SAN DIEGO – On Dec. 29, when the final pieces fell into place in a seven-player blockbuster that sent Yu Darvish and Victor Caratini to San Diego, it was an emphatic statement of intent from Padre’s general manager AJ Preller.
He had already acquired the left ace Blake Snell – earlier that day. But Preller wasn’t ready yet. He wanted more high-end pitching talent for his rotation, and he wanted depth behind the record. So Preller sent five players to the Cubs for Darvish and Caratini in a deal that caused shockwaves during the sport.
Back then, the Padres probably envisioned nights like these.
Darvish was dominant over six innings and gave up only one run on three hits when the Padres defeated the Giants 3-1 on Tuesday-evening at Petco Park – another important victory, with San Diego reeling from consecutive losses and an injury to Fernando. Tatis Jr. Caratini, Darvish’s favorite battery mate, stopped the attempt with ease, when Darvish mixed eight different throws to take out seven Giants before being eliminated after 89 throws.
Then – and perhaps the Padres didn’t envision this part – Caratini won the game with his bat.
The newest catcher for San Diego brought in a towering homerun of two runs just inside the rightfield foul pool, putting the Padres on top with two. He stomped on home plate with his left foot and retreated to the dugout at first base, where he made sure Darvish was watching.
“Every time he hits a home run, he comes up to me with that grin,” Darvish joked afterwards. ‘I don’t really like that. … But it was good for the team, so I think that makes up for it. “
That is the playful nature of the friendship that Darvish and Caratini have built up during their years of collaboration in Chicago. It hasn’t changed since they got to San Diego.
When asked about Darvish’s two lineouts over 100 mph as a hitter on Tuesday night, Caratini said (with the straightest faces): “I’ve learned a lot because he’s a really bad hitter. A really bad hitter. “
Dabs and barbs aside, Darvish and Caratini click clearly. Caratini has now retired 28 consecutive Darvish starts and has mastered the draw for all 11 of Darvish’s throws. They’ve combined for a 2.87 ERA as a battery, and Caratini was behind the platter last season when Darvish made a serious run for the National League Cy Young Award to finish second.
“They are both on the same page, and they both have a lot of faith in each other,” said manager Jayce Tingler. “They understand their game plan, and they think along with each other.”
Caratini also credited his work with Darvish for making him a more rounded catcher.
“The fact that I’ve been behind the record for the past few years has helped me a lot,” said Caratini. “I need to know how his throws move. I need to know how each one of them moves. I need to know how he’s going to throw them.
“Each of those fields is good enough to get someone out. So if he wants to throw them at different people differently, I have to be on top of that. It’s been a good experience for me and it really helped me. “
Tuesday marked something of a statement victory for the Padres. No, they don’t have Tatis, and no, they’re not sure when they’ll get it back. (Though they got positive news on that front Tuesday afternoon saying he’s not headed for surgery.) This is undeniably still one of the sport’s most talented rosters – even without its most exciting presence.
In 2019, when the Padres Tatis lost for the season due to a back condition, they clashed and lost 29 out of 44 to finish the season in last place in NL West. On Tuesday, rightfielder Wil Myers quickly offered a reminder:
“This is not the 2019 team,” he said. “This is the 2021 team that is very good.”
At the end of December – with two blockbusters in the space of a few hours – Preller definitely made sure of that.