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.
We’re outscoring our opponents by 9 runs this year, and by only 11 runs at home, where we’re 25-15. Why is this? We’re outwalking them by 32, we’re out striking-them-out by 69. The home runs are even, and we have 1 more triple. However, we’ve been out-doubled by 30! That’s 3 additional opponent doubles every 4 games. The end result is we’re beating them in batting average by 19, by OBP by 36(!) – and yet our slugging average is lower by 8. That’s just nuts.
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!
Sweeney was supposed to “regress to career norms” after that crazy May, but he hasn’t.
DONG! DONG! DONG! DONG! DONG! DONG!DONG! DONG! DONG!DONG! DONG! DONG!DONG! DONG! DONG!DONG! DONG! DONG!DONG! DONG! DONG!DONG! DONG! DONG!DONG! DONG! DONG!DONG! DONG! DONG!DONG! DONG! DONG!DONG! DONG! DONG!DONG! DONG! DONG!DONG! DONG! DONG!DONG! DONG! DONG!DONG! DONG! DONG!DONG! DONG! DONG!DONG! DONG! DONG!DONG! DONG! DONG!
Sweeney with a BOMB … 1-1 Padres … sorry, Lance, couldn’t wait any longer for ya!
rare 5.5-hole hit for Klesko
well thats a start, sweeney giveth and sweeney takem back..
klesko and giles got the hitting shoes on tonight?
hope so..
Huh?!?
I’m leaving the office, and heading home. Taking the wife to Donovan’s for dinner tonight. Peavy better pitch his ass off. I ain’t comin’ home to a loss, even though Correia and I went to the same high school.
Matt and Mud are noting that Padres hitters like to bat against hard throwers.
Er, ah… DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!
Atta boy, Lance! Enjoy Donovan’s…
Better late then never, Lance …
Man, Burroughs can’t even take an HBP … but at least he worked the walk … here comes Nady!
Woo-hoo! Walk to Burroughs brings up X with the bases juiced and two out.
Sweeney on May 31st: .280/.422/.460
Sweeney since: .304/.407/.500 (not including that homer)
wow Nady hits hard
My goodness, I thought Snow was going to somehow make that play. Dude is amazing.
Correia is at 35 pitches.
Correia failing to cover costed the Giants a run or more, but the first base bag costed the Padres a run or more.
Greene doesn’t get good hack … was hoping for a WMS shot …
btw, Lance, if you want an excuse for missing your cue, it’s because I misspelled it … http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=cue
dang that shoulda been a base-clearing double. We fail to “clean up” all too often.
heck if it dont hit the bag, Snow probably grabs it for a putout and we dont score at all.
After Top of 2nd …
Pitches-strikes – K Correia 36-21; J Peavy 35-21.
Ground balls-fly balls – K Correia 2-0; J Peavy 3-0.
Batters faced – K Correia 8; J Peavy 9.
DJ not looking good vs Corriea …
This guy has a pretty live arm, but he’s all over the place.
Heckuva pitch by Peavy to strike out Sanchez. I love the way Jake gets that thing to tail back over the plate against lefties.
Easy inning for Peavy. We’re off to dinner. I’ll check back in a little later.
After top of 2nd …
Pitches-strikes – K Correia 56-31; J Peavy 45-29.
Ground balls-fly balls – K Correia 3-1; J Peavy 4-0.
Batters faced – K Correia 12; J Peavy 12.
… and I’ve got to check out for a while also …
I think Giles might ought to realize he is34 not 24…
two times he has done that now..
argghhhhhhhhhhhhhh
did someone just send me a realplayer clip?
Peavy is being manufactured to death
CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP
greene should have had that…
come on defense!
it’s ridiculous that two pitchers of such disparate quality today have allowed the same number of runs. This should be like a 5-0 game.
i wish it were a support-neutral day today
the contrast between the Giants’ hits and the Padres’ outs is remarkable.
the Giants appear to be playing defense and the Padres dont. Geeesh, they are making all the plays and we cant make any..
Jake is dominant. He’s got no-hit stuff today, yet it’s 2-2, through no fault of his own. I’m peeved.
hard-hit ball by the Giants for an out. I feel a little better.
Nady and Sweeney are now slugging better than any of the regulars.
I’m back. How did we not do more damage to Correia?
Fick laying down the bunt for a base hit. Nice.
he did settle down a bit, but just a poor offensive performance from this makeshift lineup. Some bad luck mixed in too. The 6th (vs. Munter) was painful.
the Giants barely got the ball out of the infield all day and they have 3 runs.
They need to teach Burroughs how to lay down a sacrifice bunt or stop asking him to do it. Can’t be giving away outs this late in the game.
Wow, we’re sure making Tyler Walker look good.
This is killing me. Durham’s hit in 9th and Alou’s grounder up the middle have been the only Giant hits to make to the outfielders. There was Greene’s missed catch in outfield earlier, but it is pathetic hitting and bad defense that we will most likely lose this game.
I’m usually the last to question in-game managerial decisions, but letting Reyes come in just to cause trouble and then leave is weird. Aki was already warm long before Reyes.
Why is Blum at SS?
thing is, Giants hitting has been far more pathetic. It’s just the lucky bounces and defense that has been the difference.
He made the plays, but why put a much inferior defender in the game?
Blum, Jackson, Sweeney in the ninth.
Inning 7+
Blum: .224/.316/.284
Jackson: .234/.308/.362
Sweeney: .356/.483/.489
Double switch.
Blum is 0 for his last 18.