first pitch: 1:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Jake Peavy (5-11, 4.81) vs Livan Hernandez (9-8, 5.48)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com | ESPN
buy tickets
I went to a country and western bar last night to meet some friends who had gone dancing. Wall-to-wall cowboy hats and brass belt buckles. A dance floor filled with people clapping their hands and slapping their feet to “new country” — rhythm and blues with a twang.
I just stood around and stared in awe. I had no idea such a place existed. In the movies, maybe. But real life?
It goes without saying that I don’t get out much.
I will be getting out today. Jimmy Carter’s Cafe for brunch, then down to Petco Park to watch the Padres try to take the series against the Nats and salvage a split of the homestand.
Jake Peavy will lead the charge. Peavy, whose inconsistency this season has been well documented, is coming off two solid starts in a row. Not to make excuses for the year he’s had, but here’s another indication that at least some of Peavy’s struggles are a result of bad luck:
| Player | Pct | AGS |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Capuano | 0.588 | 53.4 |
| Brad Penny | 0.688 | 53.4 |
| Brett Myers | 0.583 | 53.4 |
| Scott Olsen | 0.692 | 53.3 |
| Erik Bedard | 0.632 | 52.8 |
| Ervin Santana | 0.706 | 52.5 |
| Jake Peavy | 0.313 | 52.2 |
| Nate Robertson | 0.588 | 52.2 |
| Tim Wakefield | 0.467 | 51.7 |
| Chien-Ming Wang | 0.765 | 51.4 |
| Dave Bush | 0.467 | 51.4 |
| Clay Hensley | 0.467 | 51.4 |
| Gil Meche | 0.643 | 51 |
| Vicente Padilla | 0.611 | 51 |
| Stats are through games of August 5, 2006, and are courtesy of ESPN. | ||
I’m not trying to sugarcoat anything here — obviously, Peavy hasn’t had the kind of season we (and he) have come to expect from him. At the same time, in mainstream circles, where a pitcher is judged primarily by won-loss record, he’s probably taking more of a beating than he deserves. Not everyone can get their team to score 6+ runs a game behind them like Bedard, Santana, Wang, and Padilla.
Again, average game scores aren’t the end-all and be-all of pitching stats — far from it. But this at least gives us another frame of reference when looking at what Peavy has done this season. For as down a year as he’s having by his standards, with a little luck, he’d at least be winning games.
And from there, anything is possible. Who knows, you might even see me two-stepping.
Or not.
This is probably more appropriate for last night’s IGD, but I often watch the game on Tivo, so have my thoughts later.
Nice, nice start by Thompson. Give the brass their due; they assembled a pretty deep pitching rotation, so that basically we have six reasonably starters. CHP has cooled off, but losing him is hardly noticed when you can 6 2/3 of 3 hit ball, granted 2HR and 1 2B were the hits.
Also, watching AGon drawing walks is a great sight. His OPS is creeping up to 900. The elite 1B have OPS of 1100 and 1000, but what a pick up.
Also, give some credit to some sensible adjustments, like having Giles bat 2nd. With his selective eye, low K rate and declining power, he is a great second guy. Probably not worth all of his money, but still a huge asset.
I keep pulling for Bellhorn to get going. His approach seems OK, and, I know this is a reach, but I have seen a bunch of borderline pitches called strikes. That all said, he had some awful AB’s last night.
And man do I love Dave Roberts. Beating out that ground ball to third; straight hustle. His OBP is creeping up to 400 (385). Add his modest power and solid D, another great pick up. The top tier LF are in the 1000-900 OPS range, but his 810, coupled with his defense is great.
Good observations, Jay. Thompson has been very solid — I’m very happy to see him do well because, as you know, I have a soft spot for guys I saw play at Lake Elsinore. One of the things I love about Thompson is his competitiveness. For all his success, he’s not satisfied with the job he’s done for us this year:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/padres/20060806-9999-1s6padres.html
Re: Gonzalez’ walks, he’s drawn 11 in 22 games since the ASB as opposed to 18 in 84 before the ASB. He’s shown good strike zone judgment most of the year, but pitchers are working him a lot more carefully now.
Giles has looked real good the last two nights in the #2 hole. Even the outs have been hit pretty hard. I like him following Roberts to start the game. They both make the pitcher work and let the rest of the lineup see a lot of pitches.
As for Roberts, I’m going to have to write a little something about him soon. You may recall that I ranted for days about what a horrible trade that was; I am so happy to admit that I was wrong. He’s been tremendous in the leadoff role, and now that he isn’t in center field, he’s an asset on defense as well.
Okay, I’m outta here. Enjoy the game!
Home, doing some work, so I am watching some other games on TV. Tuned into the Marlins vs LA, pulling, of course, for the Fish. Very frustrating on a couple of levels. Fish cruising with a 3-1 lead, do some sloppy play and a few hits, have the bases loaded an 1 out, bring in a reliever. The guys runs it to 2-2, gets pulled for injury. The new reliever comes in, misses once gets to 3-2. On the 3-2, it is a fastball right down the middle. I mean, the announcers on the FLA broadcast were as amazed as I, it is called a ball. Walking in a run. The reliever then walks the next, and then, our “fish” that got away, Betemit, singles in a few more. Sickening. First, watching the Dodgers just keep it cool, and take advantage of errors, but then get ridiculously lucky on top of it. They are the team to beat, and so glad we took three from them recently.
