IGD: Padres vs Dodgers (14 Jun 06)
Wed, Jun 14, 2006
by Geoff Young
first pitch: 7:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Mike Thompson (2-2, 4.67 ERA) vs Brad Penny (7-1, 2.34 ERA)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com
Ten quasi-random observations from Monday night’s victory over the Dodgers:
- For a guy who is supposed to stink, Chan Ho Park sure doesn’t pitch like it. As has been the case more often than not this season, Park was in command from the start and took care of business. He struck out Nomar Garciaparra once and J. D. Drew twice, making both look pretty bad in the process. That’s not easy to do.
- Tony Gwynn and Matt Vasgersian were pushing Mike Piazza for the All-Star game last night during the telecast. Why not? It’s got to be either him or Chris Young.
- Vinny Castilla’s three-run double in the first inning pushed him up to five RBI in 92 Petco Park at-bats this season. He’s cranked his home OPS all the way up to 364.
- The ball Castilla hit was a tough play but Kenny Lofton could have caught it. Mike Cameron would have made the play look easy. Dave Roberts might have been able to haul it in as well.
- While I’m thanking the Dodgers defense for the gift that was the first inning, I should throw a shout-out to shortstop Rafael Furcal, who made two errors.
- Back to Castilla, there are 240 players in MLB with 150 or more plate appearances. All but one has seen at least three pitches per plate appearance. The lone dissenter? Yep, Castilla is at a whopping 2.93. When he swings at that first pitch, I’m actually hoping he misses it.
- I know I’ve said I love watching Mike Cameron play defense, but I also love watching him run the bases. Dude was moving on that triple to lead off the fourth.
- If it weren’t for the fact that the game ended up being a laugher, I’d be pretty irked that Cameron was left on third after said triple.
- Good move bringing Scott Cassidy into a low leverage situation, see if he can get some confidence back. He looked pretty good, although I wasn’t crazy about his sequence to Olmedo Saenz. Got ahead of Saenz with fastballs on the outer half, then tried to put him away out there. I kept thinking a backdoor slider from Cassidy might seal the deal, but everything was away and eventually Saenz drilled one into left for a single. Yes, I know I’m nitpicking. It’s what I do.
- Recently signed first-round pick Matt Antonelli dropped by the TV booth and mentioned plate discipline and on base percentage as strengths of his game. He also said he would be starting out at Eugene of the Midwest League. More on Antonelli at Padres.com. LynchMob, we’re counting on you for a full report when he arrives in Oregon.
I’ll be out at the park tonight, so mind the fort while I’m gone. Go Padres!
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June 14, 2006 at 8:31 am
So is vinny just a pig headed vet who won’t change his ways a la Jack Clark? BTW, GY it was Vinny who grounded out to strand Camron at third after his triple. I believe he bases where loaded at the time. Even my kids know Vinny is a lousy hitter who swings at the first pitch. My question is, how stubburn do you have to be before to “make an adjustment.”
June 14, 2006 at 9:17 am
Just for kicks — Vinny’s pitches per plate appearance in June:
2.29
June 14, 2006 at 9:18 am
So it appears he has made an adjustment — swing at the first, second and third pitches.
June 14, 2006 at 9:26 am
I can’t believe Sele threw Castilla anything he could reach on the first pitch. You could roll the ball up there and he’d swing at it. Vinny did hit it hard, but Lofton looked like Kerry Robinson. His only hope was the ball hitting him in the back of the neck and going inside his jersey. Still, you have to give Castilla more credit than the weak attempts by the preceding batters.
June 14, 2006 at 10:21 am
On TV last night, Matty V, on Vinny’s 3rd or 4th plate appearance, said, “Whoa, Vinny working the count here, 1 ball, 1 strike.”
June 14, 2006 at 10:32 am
Interesting piece at ESPN by the long-missed Keith Law:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=2483498
The stuff about sunk cost and necessary GM skills is great. Ties into a book I am reading and have been meaning to write about here that talks about flaws in decision making due to cognitive illusions.
