The good news is the Padres won on Sunday afternoon at Anaheim to take the series from the Angels. The Pads’ 7-3 victory behind Chan Ho Park and Vinny Castilla (!) vaults them into a tie with the Dodgers atop the NL West.
The bad news is Angel Stadium’s poor excuse for a left field wall has cost the Padres the services of leadoff hitter Dave Roberts for 2-6 weeks. Roberts will be placed on the 15-day DL, with outfielder Ben Johnson likely being recalled from Triple-A Portland to take his place on the roster.
Don’t expect Johnson to play much, though. The venerable Eric Young figures to see most of the time in left field. He also becomes the de facto leadoff hitter. The downside is obvious: Young, great clubhouse presence that he may be, isn’t much of a left fielder of leadoff hitter at this stage in his career.
What are the Padres losing in Roberts? Well, he currently leads the club in batting average (.295), triples (8), stolen bases (19), and RC/27 (6.41), and is second in runs (36), OBP (.365), SLG (.432), and SEC (.300). He also leads all MLB left fielders with a 2.32 range factor.
Young, meantime, sports an OBP of .309 and a RC/27 of 3.08. He also doesn’t play left field particularly well. Next year I hope the useless veterans the Padres bring in are a more disagreeable bunch, because I hate saying bad things about guys like Young and Castilla even though their performance merits it.
Speaking of Castilla, thanks to a tepid couple of weeks, he’s got his SLG up over .300 for the year. The club continues to insist that his early-season struggles were the result of a mechanical flaw and not declining skills. Apparently the Padres were talking to Cleveland at one point about prospect Andy Marte (yes, please!), but judging from the fact that this is the first time many of us are hearing about it, I’d guess those talks never got real serious.
Sigh. Is it wrong to be so down after winning a series and moving into a first-place tie?
I don’t get it, why the DL if there is no real problem with the knee other than a bruise. The UT said that MRI tests showed no tearing or breakage or strain with the Drs. knee. 2-6 weeks, what? Hmmmmm. Is something else going on here? Conspiracy theoriest want to know….
Here’s what WC @ BP says today …
really should keep count of the Player Vs. Wall war, which would be easy, because one side wins all the battles. Wall’s latest victim was Dave Roberts, who looked like the human version of the front crumple zones you see in car ads. The padding in Angels Stadium’s left-field corner didn’t go down far enough to keep Roberts from coming away with a deep bruise on his right knee. This is the second time this season that Roberts has crashed into a wall, meaning the team either has to change the way he plays or figure out how to get more padding on the fences. (I’m curious. Why doesn’t padding go all the way down?)
The Padres were happy with what they saw from Jake Peavy in Saturday’s game. Despite him taking the loss, those who have seen him pitch recently said he was throwing looser than he has been. One NL scout at the game told me “whatever’s going on in there, he’s been trying to gut through it and has gone high effort. Mix that with his pitch counts and I worry about a bigger breakdown. He’s as good as there is in the West so the [Padres] better protect him.”
… if there was any hint of ‘something else going on here’, WC would mention it.
So what do the pads do for the next 2 weeks? If they play Young every day then their chances to win go down exponentially each day they put him out there, If Johnson is brought up then they have no leadoff guy, maybe the solution is to send down Adkins (why do they need 12 pitchers) and bring up Hill to leadoff and play 3rd and Johnson to play left. Al though Vinny has shown sparks of life the past few days.
I don’t think there’s any conspiracy here; Roberts had to be carted off the field on Saturday. Dude is hurt, plain and simple, and so now are the Padres’ chances of staying on top in the short term.
As for who to bat leadoff, my crazy idea would be to try Mike Cameron in that spot.
Thats not a bad idea Geoff, Cameron and Barfield are the only two on the team with any kind of speed, Maybe:
1. Cameron
2. Giles (we all know he’s become a natural #2 hitter)
3. A Gon (it’s looking like he may take this spot in a few years)
4. Piazza, Bard, Bowen
5. Greene
6. Castilla
7. Barfield
8. Johnson
But Boch will never do it because there are only 2 lefties in the lineup.
Look for the pads to pull up McAnulty because they will want another lefty
Maybe I been watching too much soccer, GY, and think everything is a dive. Sorry DR, maybe you are really hurt. Get well soon.
A bone bruise can be pretty serious, it’s not like a regular bruise to a muscle. They can linger a long time too, I’ll be surprised if DR is ready in two weeks.
Johnson (or whoever) should get a lot of playing time, Bochy has to know EY is not an every day player, right?
Put The Hammer in LF and see what happens … bat him leadoff … I’m more impressed with OBP at the top of the order than speed … unless you’re talking about Coleman/Wiggins speed …
I understand the need and value of balancing the offensive requirements with defensive requirements … check out the offensive facts for yourself … first, The Hammer: http://tinyurl.com/r7cc7 … now Ben Johnson: http://tinyurl.com/gucbp …
We all know the defensive side of this … ’tain’t obvious, is it?
I vote for the bat …
Geoff: I hear you. It stinks when you have to dog a guy like EY, but it’s true. Nice as he is, good guy though he is, he’s just not good enough to start anymore.
