first pitch: 7:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4
matchup: Chan Ho Park (8-5, 5.84 ERA) vs Pedro Martinez (12-3, 2.81 ERA)
preview: Padres.com
As those of you who caught the inaugural edition of Ducksnorts Radio will know, the Mets come to town with a better record than the Padres. Actually, many others of you will know that as well, but humor me.
(And if you haven’t listened to the podcast yet, I encourage you to do so. It’s very much a work in progress, but I’ve gotten some good feedback, and I’ll be doing more of these in the future. Topic and music suggestions are always welcome.)
I also compared the Park/Martinez matchup to the Darrell May/Johan Santana showdown of a couple months ago. But this is even more of a mismatch than that was. May’s ERA (5.20) entering the June 19 contest at Minnesota was only 56% higher than Santana’s (3.32).
Park’s checks in around 108% higher than Pedro’s. I don’t know how valid it is to compare two pitchers ERAs in this manner, but I do know that it’s valid enough to tell me I don’t like the Padres’ chances tonight.
| AB | BA | OBP | SLG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Park vs current Mets | 83 | .337 | .456 | .651 |
| Martinez vs current Padres | 119 | .269 | .315 | .521 |
You don’t want me to break down the individual hitters against Park. Suffice to say, anyone who has faced him much has had terrific success. But you probably figured that out from the .314 ISO.
How good is a .314 ISO? Manny Ramirez has a .313 ISO this year, good for fourth out of the 158 qualifiers in the big leagues. Would it be fair to say Park turns hitters into Ramirez? Add 55 points to Manny’s BA, 80 points to his OBP, and 70 points to his SLG, and it would.
On the other side, Ryan Klesko (.345/.406/.828 in 29 AB) has four of the Pads’ seven homers against Pedro. Here’s hoping Ryno’s back is good enough to get him in the lineup. Eric Young (.273/.429/.818 in 11 AB) also has done well against Martinez.
So the good news is that Martinez hasn’t dominated this lineup. The bad news, of course, is that he doesn’t need to dominate. He just needs to show up at the ballpark.
Bottom line? You never concede a game before it starts, but I’m looking for baby steps here. If Park pitches better than he did in his Padres debut, I’ll be happy. Well, maybe “happy” is too strong a word, but you get the idea.
Linkengruven
- Peavy is NL Player of the Week (Padres.com). Jake Peavy leads the NL with 165 strikeouts, is 10th with a 3.11 ERA, and is tied for 12th with 10 wins. He also leads the league in K/BB (5.32) and K/9 (10.06). Fourth in DIPS (2.83), sixth in opponent OPS (633). What I’m trying to say is, dude is a stud.
- Hoffman’s save total still rising (Padres.com). Puff piece, but it sounds like Chris Hammond and Rudy Seanez may be coming back soon. Actually, it’s pretty vague, so who knows.
- Peter Handrinos chats with Ted Giannoulas at United States of Baseball. The first part of Peter’s interview with the San Diego Chicken. Solid.
- Stumbled across a Portland Beavers blog at something called OregonLive.com. Haven’t read through everything here, but it looks promising.
Okay, get out to the game tonight. Or hang out here and chat. Listen to the podcast. Aw, heck; do whatever you want to do. Just be sure to have fun doing it. Go Pads!
86 Comments
I’ll be at the game tonight, watching a matchup of a pitcher the Dodgers regret letting go against a pitcher the Dodgers are damned glad to have let go.
Right on, Lance. We’ll be expecting the full report over at Friar Faithful.
Fick gets the start at 1B. Bochy has chosen Olivo over Nady tonight. That’ll teach X ever to hit a homer again.
LOS ANGELES — Gene Mauch, “the little general” who won 1,901 games as a manager but became infamous for historic losses, died Monday. He was 79.
“If it’s true you learn from adversity, then I must be the smartest SOB in the world,” he once said.
Mauch, who died after a long battle with cancer, isn’t suffering anymore.
Every double switch and sacrifice bunt is a tribute to Mauch. If you want to make this a drinking game, feel free.
Nice pitch by Park on the inside corner to get Beltran looking to end the first. Channel 4 had Park’s fastball at 89-94 that inning.
Park actually got out of the first inning, unscathed. Those of you that get to watch, is his stuff as good as the broadcast team is making out? Or is Lietner simply spouting the party platform?
Park’s stuff looks better than I’d expected.
