first pitch: 6:40 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Woody Williams (7-4, 3.60 ERA) vs Brandon Webb (13-5, 2.99 ERA)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com | ESPN
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The Padres weren’t able to do anything against Aaron Cook at Coors Field on Sunday. Here’s hoping they’ll have a little more success against an even tougher sinkerballer, Brandon Webb. The Friars need to start winning games against teams in the division other than the Dodgers. And it has to start now, in Arizona.
Go Padres!
61 Comments
Webb is scuffling lately, with and ERA above 5 since he was diagnosed with a stiff elbow. Do the Padres take advantage or is it just another pitcher who turns it around against them?
I don’t know, but it appears that Webb has a lot on his mind right about now:
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/sports/articles/0828dbacksnb0828.html
Wow, Webb needed just 7 pitches to get through the first. Way to make him work, guys.
If the shift isn’t on for Gonzalez, I think Walker might field that ball. I’m a little troubled that the acquisition of Branyan has cut into Barfield’s PT (to say nothing of Ben Johnson’s).
Branyan’s got to charge that ball. Byrnes is credited with a single but that’s a play that has to be made.
Okay – so what gives? Why is Barfield out again? How is it that our great infield has been corrupted to include the likes of Branyan and Walker and exclude Barfield and (the former 3rd baseman know as) Castilla. Okay, Castilla’s old news, but this Branyan/Walker garbage is new news. Is Barfield hurt? If not, then what kind of message is this sending him? And, when we’re already without K Greene, what is this doing for the confidence of our pitching staff? Granted, until Peavy’s bad outing everyone was doing fine.
I don’t like this decision to make Barfield a platoon player now. Walker has looked better at first, and Branyan can’t hit all that well. Let him play and grow and all that stuff.
Gonzo misses a homer to dead center by inches, settles for a double. He crushed that ball.
Good question, Marsh. The only thing I can figure is that maybe Bochy wants to see what Branyan can do and keep Walker’s hot bat in there. Walker is hitting .304/.418/.465 in August, while Barfield is at .202/.244/.369.
Well, here is some of that plate discipline and working the count that was missing last inning.
Bases loaded, nobody out, Branyan flies to deep center to get the run home. Nice at-bat. Fouled off a 2-2 pitch before hitting driving in the run. He completely got under that ball and still almost took Byrnes to the warning track.
Thanks Geoff – I’ve been watching this blog for a while now and knew that you would provide some good stats. It’s a shame that Barfield’s within 40 or so hits of the rookie record for the Pads and may not get the chance because of this platoon situation. Good at-bat by Branyan, though if we only get out of this with 1 run then it’s a pretty big flop.
Blum can’t get the ball out of the infield. We’re only going to get one run out of this.
Well, both Walker and Branyan are better hitters than Barfield and Castilla. I’m not sure how much you lose defensively.
Unbelievable. Great job by Cameron to get into scoring position, but more importantly, to eliminate the force-out; but it was wasted. Blum had to get a ball into the outfield before it was 2 strikes and he was relegated to simple plate protection. All in all, that was a pretty significant opportunity wasted.
I disagree that Branyan is a better hitter than Barfield. It’s hard to see how a guy with a .286 OBP is a good hitter, no matter how much power he has.
They’re charging Gonzo with an error on that play? Tough crowd.
alright, Webb is up. Let’s roll a pair..
wow – we could’ve used that same effort from Woody. yikes – pitcher beating pitcher.
Geez, how do you let Webb almost take you yard on an 0-2 pitch?
I thought the idea was good on the pitch to Webb, but the pitch needed to be about a foot further inside to make him chase or set him up to chase a breaking ball out of the zone.
yeah, seriously – putting it anywhere near the plate is a big mistake. I believe he even fouled off a pitch before that. There’s really no bigger mistake in pitching than putting an 0-2 pitch near the plate, much less to a pitcher (who then doubles off you). btw, did everyone see this clip in the tribune (sorry, I’m in Beantown, so it seems possible that people may not have seen it).
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A Castilla curse?
Since the departure last month of Vinny Castilla, the Padres’ third-base situation has been a source of concern for the club.
The newest third baseman, Russell Branyan, threw away the first ball he touched – an error that led to Colorado’s first run yesterday.
When Castilla departed, he was hitting .232 in 254 at-bats with four homers, 23 RBI, five errors and a demeanor that made him a leader and a counselor in the clubhouse.
But those in the front office who judge players by the offensive stats in computers ruled Castilla expendable. Since Castilla was released on July 18, the Padres’ third-base situation has worsened to the point that it has cost the club at least three games and possibly five.
Since Castilla’s release, Padres third basemen have hit .182 (25-for-137) with two homers and eight RBI and made 10 errors.
The Padres will be seeing Castilla again soon. The Rockies signed him to a minor league contract and plan to activate him Friday when rosters are expanded – just in time for the Rockies’ Sept. 4-6 series at Petco Park
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unbelievable – Castilla would be an offensive and defensive upgrade to what we have now.