LM: I’m with you on the leadoff position, but it’s still too “revolutionary” for guys like Bochy, I’m afraid.
The way I see it the Padres have 3 or maybe 4 options for leftfield. They can either call up and play everyday Ben Johnson, Termel Sledge or even Paul McAnulty (not sure if he can handle the OF everyday) or keep playing EY and whatever other bench players that can play in the OF (Bellhorn and Blum probably). Knowing Bochy, he’s probably most comfortable doing the final option even though it’s probably the worst. Instead of hiring a new hitting coach what Alderson really needs to do is to hire a bench coach that will force Bochy to play young players and not keep throwing out crappy veterans.
New bench coach or new manager? With the firing of the two base coaches last year and Magaden this year I think Alderson is slowly trying to get Bochy out. Boch doesn’t fit Alderson philosophy, he is the opposite to be exact. Nothing short of the division title will save boch’s job.
To be clear I’m not saying that boch is a bad manager I’m just saying that because he won’t use young players and is not a small ball kind of guy he will never succeed in Alderson’s system.
Sandy Alderson is not a proponent of small ball. But he might lean toward a different manager if he’s convinced Bochy won’t play youngsters and he can find someone who will. Most managers are going to favor veterans.
Well small ball in the since that its used in the “money ball” system, I dont see any padre sluggers coming up from the farm system and i dont see the pads getting any via FA or trade so i think small ball is the only way they can go.
Right now, the Padres don’t have many better options at leadoff than Eric Young, who has turned it around somewhat after a very slow start – .222 OBP in April, .333 OBP in May, .400 OBP in June.
Unfortunately, Young is a butcher in left field, so I would love to see Ben Johnson called up and get the majority of starts in LF, but that probably won’t happen if past is prologue.
If you check the beavers home page (http://www.pgepark.com/beavers/) Johnson has been struggling in AAA .244 BA, .340 OBP, and .417 slugging. I Hope the pads don’t bring him up and make him sit on the bench the whole time he needs to get 4 AB’s a night.
Steve – right on!
I understand the need and value of balancing the offensive requirements with defensive requirements … check out the offensive facts for yourself … first, The Hammer: http://tinyurl.com/r7cc7 …
… now Ben Johnson: http://tinyurl.com/gucbp …
We all know the defensive side of this … ’tain’t obvious, is it?
I vote for the bat …
KT was just on the XX and said that the pads would bring up johnson to split time with young in left and that Cameron would most likley assume the lead off roll when johnson was in the lineup.
Eugene Emeralds open tonight … here’s their roster … http://tinyurl.com/nxfrx … featuring #7 Matt Antonelli … currently listed at 3B … we’ll see tonight! Go Ems!
ps. Oregon St’s still alive @ CWS … beating Georgia 5-3 today … will face lose of Rice vs Miami (going on now) in another elimination game tomorrow … Go Beavs!
I think this BA web page … http://www.baseballamerica.com/draftdb/2006xteam.php?team=SD... say that the Padres are yet to sign picks from round 2-6 …
2 53 Chad Huffman 2b Texas Christian TX
2 61 Wade LeBlanc lhp Alabama AL
3 93 Cedric Hunter of King HS, Decatur, Ga. GA
4 123 Nate Culp lhp Missouri MO
5 153 Andy Underwood rhp Fresno State CA
6 183 Tim Bascom rhp Central Florida FL
… hmmm, wonder whassup with that??? … eh, fodder for the Feed, I s’pose
The starting pitcher for Eugene tonight is Brooks Dunn … the Padres’ 23rd round pick … hmmm … and if they are on a 5-man rotation, he’s the guy I’ll see at home-opener on Saturday …
Antonelli just had his first pro AB … ground ball to SS … which the SS booted … you can listen to the game live on internet radio for free … http://tinyurl.com/m8bf9
Ems opponent tonight is Mark Pawelek, Cubs #2 prospect … http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/features/05top10s/cubs.html … just fyi.
Wally Whitehurst is pitching coach for Ems …
I’ve given up trying to explain Moneyball to people. Well, maybe one more shot. It’s about getting the most player for the money you have available. That used to be high OBP hitters with some power who didn’t do other things very well. Now it’s not. It has almost nothing to do with in-game strategy, except that you want a manager who will make the best use of the players on the roster.
TW – Moneyball is what Joe Morgan says it is? Oh ya, he didn’t read the book …
I think Jack Cust should have been the guy brought up. He has been completely consistent in AAA all year. He hits for power, can play the outfield well, ridiculous OBP. Why Johnson? Because his face is familiar? I just don’t understand why no one gives Cust an opportunity. The Rockies and Orioles gave him short cups o’ coffee and he actually performed well, so what gives (and he’s still young!)?
Jack Cust can play the outfield well? Which Jack Cust are we talking about?
He may be a better defender than people say, but the consensus is awfully strong.
Cust would be a nice bat to have on the bench.
Has anyone noticed that the Padres have 3 DH’s in AAA (Cust, Young and McAnulty)?