Chaska’s Hand impresses at All-Star game; likely his last as a Padre

By Scott Taylor

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Even though he signed a three-year deal with the San Diego Padres back in January, Brad Hand doesn’t expect to be in San Diego next week.

In fact, the two-time National League All-Star and graduate of Chaska High School is so accustomed to trade talk that it floats off his back like the water on the ducks on the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pond.

“You know, there is nothing I can do to control that,” said Hand, who was followed around at the MLB All-Star Game yesterday by — you guessed it – hordes of New York Yankees reporters wondering when Hand will be making his way to the Bronx (Yankees’ reporters believe everyone is being traded to the Yankees), although he also being pursued by Cleveland and the Cubs.

“I would like to stay in San Diego,” Hand added. “I think we’re a young team with a bright future, but there is nothing I can do to control all the talk. There is nothing I could possibly say that would sway the club to do one thing or another. So, as I told somebody yesterday, what good does it do to worry about it.”

On Tuesday night, the 28-year-old lefthander Hand took part in his second Midsummer Classic and he was impressive. After Seattle’s Jean Segura hit a three-run home run off Milwaukee’s Josh Hader, Hand came in and got the final two outs of the seventh – striking out the first batter he faced — and the first out of the eighth before being replaced the game’s eventual losing pitcher, the Dodgers Ross Stripling. Hand threw 12 pitches, nine for strikes, and was a calming moment between the American League’s two big home run rallies to win 8-6 in 10 innings. In a game with a record 10 home runs, Hand looked like a one-inning Cy Young Award contender.

Of course, Hand has been solid all season. He’s 2-4 with a 3.05 earned run average and 24 saves with the Padres, but more impressively, he has a 2.47 ERA in 13.2 innings since the start of 2017.

He pitched a perfect inning in last year’s All-Star Game and finished the 2017 season 3-4 with a 2.16 ERA and 104 strikeouts in 79.1 innings pitched. He also had 21 saves.

He is one of the top closers in the game and he’s signed for $6.5 million in 2019, $7 million in 2020 with a club option for $10-million in 2021. Originally drafted in the second round by Miami in 2008, he came up with the Marlins in 2011 and looked like a lifetime middle reliever until he got to San Diego. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound lefthander who started pitching varsity baseball with Chaska as a freshman, was waived by Miami in 2016, scooped up by San Diego in 2016 and is not only an All-Star for the second time, but is a workhorse who is on his way to pitching more than 80 innings and appearing in 70 games.

“The Padres gave me an opportunity and they saw something in me two years ago, which I’m still very grateful for,” said Hand, who had a 4.71 ERA in his five seasons in Miami. “I kind of ran with it these past two years and I’m hoping to continue that.”

Hand was the best reliever in baseball in May but he’s struggled recently. He’s blown three of his last eight saves and his ERA has jumped from 2.25 to 3.05. Still, the Padres don’t shy away from using Hand as a traditional closer. And that’s why Cleveland is so interested – eighth-inning set-up man Andrew Miller might or might not come back this season and closer Cody Allen has struggled in recent weeks. Hand still has 24 saves and 65 strikeouts.

“I hit a rough patch but I wasn’t making bad pitches,” Hand said. “I just made a couple of mistakes and it hurt me. I’m expecting a strong second half.”

Hand was on the block last year, but the Padres wanted so much in return, no one made a “legitimate” offer. This year, San Diego is interested in moving him, but the Padres will want a team’s top prospect in return (like Cleveland’s Francisco Mejia).

“Ahh, I’m used to all this talk,” said Hand with a smile. “It’s no different than last year. It is what it is. I can’t do anything about all the talk. We’ll see what happens.”