Ben,
Barfield isn’t exactly and On-Base machine himself. .318 is nothing special.
Make than “an On-Base machine.”
Holy crap. Make that “Make that.”
Yes, but that’s still hugely, hugely better than Branyan. Plus, he’s a rookie, and part of the club’s future, and all that stuff.
funny richard. Good point and funny, too.
The power difference more than makes up for the OBP difference, though. Also, they’re trying to win now and Josh could probably use a day or two off.
At least Richard didn’t strike out trying to make that point…
seems like a typical momentum swing has occured since not getting more than 1 run after having bases loaded in the 2nd. Ugh.
Well, Woody’s lousy pitching tonight is more of a concern than whether or not Josh is starting.
I think 40 points of OBP are more important than 60 points of slugging.
Marsh, you think Woody is hanging pitches because he failed to get a hit with runners on?
It’s actually a bit of a wash. Barfield and Branyan both have put up a wOBA of .325 this season. Branyan’s numbers are below his projected stats and his career numbers, presumably due to inconsistent playing time and (I’ll have to check this) pinch-hitting which takes quite a chunk out of most player’s wOBA.
I think Woody is trying to get all the Arizona hitters to overswing trying to hit home runs.
In all seriousness, I think this outing is a good example of why Woody Williams should not be your number 2 starter.
Yeah, I like that theory.
Basically, I’m of the opinion that given two hitters that are putting up the same numbers, I’ll take the lefty against the right-handed pitcher.
I was under the impression that Woody was more like our #4 starter behind Peavy, Young and Hensley.
I looked and Branyan has only pinch hit 7 times, so oh well.
Ok, as a stats minded fan, I think that is a good explanation, Richard, and I guess I’d agree. It’s just the subjective fan part of me that hates seeing a good young hitter sitting down.
I don’t know Richard – you can make a compelling case that the stats/right-lefty combination makes things a wash, but I think the intangibles point to playing Barfield. I mean, how’s a guy to take it that some virtual no-name from the Devil Rays comes in and essentially pushes him out of a spot that he has virtually excelled in (for a rookie) for the entire year. Sounds like KT has had his eye on this jack-of-no-effective-trades for some time and now we’re stuck with him. Maybe he pan out, but I’m surprised that Bochy is given him back-to-back opportunities.
Woody’s command is off tonight. Hudson has hit the ball very hard all three times. Brocail is warming in the ‘pen.
good pitch by woody. pleasantly surprised Walker didn’t throw the ball away.
okay, Richard, Woody’s going to be throwing up a couple of grand slams now.
These double plays are becoming tiresome.
I can’t believe Woody is still pitching. He’s getting completely torched.
So, this game is ugly. In other news, I’m trying to find people to play fantasy football. $20 per person, $200 for winner, $40 for second. Draft would be on Friday.
Yikes, enough already. I’m switching over to HGTV — they’re running a marathon of “When Philodendrons Attack.”
Yikes, I go out for dinner and we’re down 5-1 when I come back.
As for Branyan/Barfield, we need to see what Branyan can do and Barfield needs some time off. He’s a young player and seems to be wilting a bit with all the playing time. A few days off will do him some good. I can’t imagine he’ll be on the bench again tomorrow.
KT was on 1090 today and made some pretty strong statements about being much more active on the trade and free agent market this off season. He specifically mentioned Zito as a guy he’ll make a strong play for. He also mentioned that they’ve been trying to work the waiver wire for relief help but the claims they’ve made have been blocked.
Thanks for the KT on 1090 info.
Branyan starts the rally!
If anyone actually believed that BS Towers was spouting on the radio about FAs and trades they’re more naive than a Bush supporter.
Heh it did have a familiar sound to it. Perhaps Zito will join the big name 3rd baseman we picked up at the trade deadline. We should start a pool to guess the opening day payroll.
Knott (#29) and Sledge (#23) do the HR-thing for Portland tonight … http://tinyurl.com/s5rey … September roster expansion, here we come!
Matt Buschmann gets a promotion from Eugene to Lake Elsinore … nice Hi-A debut so far … http://tinyurl.com/ocb9j … PeterF, can you give us a scouting report on this guy in tonights PadresRunDown?
Nice to see Chase Headley and Nick Hundley finishing strong there!
So just who was bad-mouthing picking up this guy?
Oh, yeah, that was me talking to a friend the other day.
Hmmm … Branyan with 2 HRs … did anyone watching the game notice? Woulda help’d if they weren’t solo shots, I s’pose … ‘night all …
2 HR and 2 K in 6 PA for Branyan. Where’re the walks?
Also, with his performance tonight, Branyan passed Castilla in Runs Above Replacement as a Padre. He’s ahead by .05 runs. Only took 263 fewer plate appearances.
Allright, are we rooting for the Dodgers or Reds? I think I’m going for the Reds, just out of habit. Definitely rooting for extra innings though.
Yeah but Castilla had veteran leadership.