June 14, 2006 at 11:21 am
I love that move by the Snakes to cut their losses. I wish the Padres would do the same thing with Vinny. Of course, then, we’ll be stuck with throwing Bellhorn/Blum at 3B every game.
The difference in the scenario is that the Snakes has a young pitcher to fill the spot even on as a learning experience. The Padres would have to fill 3B with other veteran parts and in the long run, the move wouldn’t be as productive.
What to do?
NG: swings at first, second and third pitches. That’s hilarious.
June 14, 2006 at 12:23 pm
“Vinny Castilla’s three-run double in the first inning pushed him up to five RBI in 92 Petco Park at-bats this season. He’s cranked his home OPS all the way up to 364″
I’m still laughing at how incredibly sad those stats are. You guys have got me cracking up over here with all of the Vinny talk. It sure is nice to be able to laugh about it after a win instead of being pissed off for him killing our offense in a loss.
June 14, 2006 at 12:42 pm
Geoff: Can you give us a title for the book? Sounds interesting.
June 14, 2006 at 1:13 pm
Pat: It’s called “Inevitable Illusions: How Mistakes of Reason Rule Our Minds” and it’s written by Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini, Ph.D. It’s a fascinating read, and I’ve been struggling for weeks to figure out how to bring some of his concepts into the realm of baseball analysis.
June 14, 2006 at 2:10 pm
There’s an interesting article at BTF that attempts to evaluate the impact of managers.
http://www.baseballthinkfactor.....rt_1_of_2/
It’s a long article and he does a good job of explaining his methodology and is very honest about the pitfalls of even attempting something like this. I think most of his rankings seem realistic so he’s probably on to something.
Bochy makes an appearance as #19 all time best at team offense. The ranking is through 2001 so he’s probably moved up since then. What do you guys think? It sounds reasonable to me. Bochy has the reputation of being very good at handling his bench and keeping veterans happy. Personally I think his strength is in matchups, starting a player against a certain type of pitcher and sitting him against another type. That’s probably the ex-catcher mentality, he knows his hitters and how the other team will try to pitch them.
June 14, 2006 at 3:29 pm
Oops, sorry about the long URL.
mlbtraderumors.com is reporting from a “well connected source” that Atlanta is trying to trade Marcus Giles. Can he play third base? He’s having a poor year but he’d still be an improvement over Vinny and he’s had success in the recent past.
June 14, 2006 at 5:10 pm
OT - Remember Brien Taylor? Here’s an update … http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/ne.....;type=lgns … not pretty … but very real … a story that’d make a good book, but a sappy movie.
June 14, 2006 at 6:20 pm
GY (et al) - Yup, I’m all over the Emeralds … I’ve got my Opening Night tix … Sat. June 24th @ 7pm … Section B, Row 3 … pretty much behind home plate!
I’ll take pics & video … will post some pics to the web … and bring even more pics and the video with me to the Pizza Feed!
June 14, 2006 at 6:24 pm
Good link LM. Excellent story.
June 14, 2006 at 7:17 pm
Nice job by Cameron making them pay for that HBP. They said it just got away from him but I think it was a message pitch after last night. Pretty cheap to throw at a guy who’s been through what Cameron has.
June 14, 2006 at 7:27 pm
re: All-Star rep … I think it’s clear that Padres will have only 1 player on the NL All-Star team … but that player ain’t gonna be (well, shouldn’t be) Piazza … I’d be OK with Curt Young … but to me, it’s a no-brainer … Hoffy! Only other candidate is Dave Roberts … but I’d hope Giles would make it before Piazza …
June 14, 2006 at 7:38 pm
Hmmm, whadayaknow … the Padres have a 3B-man who hits HRs … at home … hmmm.
June 14, 2006 at 7:43 pm
Hot Former Padre Alert … anyone notice what Gary Mathews Jr is doing? http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/6241 … now that’s some OPS!
June 14, 2006 at 7:48 pm
See there, Dave Roberts would make a good All-Star … 3-2 Padres in bottom of 2nd …
June 14, 2006 at 7:53 pm
OT - have they played this at Petco (yet) … http://www.radikal.com/audio/ZombieChant.ram ?