Serious afterburners there for DR. Nice job to get things started for the Pads.
MLBtv is having trouble with the Padres game. By that, I mean, I can’t get it.
And Roberts somehow manages not to score on a grounder behind first base. Bad baserunning.
Did he bunt to get on?
Nope. Triple off Cameron’s glove in the RF corner.
During Roberts’ slump, I was thinking, should he just try to bunt for a hit two or three times a game like Alan Wiggins used to?
Klesko is battling.
Klesko strikes out on the 11th pitch of the at-bat, after falling behind 0-2. Fouled off 7 pitches.
Pads don’t score thanks to Roberts’ poor baserunning.
What happened with Roberts?
on the broadcast they speculated that roberts would have scored if he just kept on running, but at the same time they were talking about offerman pumping to throw home twice before going tofirst to get the out. What actually happened?
Great pitch by Park to end the inning. Full-count breaking ball freezes Piazza.
Infield was back. Offerman was conceding the run but looked up and noticed that Roberts had hesitated. They played a little cat-and-mouse, and Roberts retreated to third as Offerman stepped on the bag. Indecision.
Dang him, he is teasing me. I am starting to like him in spite of myself. However, I keep waiting to wake up to reality any second.
I’m watching Felix Hernandez pitch for the Mariners. Kid’s got some serious shit.
dang, that is what I thought. Randa did just what you need to do with runner on third and no outs. put the ball in play, on the ground and to the right side. geeeesh. we are gonna miss that run.
we miss it already..
Whew, that was a horrible pitch by Pedro. Hung one and Khalil tattooed it.
Khalil seems to be finding his stroke. He couldn’t have picked a better time thats for sure.
Oh man, that was a beautiful DP. Loretta to the right, on his knees. Had a little trouble getting the ball out of his glove, flipped to Khalil, who hung in nicely and made a strong throw. I really missed watching those two.
Park just crushed one down the line in left. Shoulda been a double, but he missed first base. It’s been a while since he’s been on the bases, I guess.
Wiki Gonzalez is catching for the Mariners.
Randa drives in Park. Pedro doesn’t have his best stuff. He’s leaving pitches out over the plate.
Klesko drives in Randa with a ground rule double just inside the first base line. That’s 3-0. Nice.
Pedro was ahead of Fick 1-2 and floated a change up that did nothing. Base knock to right scores Klesko.
Suggested chant: Who’s/your/Pad/re?
Park’s fastball has good action on it. He’s throwing it inside to lefties and letting it run back over the corner. I don’t know if this is a fluke or what but he’s looking real good so far tonight.
Park is batting .429.
That ball is way out in Shea. Welcome to the west coast, Chan Ho.
Now he’s down to .375.
Double for Floyd down the first base line. Fick should have caught it.
Park is dealing. Runners on first and second, no out, he gets into Piazza’s kitchen for a weak 4-6-3 DP then goes up the ladder to punch out Cameron swinging.
Giles goes yard. Fick puts one to the wall in dead center. Pedro has absolutely nothing. Honestly, this is what I expected out of Park, not Pedro.
Is it me or do Pedro A. and Park have stuff? I think back to May and that other pitcher that we moved to the yanks, they had no stuff. But these two guys, apparently junk pile guys, have fastballs in the 90s. Maybe petco is proving to be beneficial for pitchers toward the end of their careers.
Oh, Giles just hit a homer.
Pedro M overlooked the PAdres tonight.
This is like Bizarro world.
Park hung an 0-2 breaking ball to Cairo. Shutout gone. So is Pedro, lifted for a pinch hitter.
It’s not just you, Mike. I’m amazed at how much movement Park has on his pitches. I really expected to see another Izzy Valdez.
Now I have the game. Only five innings too late.
Well, it’s not a “quality start,” but I’ll take it.
The important question: Are we double-switching?
Park still had the stuff but couldn’t put guys away here in the sixth. He leaves the game with a 5-2 lead and eight strikeouts. Color me impressed.
Enter Linebrink.
The Mets broadcasters were saying he was trying to shake off the catcher and get cute.
Yes, we have a double switch. Sweeney at first. Long live Mauch!
Hey, Geoff, did you ever use baseballlibrary.com? It seems to be gone now.
He was also slowing way down. Looked like he was getting a bit tired.
Linebrink freezes Wright with a fastball on the outside corner at the knees. Geez, he throws hard.
