Padres fire thrower coach Larry Rothschild as second-half slide continues

The struggling San Diego Padres announced on Monday that veteran pitching coach Larry Rothschild had been fired. Ben Fritz will serve as interim pitching coach for the remainder of the 2021 season.

“Larry has been a tremendous asset to our organization over the past two seasons, and we appreciate the experience, hard work and dedication he brought to this position,” manager Jayce Tingler said of Rothschild in a statement released by the club. “We wish him all the best for the future.”

Tingler added that Rothschild’s dismissal was “100 per cent” his decision when the manager met with reporters on Monday.

Rothschild, 67, was named the Padres pitching coach in November 2019. Prior to that, Rothschild was the Yankees pitching coach from 2001 to 2019. He was also the Cubs pitching coach and led the Rays (then the Devils). Rays) for three full seasons and part of a fourth.

Right now, the Padres sit a disappointing 10th in the NL rotating ERA this season at 4.34, despite the pronounced race-suppressing nature of Petco Park. In addition, the Padres are second to last in the NL in percentage of quality starts and last in sets by start. For Rothschild’s defense, this rotation has also been hit hard by injury this season.

Commercial acquisition Blake Snell struggled in his debut season in San Diego, posting a 4.82 ERA (79 ERA +) in 23 starts. Yu Darvish was also unable to reach his 2020 levels in his first season with the team. Darvish has a 3.70 ERA (102 ERA +) in 23 runs. Right-hander Chris Paddack was ineffective when in good health and Dinelson Lamet appeared in just 11 games.

The move comes as the Padres have lost four or their last five and nine of their last 11 in what should have been a loose schedule (eight of those 11 games were against the Marlins, Diamondbacks and Rockies) . More generally, the Padres are 15-18 in the second half and recently fell out of the game for the first time since June.

As for Fritz, he has been the Padres reliever coach since before the 2020 season.