I first heard this last year at a hockey game and was blown away by the affect on the crowd … then heard it last month up at Safeco when the Mariners won a close game (and I’ve heard they’ve used it during the game sometimes) … then the Oregon St folks played it after they won their Super Regional … and then I finally found out what it is … and it’s a bit creepy … but still gets a sports crowd going.
June 14, 2006 at 8:28 pm
If you want an idea of what the “ZombieChant” looks/feels like at a ballgame, check this out … http://tinyurl.com/kc3ux … click on the video for “Everett’s walk-off homer” on June 7th …
Of course, for this to be any value, one has to have walk-off HR’s … so some such dramtic event
June 14, 2006 at 8:36 pm
Just one last comment about the “ZombieChant” … the song is titled “Kernkraft 400″ by a group called “Zombie Nation” … ug, now that I hear the whole song, it’s kinda creepy … so surf & listen & view with caution …
Here’s something that cracked me up … http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernkraft_400 … it can’t be good for a music group when their entry in Wikipedia is cross-referenced with the keyword “one-hit wonder”
June 14, 2006 at 8:56 pm
thru 6.5 innings …
Pitches-strikes - B Penny 109-72; M Thompson 79-51.
Ground balls-fly balls - B Penny 5-8; M Thompson 8-10.
Batters faced - B Penny 25; M Thompson 26.
… Thompson with a clinic! 7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K’s … go!
June 14, 2006 at 9:01 pm
GY - in your review of the Dodgers’ youth (which was right on), you missed the guy I think is their best / most significant prospect … Chad Billingsly … and he’s going to start for the Dodgers on Thursday … http://tinyurl.com/jnf8w … yes, the gap between the Padres and Dodgers widens … you/we’ve been warned …
June 14, 2006 at 9:06 pm
Warning: I don’t have details, but this note appears in the recap of today’s Mobile Bay Bears … Mobile starter Jared Wells did not return for the second inning
June 14, 2006 at 9:16 pm
Ok..so what is up with Linebrink this year and the freakin home runs??
June 14, 2006 at 9:20 pm
Mike Thompson just got hosed … 3-3 … headed to bottom of 8th …
June 14, 2006 at 9:21 pm
Yup … that’s 7 HRs given up by Linebrink in 30 IP … feels like even more, don’t it!
June 14, 2006 at 9:22 pm
It seems like every time he pitches he gives up a damn home run… He certainly isn’t the automatic 3 outs for us like he was last year…
June 14, 2006 at 9:31 pm
Adrian comes through. Linebrink in line for the win? What’s with that. He’s going to owe Thompson a dinner.
June 14, 2006 at 9:31 pm
Outstanding job by Gonzalez. Rather than try to pull the 96mph fastball he was smart enough to go the other way.
June 14, 2006 at 9:35 pm
Woo-hoo … Boch finds a use for Vinny … a decoy to get to Bard
June 14, 2006 at 9:56 pm
Hoffy closes the door!
btw, what happened to Jose Valverde? Seems all of sudden that dude can’t get *anybody* out! That’s bad news for Snakes … good news for Padres …
June 14, 2006 at 10:00 pm
The Hammer (aka Paul McAnulty) is 4-for-4 (thru 7) for Portland tonight … http://tinyurl.com/kxkxp … including HR #9 … he’s now hitting .318 and slugging ~.550 in ~170 ABs …
And the best part about that game? He’s playin’ 3B!!!
(note: Leone’s at 2B)
June 14, 2006 at 11:07 pm
Great game tonight. Too bad Thompson didn’t get the victory, but I’ll take a win over Penny and the Dodgers any day.
Also, Matt Antonelli and Kyler Burke were at Petco Park. According to one source, Burke is set to sign and scheduled to start his pro career Friday in the AZL:
http://www.chattanoogan.com/ar....._87509.asp
June 14, 2006 at 11:35 pm
Boo-ya on Burke! I’m hoping he starts out on fire … and gets a promotion to Eugene by Opening Night