Kevin, I think it’s still there:
http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/
Final lines:
Martinez: 5 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 2 HR
Park: 5.2, 5, 2, 1, 8, 0
Crazy.
Maybe the new car smell hasn’t worn off, but I think we stole Olivo from the Mariners. This guy looks like a much better hitter than advertised.
Olivio gets an RBI hit. All the starters have hits.
He sent the catcher. Mauch wouldn’t have done that.
Love that Padre baserunning!
I was just about to say that I really like Olivo…then he had to go and do that. What’s up with this team’s baserunning
Now all position players have a hit. Should have knocked in Olvio if Bochy wouldn’t have sent him.
They are not smart baserunners, and Bochy compounds it by thinking he has the 1985 Cardinals.
Geoff, can you go to any page off the front of that site? I am having trouble doing that.
Yes, Pedro A, Park, and Oliveo look pretty good. I’m wondering if that cool bay air is lousy for hitters but great for pitchers because it adds a tackiness to the ball that gives them more grip.
Anybody know how Nevin is doing?
Linbrink looks like a chimunck with those cheeks.
Also, separated at birth:
Joe Randa and Joe Montana
Kevin, I tried to load it and this is the error message I got:
BaseballLibrary.com Site Work
The page you were directed to was not found, due to brief but unavoidable site maintenance as we move servers.
Thank you for your patience.
They must be upgrading, like how Met fans wish they could upgrade Offerman.
Nevin still stinks. I got an error message also, a different one, but an error message just the same.
Damn, Sweeney cannot make that throw to second. Great play by Khalil to get one the lead runner.
I can’t get to any other pages at Baseball Library either.
Hammond is off DL and warming up.
Also, I don’t think Bochy sent Olivo. Those two were having a little “chat” when Olivo got back to the dugout.
Good. I hope the chat was something like, “Catchers don’t run.”
Hammond is one of my favorite players, but what does he do to warm up — make sure his jersey is tucked in?
Wow
Holy crap, Giles just got robbed on an amazing play by David Wright. Dove for a pop fly over his head and caught it with the bare hand. Wowza!
Maybe I’m biased, but the word that comes to mind is “Khalil-esque”
Nevin update: 10 for 37 (.270), 1 HR, 3 RBIs, 8Ks, seven game hit streak.
Yeah, hate to hate on Nevin, but not that impressive in a hitters’ park.
Nady in as part of the double switch
The Mets broadcasters are talking about how Bochy thinks Olivio is fast, faster than Benito Santiago back in the day.
They’re intentionally walking Roberts to load the bases for Randa. I’m calling slam.
I’m thinking RBI/fielder’s choice.
So much for the slam. Nice job by Roberts to disrupt the turn at second.
Interesting tidbit from the TV guys: Mark Loretta was the first batter Chan Ho Park faced as a pro in North America. Double-A Texas League, San Antonio vs El Paso.
Arizona and SF have lost, LA is down 5-2 in the 8th.
Padres RHP Adam Eaton was put back on the disabled list so he can go down to the minor leagues and make at least three starts. Eaton (9-2, 3.76 ERA) was on the DL from June 16 through July 31 with a strained tendon in his right middle finger. He pitched out of the bullpen on the recently completed road trip, throwing two innings in two appearances, but that arrangement didn’t work out as intended. … Taking Eaton’s roster spot was left-handed reliever Chris Hammond (5-1, 2.96 ERA), who had been on the DL since July 20 with a strained neck.
Game over. Park gets the win. Pads are 4 up on the Snakes.
That will do it. The Padres have beaten Johan Santana and Pedro Martinez with a pair of nobodys. The Padres have also lost to some of the worst pitchers in the game. Go figure.
Park on postgame show. Says he is very happy to be back in the NL. Too much adrenaline in first start at Pittsburgh. Says he knew the Mets hitters better than the Pirates hitters. Felt like his command was off in his Padres debut because he’d had so much time off between starts.
impressive outing by Park. I didnt think he had one of those starts left in him. If he has a couple of more like that left in the tank, then the Nevin deal might not be so bad after all, considering that Eaton is still unable to start.
I am not changing my opinion YET, mind you..but I am wavering a little.
btw, Kevin, Nevin started his American league tour with a fine 0-8 and 3 k’s..since then he has been doing pretty well. Hitting the ball long to right center again.
You’re right, about the time they got back home.
I just saw David Wright’s “Kevin Mitchell” catch. Wow.