the season, they remain intrigued by Deshaies.

Can this really be the same guy who was 5-12 with a 4.98 ERA for the Astros last season, 12-24 over the last two years and was ignored by every major league club when he became a free agent during the winter?

“I keep hearing people talk about Mark McGwire’s comeback this year for Oakland,” Deshaies said, “saying he just got refocused. Well, I feel like jumping up and down, waving my arms and saying, ‘Yeah, me too.’ ”

“I’m not making any excuses for what happened last year. I was awful. I mean, there’s no hiding it, I just stunk.

“I think what happened was that I just went into last year with a nonaggressive approach. We were losing so many games, I was just mentally beat up. I made some starts without being prepared.

“When you go into a game without any anxiety, or have any butterflies, something’s wrong.

“Believe me, that won’t happen again.”

It is harsh reality to be making $2.1 million one year and to be looking for work the next. It wasn’t until the Padres needed an emergency starter April 28 for their triple-A Las Vegas team that Deshaies even had a contract.

Ed Lynch, Padre farm director, was the man who decided to sign him. It was a cheap gamble, Lynch figured, and besides the contract was not guaranteed.

Two months later, the Padres needed a starter when Dave Eiland sustained a sprained ankle while sliding home. The Padre front office decided to give Deshaies a shot against the Philadelphia Phillies.

“It was essentially meant to be a one-game deal,” Deshaies said.

Seven weeks later, Deshaies has yet to leave.

“It’s hard to believe it’s the same guy,” Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn said. “It’s like a total different pitcher. When we were facing him in Houston, his fastball couldn’t have even been 81 m.p.h. Now, he’s throwing it by people.

“I remember watching Barry Larkin when we were playing Cincinnati, and he couldn’t even catch up to it. It’s like hitters remember him from the past and can’t make the adjustment.”

Said Padre reliever Larry Andersen, Deshaies’ close friend with the Astros: “We used to get up a pool before each game and guess how fast his first pitch of the game would be. He’d always throw a fastball, and it was always 75 to 78 m.p.h., tops.

“When I saw him pitch that first game for us, I told him, ‘That’s the best I’ve seen you throw in three years.’ I think he was taken aback by that, but it’s the truth.”

Scouts who have been watching Deshaies are equally as perplexed. Instead of fastball readings in the high 70s, Deshaies consistently is throwing in the mid-80s.

There would be some valid explanation if Deshaies were a high school kid who matured overnight, but he is a 32-year-old with 10 years in professional baseball.

“Maybe they got new batteries in the radar gun,” Deshaies said, laughing. “Really, I don’t know what the answer is. I know I’m in the best shape I’ve been in, in years. I know I’m more motivated. I also know I’m pitching for a contender again.

“I tried to tell people over the winter that I’d be fine once I was with a competitive team, but no one believed me.

“Maybe that’ll change now.”

Deshaies, who won 15 games for the Astros in 1989, will be a free agent again this off-season. He’s not expecting to be inundated with calls. He’s not even sure who believes in him now.

He just wants a contract, and he’ll be happy to prove himself all over again.

“I’ve proven to myself, if no one else,” Deshaies said, “that I can still be an effective starter in this game. I think I might have opened some eyes these last two months.

“But after what’s happened so far, I’ve got a good feeling everything’s going to turn out all right.”