Kirby Yates’ elbow was reconstructed as a draft-and-follow prospect more than 10 years before the Padres found him on the waiver wire. He’d made his was to the majors as an undrafted free agent. San Diego was his third stop in a little more than a year.
Indeed, very little about his career arc pointed toward Yates saving a franchise record 30 games before the all-star break on this date — July 7 — last year.
“He was left for dead,” fellow Padres reliever Craig Stammen said then, “by everyone except himself.”
And the Padres.
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Of course, A.J. Preller’s staff had polished one waiver wire find — Brad Hand — into an All-Star closer.
Yates joined the Padres bullpen with a 4.86 career ERA after the Angels waived him after one inning in the majors. Armed with a new split-fingered fastball, he posted a 3.72 mark in 2017 in San Diego, lowered it to 2.14 the following year and was the heir apparent when Hand was traded to the Indians after the All-Star break.
Yates was 10-for-11 in save opportunities in the second half of 2018 (3.20 ERA) and completely owned the role last year, saving 26 straight games (1.13 ERA) before blowing his first game.
He broke Heath Bell’s pre-All-Star Game save record with his 27th on June 28 (Trevor Hoffman never saved more than 25 games in the first half) and was selected to his first Midsummer Classic days later.
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The selection wasn’t just about the saves, either.
Yates had struck out 60 batters in 39 innings, walked just nine and held opposing batters to a .163 batting average.
His 1.15 ERA was the lowest among NL relievers with at least 30 innings and no big-league reliever had amassed more WAR (2.3 wins above replacement) than Yates.
“I’ve had to earn everything I’ve gotten,” Yates said after he was named to last year’s NL All-Star roster. … “This is something I feel proud (of), because I earned it. Nobody is going to take this away from me.”
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Yates went on to save an MLB-best 41 games while posting an MLB-best 1.19 ERA, helping him earn one of two reliever spots on the inaugural All-MLB First Team alongside Milwaukee’s Josh Hader.
Also on this date …
1979: Ozzie Smith recorded a franchise-record eight putouts by a shortstop in an 11-3 win at the New York Mets.
1980: General Manager Bob Fontaine, the team’s original scouting director, was fired. He was ultimately replaced by Jack McKeon, the architect of the Padres’ first NL championship team.
1993: Starter Andy Benes and reliever Greg Harris combine on a one-hitter in a 2-0 win over the host New York Mets. The only hit allowed was Jeff Kent’s one-out single to shortstop in the second inning. Benes struck out eight and walked five in eight-plus innings and Harris pitched a scoreless ninth for his 15th save.
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1998: Tony Gwynn and Greg Vaughn each singled in two runs in the NL’s 13-8 loss to the AL in the All-Star Game at Coors Field.
2011: Dick Williams, who managed the Padres to the 1984 World Series, died in Las Vegas at the age of 82. Williams was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008 by the Veterans Committee. He is also in the Padres Hall of Fame.
2018: Wil Myers recorded the ninth three-homer game in franchise history in a 20-5 loss in Arizona. Myers’ three blasts accounted for four runs.
2019: SS Fernando Tatis Jr. collected his first multi-homer game in a 5-3 win at Dodger Stadium. Because his father had hit two grand slams in the same inning at Dodger Stadium in 1999, they became the first father/son duo to post multi-homer games in the same ballpark since Bobby and Barry Bonds in 1999 and 2003 at Shea Stadium.
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Padres history (July 7): Kirby Yates' dazzling first half - The San Diego Union-Tribune
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