The Pads beat Chicago, 8-3, Monday night for their first ever four-game sweep of the Cubs. They did it by working the count against Greg Maddux and driving the ball back through the middle, an approach favored by Tony Gwynn, who hit Maddux well during his career.
The first four batters in the San Diego lineup reached base a total of 14 times. The Padres ran the bases aggressively, swiping four bags (three by Dave Roberts) in five tries and taking advantage of weak throwing arms in the Cubs outfield.
Greene Dazzles at the Plate and in the Field
Shortstop Khalil Greene made two plays that still have me scratching my head. The first came in the fourth, with the Pads leading, 3-1. Josh Barfield led off the inning by striking out on three pitches, as Greene had done in his first at-bat against Maddux. This time, Greene launched the first pitch he saw from Maddux into the Western Metal Supply Co. building.
I’ve watched the replay several times, and there are two things that stand out to me:
- The pitch was at the letters, in off the plate. You can see Cubs catcher Michael Barrett reach back inside to try and catch it. If Greene doesn’t swing at the pitch, he’s ahead in the count, 1-0. Granted, Maddux missed badly (Barrett was set up down and away), but that still wasn’t an easy pitch to put in play. As TV play-by-play guy Matt Vasgersian asked, “How hard can you hit a sand wedge?”
- I cannot believe Greene kept the ball from hooking foul. How did he do that? Maybe Tony Gwynn, who was in the booth Monday night, can shed some light? “I don’t know how he was able to get to that ball and keep it fair.” Okay, maybe not. How about Brian Giles? From the San Diego Union-Tribune: “Giles has said that Greene’s hands are among the fastest he’s seen.” Ah, quick hands. I dunno, I’m still scratching my head.
The other play came in the eighth. With Barrett on first and nobody out, Aramis Ramirez hit a smash well to the left of Greene and apparently into center field. Greene took three steps, dived, and flipped the ball with his glove hand to Barfield, who somehow completed the double play (great footwork, BTW) despite the presence of a rapidly approaching Barrett. At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, you won’t see a better double play.
Young Dominates Early before Fading
Finally, starter Chris Young once again pitched a solid game. Young is walking more batters than I’d expected and serving up more homers, which usually is a horrible combination, but when the league is hitting just .209 against you, I guess it works out okay. As has been his pattern, Young dominated for six before giving ground in the seventh. His season splits by inning:
| Inn | AB | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | 75 | .187 | .253 | .413 |
| 4-6 | 62 | .177 | .284 | .290 |
| 7+ | 16 | .438 | .500 | .750 |
Young is tough to hit early, although susceptible to the long ball. He’s devastating in the middle innings, and eminently hittable late. And if you’re wondering how he’s been able to succeed despite the walks and homers, check out this split:
| Situation | AB | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None On | 102 | .225 | .307 | .480 |
| Runners On | 51 | .176 | .262 | .235 |
That drop in ISO is phenomenal. With nobody on base, it’s at .255 (Bob Abreu v. 2001); with runners on, it’s at .059 (poor man’s Juan Pierre).
I imagine it will be difficult to maintain that kind of dominance with runners on base, so at some point Young will have to make an adjustment in his approach with the bases empty. He’s a pretty smart guy who should be able to adapt when needed. Meantime, we’ll just admire what he’s done so far.
Tunes: Rush, Outkast, Dead Can Dance, Frank Black, R.E.M., Mark Knopfler, 16B, The Strokes, k.d. lang, Interpol, Jason Falkner, Tragically Hip, Cheap Trick, Bebel Gilberto, Dido.
Man I just keep rerunning that dp at mlb.com and certainly is a thing of beauty. I am surprised at the strength of the throw by Barfield. Greene looked like some kind of Dolphin humpin that throw out to Barfield. Looks great for the future.. Looks pretty good for now, also. Did ESPN put it on the plays of the day?
On that pitch that Greene hit out, actually thats the book on Maddux, anything high, even if its a ball, go for it. Greene took that to an extreme with the one he hit tho..
