See Tuesday’s paper for a Q&A; session with Thatcher.



When the phone rings, Joe Thatcher starts thinking about pitching. It’s a conditioned response.

The Kokomo product pitched in more than 70 games with the San Diego Padres and the team’s Triple-A club Portland in 2009. But 70-plus appearances isn’t the whole workload. He regularly got the call to warm up in the bullpen, even though he didn’t always get called upon to take the mound.

“It got to be a running joke down in the bullpen because it seemed like it happened every day,” Thatcher said of his warm-up assignments with San Diego. “I think there was actually a stretch there, our bullpen coach told me I got warmed up, or got into a game 24 out of 26 days. It was definitely a lot of work, but it’s better than not getting any work at all.

“If they want me ready for that spot, that’s a good feeling.”

Thatcher closed 2009 feeling great. He went from bouncing back and forth between San Diego and Portland to being a reliable option as a relief pitcher with the big league club.

Thatcher made 52 appearances with the Padres, throwing 45 innings. He had an ERA of 2.80 with one victory and nine holds. The win and the holds all came late in the season after a stretch of good appearances in mop-up duty earned him the trust of the coaching staff to pitch in tight games or with the lead.

He struck out 55 batters while allowing just 37 hits, 18 walks and 14 earned runs.

“Ever since right around the All-Star break — things really started to click for me. I got on a roll there and pretty much continued that throughout the whole second half.

“Once you get on a roll like that, you get more confidence every time you get out there. I couldn’t ask for a better second half than I had.”

The same can be said of the Padres. San Diego dropped out of contention quickly this season but tore through the last couple months. San Diego was 38-61 on July 26. The Padres went 37-26 in the last 10 weeks of the season.

“Everybody stepped up after the All-Star break,” Thatcher said. “I think we had the fourth-best record in baseball after the All-Star break.

He said the team’s starting pitching, bullpen and hitting got better. Combined with a consistently good defense, the feeling on the team was “If we kept the game close, we were going to get a big hit.”

“You’re not afraid to fail because you know the guy behind you is going to pick you up,” Thatcher said. “We had that swagger the whole second half.

The team had a disastrous 2008 and Thatcher’s season was just as rocky. The first half of 2009 wasn’t much better but that changed.

“[Last year] if I gave up a run, that meant we were going to lose,” Thatcher said. “That’s a lot of pressure to have. Once we started to win this year, if I gave up a run, I knew somebody else would come in and pick it up. It definitely makes everything a lot easier.”

He wasn’t just along for the ride though. Thatcher was a big part of the Padres’ second-half resurgence. His play, and his situation as a player, have led Thatcher to take a plunge: He’s keeping his apartment in San Diego through the winter.

Thatcher plans to spend his winter between Kokomo and San Diego. He’ll take a few weeks off, then start working out again gearing up for next year. When in San Diego, he can work with the team’s strength coach and use the team’s facilities.

The way the Padres closed the season “makes you want to work hard in the offseason because I think we’re going to be good next year,” Thatcher said. “After the last game of the year, a lot of people were already talking about next year. We’re excited about it.

“Hopefully next year at this time, we’ll be in the playoffs.”

The Padres are well-positioned for an improved season in 2010, and Thatcher is in position for a more stable playing situation.

After three seasons of up-and-down trips from the big leagues to Triple-A, the Padres are out of options for Thatcher. Sending him to the minors next season would mean putting him on waivers.

His future with the club seems positive.

“I had kind of an end-of-the-year meeting with Buddy [Black], our manager, and pitching coach,” Thatcher explained. “They said I did a really good job in the second half. They had some encouraging things to say, but it’s a long offseason. We have a new general manager now. There’s going to be a new guy in charge. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of changes. You never know from one day to the next what you’re team’s going to look like.

“I plan on being a Padre and I hope to be a Padre. They could always trade me I guess, but I don’t want that to happen.

“They were pretty encouraged [by my season]. I had to re-prove myself and I think I did that — I feel pretty good.”



Thatcher’s 2009 numbers:

• Appearances: 52

• Innings pitched: 45

• ERA: 2.80

• Hits allowed: 37

• Strikeouts: 55

• Walks: 18