Re: Roberts… I am inclined to offer him arbitration this winter, or even another year-long deal with an option year. His play this year has been fantastic. At the very least we should offer him arbitration with the hopes that he either takes it up or refuses it and signs elsewhere while we reap the 2 draft picks.
All this talk of Roberts jinxed him – K on the looper with the bases juiced
Just in case you are curious…here is the link that Matty V talked about on the broadcast today…The Folly Floater…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYy_i5MHQoA
Might be a bit difficult to hit that kind of pitch!
CM … thanks for the link … for those interested, also check this out … http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eephus_pitch
NL West “all win” day … only Rox lose, to the Gi’nts …
Way to go Giles & DR!!!
I’m gonna keep posting this at least until I get a reply from Nick G … a days ago he mentioned he’s planning go to HOF induction ceremony next summer … me too … anyone else?
I haven’t started to look into where to try to stay … I know Cooperstown is a small town … so I’ll bet rooms there are pricey for HOF induction weekend … anyone have suggestions for a good place to stay that’s “nearby�
One more link on the Hamilton/Eephus thread … http://tinyurl.com/pf3tl … scroll down to 9/2/04 which says “Tadano’s eephus pitch” … he gets Alex Rodriguez
Nice win. Hernandez was dealing, but we kept it close. The 8th was bad play, and bad luck. First batter, K. Second batter on a 1-2 pitch was clearly strike 3. The umpire had been giving that exact pitch to Hernandez all day, part of why he was effective. I have it on Tivo, and watched it a few times. Borderline pitch, but not really and he had been giving that exact location all day. Walk, hit, then Blum’s missed catch on the steal, a bloop single but he still gets out of it with only giving up one run.
My Tivo cut out in the bottom of the 8th, but nice to withstand another solid outing by Hernandez (the Nats had been 7-0 in his last seven starts) and take the series and season series 5-1.
Dodgers will have to wait another day to lay even partial claim for first.
LM
Haven’t looked into accomodations yet — just had twins, so we’re pretty day-to-day now. I’m going to start looking into things soon, though, b/c I know Cal Ripken is probably going to get inducted next year as well.
I’m pretty determined to go, and my wife’s on board with the whole plan, so something’s going to happen with it.
being a NY-er I know Cooperstown is in the middle of nowhere. it’s a nice little town though… I visited there once.
I would suggest flying into Albany instead of JFK/LGA (even though it’s a small airport) and it’s about a 2 hour ride from albany to cooperstown. there’s probably a place to stay in the towns over but cooperstown isn’t really near the major highways so there might be trouble getting one.
- But I say now is the time to reserve a place because this could be a well attended/tourist filled hof ceremony with the possibility of ripken/gwynn and more.
Pads should at least offer Roberts arbitration. He wants to stay in SD and he is the perfect guy to spell Cameron in center, Giles (who is going to need a few days off next year, no matter what he thinks), and the inexperienced Johnson against tough righties. Why not keep a viable lefty, leadoff guy on your team who can play all three outfield positions and pinch-run on days when he doesn’t play? He’s the perfect fit, and I’ll bet he’ll take the SD discount. If they let him go, there’ll be plenty of suitors. Hopefully his play down the stretch forces the Padres’ hand, although with Alderson running things, don’t count on it.
And kudos to BigKTfan for calling for Giles in the #2 spot a day before Bochy came to the same conclusion.
Royce Ring (of the Mets) has a profile … http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7529 … which says he’s from La Mesa and San Diego St … just got called up and made first appearance for Mets this season … fyi.
Ring was called up to see if he is usable ont he postseason roster (which you have to have a player up by 8/31: remember Burroughs last year)
so they’re seeing if he’s effective, we might see him this series coming up…
the mets don’t really scare me
Carlos Beltran is good.
Deglado tries to do too much
David Wright is the guy you don’t want to beat you.
Yup. Ring was a first-round draft pick of the ChiSox a few years ago after a successful stint as the closer at SDSU.
rotoworld.com is reporting this …
Chan Ho Park is set to come off the disabled list and start Friday against the Astros.
… I guess that’s good news … it is for Chan Ho anyway
… and this …
Khalil Greene expects to return to the starting lineup for Tuesday’s game versus the Mets.
Greene has missed three games with a sprained finger.
I replied late in the other thread, but my wife, son and I are going next summer as part of an extended trip back east. At present, we are going to try and stay at he American Hotel in Sharon Springs, NY which is about 30 minutes away from Cooperstown as our base when we visit the HOF.
I’m originally from eastern Pennsylvania around the Poconos, and still have relatives there, so we’re planning to fly into and out of Newark (cheaper airfare, too). We’ll rent a car, visit and crash at relatives in eastern PA, hit the HOF and TGwynn/RipkenJr induction, then visit close friends in Rochester and Buffalo, head south to I-80, side trip to see other relatives in State College (and maybe Joe Paterno who was a friend of my grandfather) then back to my relatives in the Poconos-Newark-home. Should be a fun 10-14 days.
I want to go as well…I got to start making plans…
It will be the last weekend of July, right?