Its Petco ball at its finest, stealing bases, hits up the middle, walks, hits with RISP, good pitching and great defense.
Small ball to the max.
By George, I think they’ve got it, I think they’ve got it.
Brewers have the most HRs in the bigs at 47. Should be interesting to watch long ball v small ball at Petco in this series.
Now if the damned Rockies would just cool off a bit. Never thought I’d say that.
To be filed under trends to enjoy while they last: the NL West currently has the best division record (+9) in MLB. No longer the Mild West? Once again the Wild West? A season-long 5-team battle? At the very least, thanks to the much improved Rox, this division seems to have no truly bad teams, like Pittsburgh in the Central, or Florida & Washington in the East.
I’m very impressed with the Rox … especially their pitching! Unless, of course, we find out that the switch on the humdior has been stuck on “Ultra” …
I thought the first inning was key. The walk to Roberts, the stolen base, Cameron taking second on the bad throw and then Giles’ single, it all happened so fast, it was like blitzkrieg. I got the sense that it demoralized the Cubs to see Maddux taken apart like that right off the bat.
I also though Dusty Baker’s infatuation with the pitchout actually made it easier for Roberts. He knew Dusty was going to pitchout at some point and sure enough he did at 1-0. Roberts knew he wasn’t going to pitchout again at 2-0 so he was free to run.
Chris Young is such an odd type of pitcher. I’ve never seen someone blowing away hitters with a 90mph fastball like he does. Watching his delivery in slow motion what struck me is how he really throws his glove hand out there, that’s got to be distracting to the hitter. I didn’t realize he was so much better with runners on base. Perhaps he should pitch out of the stretch all the time?
DP by Greene, Barfield and Gonzalez- It was a beautiful thing. Our future looks bright with that DP combination. I love the combo of Matt, Mud and Tony in the booth. True, they are homers, but who cares! It’s fun to listen to them. Going to the game Wednesday night against the Brew Crew. Hope I’ll be rooting for number 11.
You can see Greene’s glove work and HR at mlb.com … http://tinyurl.com/flarh … under May 8: CHC @ SD … clikc on links labeled “Greene starts sweet DP” and “Friars’ big fourth” … good stuff!
I didn’t check the schedule and thought that the Padres had missed Maddux. Found out as I watch the game on TV. Wait a 4-game series? Glad I didn’t ran out to Petco and watch Maddux got hit around.
I’m glad that the team is clicking so well right now. The Padres are playing good baseball.
That HR by Greene was just sick. And I love the DP in the 8th.
Love the announcers but had Tony swallowed a whole other person? Makes me sad that Gwynn has gone the way of Charlie Hayes and Mo Vaughn, especially with the Doctor chasing Gwynn’s triple record.
I enjoyed seeing Adrian Gonzales played 1B. He just smooth and comfortable there.
Go Padres!
This site http://www.brewcrewball.com/ is predicting the Brew Crew taking 2 out of 3 for the Padres. I think not.
Anthony: Good points about Roberts and the pitchout. As for Young, I’m going to have to study his delivery — you’re right, the stuff isn’t overpowering, but hitters seem to have trouble tracking it.
Q&A with George Kottaras at BA:
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/features/261245.html
GY – thanks for that link … I like the way it says “Kottaras is listed at 6-foot, 190 pounds” … he sure didn’t look that big to me over at Peoria back in March … as GK says, “numbers both offensively and defensively will speak for themselves when it’s all said and done”!
Just read the article at mlb.com regarding the 50 games suspenson of Delmon Young. I did not see the original incident until today. I was also a bit disturbed to read that he “bumped an umpire last year and received a three game suspension” and “threw a bat at a pitcher in another game after being hit by a pitch.” For this, he also gets 50 hours of community service with the Miracle League of Golf Beaches in St. Petersburg Fl, which is a program for mentally and physically challenged youth. If this guy has an anger management problem, I’m not so sure I want him working with challenged youth. But maybe that’s just me.