first pitch: 7:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4
matchup: Jake Peavy (7-2, 2.88 ERA) vs Kevin Correia (0-0, –)
previews: CBS | Padres.com

We’re hip, we’re happening, we’re using three-letter acronyms. Welcome to July. Let’s hope it’s better than June. I try to defend the NL West, but here’s how the division looked last month:

      W  L  RS  RA
Col  12 15 129 149
LA   11 16  95 121
SD   10 17  91 123
SF    9 17 128 159
Ari   9 19 132 179

How do you defend that? Right, you don’t. You also don’t complain too much. I mean, 10-17 is brutal, but the Padres actually finished the month in better position than they started it. Crazy.

                          AB   BA  OBP  SLG
Peavy vs current Giants  198 .253 .335 .429
Correia vs everybody     224 .295 .374 .478

Yorvit Torrealba (.556/.556/1.000 in 9 AB) and J.T. Snow (.375/.444/.750 in 24 AB) have done the damage. Also, Barry Bonds (duh), but the Pads don’t have to worry about him right now.

On the other side, former Padre Brett Tomko, originally scheduled to start tonight’s game, has been bumped to the bullpen. This is Correia’s first big-league appearance in 2005. He has 58.1 career innings under his belt and has been cuffed around pretty good. Correia has a 6.07 ERA in 46 innings at Triple-A Fresno (home of former Padre relievers Jeremy Fikac, Brandon Puffer, and Brandon Villafuerte), working mostly out of the bullpen this year.

Mailbag

Longtime reader Bill Robens points out a disturbing fact about the Padres at Petco this year:

During my regular lunchtime ritual of going over how much better Xavier Nady is than Sean Burroughs and Phil Nevin, I found this little stat that no one (that I’ve heard) is talking about. Our opponents are KILLING us with doubles at home.

Padre pitchers are 2nd in the league in strikeouts, but are 12th in the league in GO/AO ratio and 4th in the league in Air Outs overall. Since Petco is a tough home run park with a HUGE outfield, it looks like the ballpark is suppressing the home runs we’re giving up (just 31), and the huge outfield and generally crappy outfield defense are creating a TON of doubles. Basically, it just means everything people have been predicting has come true: the dimensions are helping our pitchers, while our crummy outfield is hurting our pitchers.

The discrepancy in doubles is pretty alarming. I don’t really have much to add to Bill’s thoughts. Although I’ve been pleasantly surprised by Dave Roberts‘ offensive production this year, I haven’t been real impressed with his play in center field. I think Jay Payton did a better job out there last year, and I’m really sorry we never got to see what Mark Kotsay could do at Petco. Of course, the Pads desperately needed a catcher and I don’t regret for a minute the decision to acquire Ramon Hernandez: I’d rather see Hernandez and guys like Payton or Roberts than Kotsay and guys like Gary Bennett or Wiki Gonzalez. But I would like to see what a real good center fielder could do in this park.

And it’s not just center field. I hate to harp on it, because there isn’t much anyone can do to change things right now, but having to play both Ryan Klesko and Phil Nevin in the field is a killer. I’m ecstatic that Klesko is healthy again and driving the ball, and that both guys have stopped publicly complaining about their digs, but I can’t think of too many players who would be less well suited for Petco Park. Unfortunately, Klesko and Nevin also happen to be two of the Padres’ most expensive players, so, like I said, not a lot can be done. And to their credit, they’re both busting ass out there; it’s just that they’re real limited in what they can do defensively in such a big park.

Point? This isn’t a transition that is going to take place overnight. You don’t just decide to make your team more athletic and have it happen. Baby steps. Maybe you draft guys who are better equipped to succeed in the existing work environment. Develop some kids who can step in and chase balls down that the current outfielders cannot. It’s good to remember that the Padres are only midway through their second season at Petco and they’re still learning how it plays. (And doing a lot better there this year than last.) Eventually they will shape the ballclub to fit the park. Getting out from under a few behemoth contracts will help. So will the presence of CEO Sandy Alderson, who is a very strong advocate of responsible spending.

There’s a weird parallel here between what the Padres need on the field and how they need to structure their roster, but I’m not sure I can explain it as well as I’d like. The general idea is less bulk, greater flexibility. If you watch closely, you can see them moving in the right direction. It’s bypassing the likes of Steve Kline, Troy Percival, and Jon Lieber in favor of Chris Hammond, Rudy Seanez, and Woody Williams. It’s sticking Robert Fick behind the plate because he’s a good hitter and he used to be a catcher. (It’s also finding ways to get Nady in the lineup more often, but like I said: baby steps.)

And I guess that, when you get down to it, is the real point. Baby steps. Oh yeah, and beat the Giants.

Other Stuff

You know the routine…

• LynchMob has posted pix from the Baseball Prospectus Pizza Feed. Thanks, bud!
• Jon and Dex from Gaslamp Ball talk about their trip to Cooperstown. I once visited the HOF, back in 1988, but this isn’t about me. Go read their story.
• Bochy pipes in with pitch for Hammond (NC Times). All-Star Game for Hammond? He thinks it’s funny. I think he’s a worthy candidate. I also think the All-Star Game is funny, so whatever.
• Padres biding their time for trades (Padres.com). Quoth Kevin Towers: “We’re looking at pitching depth and a bat in the infield.”
• Astacio signs with Padres (Yahoo). Yep, that Pedro Astacio. Can’t be any worse than Darrell May, right? U-T says Astacio will report to Triple-A Portland.
• Matt Varner Hiccups; Cesar Ramos Debuts (Scout.com). Ramos, taken 35th overall in this June’s draft, worked a scoreless inning at Eugene.
• Recent search query: “MLB least amount of pitches thrown in a game”; not sure what you were looking for, but maybe it had something to do with the fact that Red Barrett once needed just 58 pitches to complete a nine-inning game?
• Kevin at Padres Nation sent over this: In San Diego, Two Might Be a Crowd (Washington Post). East Coast writer sees a potential conflict between Towers and Alderson. “Then again, San Diego — and specifically the San Diego Padres franchise — is still learning what it means to have a little bit of New York injected into its perpetually laid-back dudeness.” Uh, okay. Dude. Anyway, there’s one man’s opinion for you.
• This has nothing to do with the Padres, but it affects everyone who loves the game of baseball. Kenny Rogers is an idiot (AZ Daily Sun). “My integrity and toughness is being called into question.” Well, what better way to answer questions about integrity and toughness than by shoving a much smaller man to the ground for no good reason and sending him to the hospital. Anger management? Okay, maybe. A hug? Not from me. Or cameraman Larry Rodriguez. A big suspension? Yeah, that’d probably help.
• I’ve also added a few links over there on the right: stats pages for Eugene and the AZL Padres; David Pinto’s indispensable Day by Day Database; and three Giants blogs, El Lefty Malo,
  Only Baseball Matters, and Orange and Black Baseball (good to know what’s up with the enemy; these folks just happen to be fantastic writers as well).

Go Pads!