Up To Speed

The Padres’ front office has enough to worry about these days: the club’s free fall from the World Series to last place in the National League’s Western Division; lengthy injuries to seven starters including future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn; the slower-than-anticipated development of center fielder Ruben Rivera, and the continuing saga of the planned downtown ballpark, which, although approved by voters last year, is facing legal challenges that could delay its scheduled 2002 opening.

Club officials didn’t figure to have to spend any time worrying about closer Trevor Hoffman, who was nearly invincible last year, converting on a major league record-tying 53 saves in 54 opportunities.

But Hoffman, who finished second in Cy Young Award voting to Atlanta’s Tom Glavine, hasn’t been nearly as invincible this season--blowing three saves during a five-week stretch, all on home run balls. His earned-run average was 4.87 after a blown save in Chicago on June 2, but since then he has a streak of nine scoreless innings and has lowered his ERA to 3.49.

There was some talk that Hoffman, a graduate of Savanna High and Cypress College, was throwing with pain in his right arm. There was proof that his velocity was down three or four miles an hour from last year. All this had to be a little unsettling to Padre General Manager Kevin Towers, who, during spring training, gave Hoffman the richest contract in club history: four years for $32 million.

But the worst appears to be over for Hoffman, who is throwing his fastball in the low 90s again and is no longer leaving his changeup in the strike zone. His best outing of the season came against Oakland 10 days ago when he struck out the side in order. That night, Hoffman became the 25th pitcher to reach 200 saves and the second fastest to reach that mark, behind Bobby Thigpen, who finished his career with 201 saves.

After the game, Hoffman said, “I finally pitched a good inning.”

Why did it take him so long to achieve perfection, something that was commonplace last year?

“You get to a point where you’re tired of getting your butt kicked, so you have to turn it around,” he said. “That has more to do with it than anything else.”

Of course, there are plenty of other theories, and Hoffman buys into a few of them.

Dave Smith, the Padres’ pitching coach who was a closer himself with Houston and Chicago, believes Hoffman simply wasn’t pitching enough.

“He’s got to throw and there were times when he didn’t pitch in five or six games,” Smith said. “His thing is location. If you don’t get out there, location is going to suffer.”

Smith said Hoffman’s pitch location was bad on all three home runs that resulted in three blown saves: a high changeup to Chicago’s Sammy Sosa and high fastballs to New York’s Mike Piazza and Arizona’s Matt Williams.

Say this for Hoffman, he hasn’t been hurt by any second-tier players.

“Those guys have beat up a lot of pitchers,” Padre Manager Bruce Bochy said.

Bochy also says Hoffman’s location has been a factor in his slow start.

“His control last year was unbelievable,” Bochy said. “Even last year when he got behind, he had such command that he could still throw any pitch he wanted to for a strike.”

Maybe that’s the other problem, Bochy said. Everyone is comparing last year to this year.

“Everyone had such high expectations after last year,” Bochy said. “The fans, the media, everyone. What’s wrong with him this year is that he’s human. It’s hard to believe someone could have that kind of season that he did.”

Even Hoffman can’t really explain last year’s .981 success rate, the best in baseball history by a closer with 30 or more saves.

“You can’t put your finger on one thing,” he said. “But consistent work was definitely important. I think for a reliever, it’s everything. It allows you to maintain your rhythm.”

With the Padres struggling to score runs, Hoffman’s trademark song, AC/DC’s “Hells Bells,” hasn’t blared as much over Qualcomm Stadium’s public address system. He has had only 18 save opportunities thus far, converting 15.

“Not to lean on any crutch, but I’m sure inconsistency has had something to do with it,” he said. “The opportunities are not coming in bunches like last year.”

Although he doesn’t think velocity has a lot to do with his success or failure, Hoffman admits it was down during that two-week period when he was hit hard.

“The only thing I can think of is that the end of the season was later than normal and my off-season routine was cut short,” said Hoffman, whose season was extended even further by a trip to Japan with the Major League All-Star team. “Normally, I get a dead arm in spring training. This year, I got it at the wrong time with the wrong people. It’s weird how those things work out.”

How has Hoffman handled the weirdness?

“He’s so tough mentally, but I’m sure nobody felt worse than Trevor,” Bochy said. “Especially after he signed the big contract. I’m sure he felt like he was letting the fans and his team down.”

Hoffman prides himself on his “poker face,” but he’s still human.

“You’re not oblivious to everything that goes on,” he said. “You still have emotions and feelings. It’s how quickly you get over things that dictate the success you’re going to have.”

It has taken him awhile, but Hoffman seems nearly over the disappointment of losing the Cy Young to Glavine by 11 points. The most disappointing part of the vote for Hoffman was that six writers didn’t even give him a third-place vote--leaving him off their ballots entirely. He has confronted most of those writers, inquiring about their rationale.

“It sounds like sour grapes if I keep talking about it,” said Hoffman, whose 1.48 ERA last season was lower than seven of the eight relief pitchers who have won the Cy Young. “I could handle losing as long as it was on the up and up. But with six people leaving me off the ballot, I refuse to believe that should have happened. The award states most outstanding pitcher, not most outstanding starting pitcher.”

Said Bochy: “I personally think he should have won it for what he did for this club. For six writers to leave him off the ballot, that shocks me.”

What matters most to Towers is that Hoffman will have at least five more chances to win the Cy Young as a Padre. His four-year deal with an option for a fifth starts next year. Next to Gwynn, Hoffman’s six-year tenure is the longest of any current Padre. He was traded to San Diego from Florida as part of a five-player deal that sent Gary Sheffield to the Marlins.

“We haven’t had a lot of guys that wanted to be Padres for the length of their career,” Towers said. “Trevor Hoffman will be like Tony Gwynn before his career is over, a San Diego icon.”

And before this year is over?

“He’ll have 35 to 40 saves,” Towers said. “And people will say he had another tremendous season.”