I Need You, Boomin’ Granny
I Said I Want You, Boomin’ Granny
      –Beastie Boys, "Boomin’ Granny"

So that was a nice start to the season. Did you catch the LA fans booing their team as early as the third inning yesterday? Talk about harsh.

Some random observations:

• The top three in the order look real good right now. Sean Burroughs singled on the first pitch of the season, scorching a ball past shortstop Cesar Izturis. He also sacrificed Brian Lawrence to third on what looked like an attempted bunt for a base hit. Burroughs reached base two more times, once on a hit by pitch and once on a line shot back through the middle against southpaw Wilson Alvarez. I like the way Burroughs kept his front shoulder closed against Alvarez. That approach is going to lead to a lot of success against lefties this year. Burroughs struck out in his other at-bat. After jumping ahead in the count, 3-0, he took two questionable pitches (the first looked low, the second might have caught the outside corner) before flailing at another one that looked to be out of the zone but which might have been called a strike. Burroughs also made a couple of nice plays at third.
• In Phil Nevin’s first two at-bats, he looked like a guy who had been out for a while and was trying to find his timing. Both times he got good pitches to hit, both times he was a shade late and just got under the ball. In his third trip to the plate, he fouled off another hittable offering from Hideo Nomo before hammering the next one just inside the left field foul line for a grand slam. Interesting to see Nevin hit a ball out to that part of the park. Coincidence, or preparation for Petco Park? We shall see.
• Jay Payton, the other guy who didn’t see much action this spring and who was questionable to start the season, also homered to left off Nomo. Payton reminds me a little of Derek Bell (the good version who showed up in San Diego): aggressive at the plate, solid contact. I think he’s this year’s Mark Loretta. Last year the Pads settled for Loretta because they couldn’t afford Edgardo Alfonzo. Loretta, as we know, outproduced Alfonzo for a fraction of the cost. This year the Pads settled for Payton after missing on Mike Cameron. I’m not sure there’s going to be a lot of difference between those two, other than the sizes of their paychecks, come September.
• Brian Lawrence was a mixed bag. Positives are that his sinker was moving pretty well and he worked some nice sequences. That slider he threw down and in to punch out Shawn Green was filthy (even if the hurler missed his spot by a foot and a half). The downside to Lawrence’s performance is that he appeared to have trouble locating. He worked behind in the count too often and threw too many pitches. It’s only one game, and the Pads did win, so I’m not even beginning to think about panicking. But the Padre starters need to go six consistently this season. And the best way for them to do that is by being efficient with their pitches. This is especially true for a finesse guy like Lawrence, whose margin of error is smaller than that of, say, a Jake Peavy or Adam Eaton. Again, it’s one game. And I suppose you could count the fact that Lawrence was able to hold the Dodgers at bay despite less-than-stellar command as a positive. But I like his chances for long-term success a lot better if he can spot his pitches and work ahead in the count most of the time.
• Lawrence also doubled and singled in two trips to the plate, scoring the Padres’ first run of 2004.
• Milton Bradley is a stud. I really wish he hadn’t come to the NL West.
• Loretta and Khalil Greene turned three double plays. I honestly don’t know how much immediate success Greene is going to have at the big-league level but he sure plays like a guy who knows he belongs. Everything he does is quiet. At the plate, in the field. Without much fuss or fanfare, he gets where he needs to be and then executes. Greene is just fun to watch. Plus Mark Grant has taken to calling him Spicoli.
• The bullpen didn’t impress a lot. Ismael Valdez looked pretty hittable. I don’t know that Eddie Oropesa adds much value. Scott Linebrink, Antonio Osuna, and Jay Witasick all looked okay but not great. Then again, they were protecting a huge lead so maybe they weren’t exactly bearing down.
• Nice to see Bruce Bochy smiling in the dugout. Hopefully he’ll be doing a lot more of that this year.

Coverage from ESPN: Lawrence stingy, Nevin grand for San Diego.

Tonight it’s Jake Peavy against Odalis Perez. Game starts at 7 PM, Channel 4. Here’s hoping for more of the same…