Franchy Cordero blasts off in start vs. lefty

The Padres' Franchy Cordero, right, is congratulated by Jose Pirela as Christian Villanueva looks on after Cordero hit a three-run home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets at Petco Park on April 28, 2018 in San Diego, California.

April 28, 2018 7:15 PM PT

On Friday, Franchy Cordero collected two hits against right-handed pitching, the first an 80 mph ball he dropped into left field against Jacob deGrom and the second a 105 mph homer off Matt Harvey to dead center. On Saturday, he yanked a 459-foot, 116.9 mph homer to right field in just his fifth start against a left-handed pitcher.

Expect to see more of Cordero against southpaws, perhaps the biggest weakness in the 23-year-old’s intriguing game.

“He’s going to play,” Padres manager Andy Green said. “He’s earning that opportunity to play. We want to see what he can do … and I expect he’s going to be out there a lot. Every single day? It depends, but he’s going to play a lot.”

With Hunter Renfroe on the disabled list and Wil Myers again hurting, the Padres need the coverage. To accommodate Cordero sliding over to left field as Manuel Margot returned to center after a day off, Jose Pirela bounced into second base against Mets left-hander Jason Vargas.

Cordero entered the game with nine strikeouts in his first 21 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers (.250/.250/.400), while a .717 OPS last year against left-handers in the Pacific Coast League sat significantly below his mind-boggling 1.054 OPS against right-handers.

Cordero lined out and flied out before a three-run homer off Vargas, fresh off the disabled list, right opened up a 9-0 lead in the fourth inning. The homer was just Cordero’s second against left-handers this season and sixth overall, the second-most among all rookies. Teammate Christian Villanueva leads the pack with eight, but no one has as many 450-foot-plus homers as the three that Cordero has collected this season.

The funny thing, Cordero said through an interpreter, is he’s not swinging 100 percent.

“It wasn’t, honestly,” said Cordero, whose 116.9 mph exit velocity is tied for Giancarlo Stanton for the sixth-hardest hit ball this season. “When I try to swing 100 percent, my body goes with it and I end up rolling over it and that’s not what I’m trying to do. I’m just trying to put my best swing on the ball.”

Cordero’s focus, he said, remains on his approach in every at-bat as he is striking out in 37.9 percent of his plate appearances against all pitchers, down from last year’s 44.4-percent rate in a 30-game cameo.

“Honestly, every day is a challenge for me,” Cordero said. “I go out there with the same sort of approach, the same sort of intensity if there’s a lefty on the mound – same as if it were a righty. I have to go out there and fight and work every at-bat and work every opportunity I have.”

Renfroe’s progression

On the 10-day disabled list with elbow inflammation in his throwing arm, Renfroe threw on the field for the second day in a row and progressed to a distance of 80 to 90 feet. Green estimated that he was throwing at about 50 percent intensity as he takes baby steps toward a minor league rehab assignment.

Renfroe also took 30 about 30 swings in early hitting.

“The wing looks fine; it’s more the arm,” Green said. “We don’t want something to come back and end up bothering him. That will be a steady progression. We’re not looking at running him out in the next couple days to a rehab assignment. Hopefully he’s ready to go soon.”

Conservative Villanueva

Villanueva settled for a single on a sixth-inning live drive on Friday night. He pulled up instead of legging out a grounder that ended up a double-play ball in the fourth inning.

That’s not because the rookie third baseman is not 100 percent in his return from a hamstring injury, Green said.

“He was under orders from me yesterday, if you bounce out and you know you’re out, pull up,” Green said. “He’s been one of our absolute best hitters if not our best hitter and we didn’t want him on the first day back from a hamstring injury to blow a hamstring. So we asked him to do a couple things. I think from his standpoint, he’s good to go. He’s got no issues. We just wanted to be conservative with himon the field yesterday.”

Extra bases

Pirela started at second base for the third time over Carlos Asuaje. Green indicated that the opposing pitcher — left-handed vs. right-handed and whether he was starting a sinker-baller or not — would factor into more time at the position moving forward, as well as how he looks defensively. “If Jose goes out and holds down that position,” Green said, “ it adds another dynamic to our offense that we can use consistently.”
Before the game, Padres Pedal the Cause representatives unveiled a check for $2.4 million, which was raised for local cancer research during the 2017 event.

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