Rain, Like Life, Postpones Inevitable
Wed, Apr 5, 2006
by Geoff Young
I’m speaking, of course, about Shawn Estes’ much-anticipated Padres debut. Did you know that his next victory will be #100 for the career?
So, you may have noticed that the Padres and Giants were rained out Tuesday night. This marks the first rainout at Petco Park, and the first for the Pads at home since May 12, 1998.
We all remember what happened that year.
Meantime, today’s forecast isn’t looking all that much better. Keep this up, and we may get to see nothing but Jake Peavy all season long.
Incidentallly, Tuesday night’s game has been rescheduled for July 1 at 12:05 p.m. PT.
Nady Makes Strong Debut with Mets
I wanted to mention this yesterday, but with all the Opening Day excitement here in San Diego, it didn’t seem appropriate. As we’re fond of saying this time of the year, it’s early, but did you notice that Xavier Nady went 4-for-4 in his Mets debut, with two doubles? We’ll see how he makes adjustments throughout the season, but I’m so glad the Mets are giving him a chance. It’s no secret that I’m a huge Nady fan, and I really hope he makes the most of his opportunity in New York.
Bowen Signs with Padres
With two aging backstops on the roster, the Padres have brought in former Twins catcher Rob Bowen. Manager Bruce Bochy said on the radio that he ordinarily didn’t think three catchers was necessary but that having Bowen on the club would give him a little more flexibility in using, e.g., Doug Mirabelli as a pinch hitter late in a game. That logic makes sense to me.
To make room for Bowen, the Pads sent reliever Scott Cassidy to Triple-A Portland. This is the other reason I have no problem with adding Bowen. Does a team really need both Cassidy and Brian Sweeney?
And in the “be careful what you say” department, I wrote in June 2003 that the Padres should trade Mark Loretta for Bowen. This amuses me now for two reasons:
- Nobody realized how good Loretta was at the time.
- The Pads ended up dealing him for a backup catcher anyway.
Bowen isn’t anything special, but he’s probably no worse than a lot of guys we’ve seen start in San Diego over the past several years (Ramon Hernandez excepted, of course).
That’s all for now. Keep your eyes on the skies. With any luck, we’ll get game #2 in tonight.
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April 5, 2006 at 8:29 am
Guess I’m not up on all the Shawn Estes innuendo, is he a bad pitcher or something? that would be a shame because he’s our number two guy. Hate to see 3, 4, and 5. OTOH, better then blaw, Astacio, Eaton.
Gees, come to think of it, who are the 3, 4, 5 guys?
April 5, 2006 at 11:20 am
Ah, Geoff, falling for that old Xavier Nady siren song again? Remember 2005, when he went 4 for 8 in the first series at Colorado, with a 2B, 2 HR, and 4 RBI? Remember 2003, that first homestand when he went 9 for 25 with 2 HR? Ah, those were the days.
Get back to me when he hits right handed pitching consistently, and not soft tossers like Livan Hernandez who don’t mind giving up 1B and 2B.
April 5, 2006 at 11:36 am
Ah, TF, but this time, X is for real.
Seriously, I remember all the discussions we had about X.
Hopefully, he learnt from being traded that he has to be consistently hitting to keep his chance of playing everyday.
It looks like rain to me at the moment. So, it’s possible that the only starting pitcher that will have pitched for the Padres is Jake Peavy come Saturday.
That’s pretty good prediction, Geoff regarding Loretta and Bowen.
You just have to pick the correct backup catcher.
April 5, 2006 at 12:25 pm
Yep, I remember when Nady got off to that start and then sat. Hopefully they’re a little more serious about giving him a shot in NY. If he fails, so be it. At least they’re letting him try.
April 5, 2006 at 12:57 pm
I think they have to give him a good look, because:
1. They traded a proven commodity for him and;
2. Because he has a much higher ceiling than Victor Diaz, or anyone else they could run out there this year.
Here’s hoping that Nady does well. Here’s hoping too that Cameron does a little better!
April 5, 2006 at 3:40 pm
Here’s a good note. Pedro Gomez, Barry Bonds’ stalker who was also on the MTY XX last night (good interview) .. said that security confiscated 12 saringes before the game.
at least us Padre fans were on the same page with creative things to throw at Bonds.
April 5, 2006 at 3:47 pm
San Diego folks..how’s the weather looking? It’s cleared up in orange county…
April 5, 2006 at 5:11 pm
Mark, the weather isn’t too bad. A little cool, but the game should be on.
BTW, Nady homered in his first at-bat tonight against John Patterson, who finished 12th in the NL in ERA last year. Just sayin’.
http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/013876.php
April 5, 2006 at 5:45 pm
Let’s hope that when Cameron comes back we’ll forget all about Nady…
April 5, 2006 at 5:59 pm
Nady got 77 plate appearances last April after that hot start. He didn’t get benched.
If we’re judging just by what transpired on the field, when he sat in May we won 22 games.
Two years in a row Nady has started hot and been exposed. We’ll see if this year he’s for real.
April 6, 2006 at 12:34 am
Padres released Tagg Bozied today … rats …