Friday Links (16 Mar 07)
Fri, Mar 16, 2007
by Geoff Young
So, I’ve started a Ducksnorts del.icio.us account and I’m updating it throughout the day with links of potential interest. If you can’t wait till Friday to get your fix or you don’t mind wading through, like, five times as many links as I’ll post here, knock yourself out.
Onto the week’s best:
- Great expectations (Yahoo!, via LynchMob in the comments). Writer Tim Brown explores Jake Peavy’s drop in production last season. Quoth Peavy: “The velocity just wasn’t there. And if the velocity’s not there you better be sharp. But then I wasn’t throwing bullpens between starts, so it’s really hard to stay sharp.”
- Pitcher’s Luck (via Didi in the comments). David Pinto examines which pitchers were helped most by their defense in 2006. Chris Young tops the NL list, ahead of Chris Carpenter. Maybe there’s something in that first name.
- Wells savors loose Padres atmosphere (Padres.com, via Pat in the comments). Tons of great stuff in here. My favorite quotes come from manager Bud Black, including this one on David Wells and Greg Maddux: “I want those two guys to be themselves, to do what they’ve done their entire career, because what they’ve done both on and off the field is impressive, or they wouldn’t have lasted this long. I’m not trying to tell those guys whether to be leaders or not. I think by nature they are.” It’s too early to say, of course, but I like what I’m hearing from Black so far.
- Gwynn dished it, ripped it in college (Inside Bay Area, via Jonathan S in the comments). Nice little Q&A with Mr. Padre, Tony Gwynn — er, I mean, Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn.
Can you imagine telling Ted Williams that he “didn’t put the bat on the ball like I did”? Sheesh, it must be nice. - Raising successful children: Todd Walker’s mom Donna Walker says close your eyes and pray (Shreveport Times). This is kind of cool, because it’s an angle you don’t see often. Padres’ infielder Todd Walker’s mother talks about parenting. Todd’s brother Mark plays football at LSU, while sister Lindsay is married to former MLB pitcher and NFL quarterback Chad Hutchinson.
- The Best Benches in the National League (Hardball Times). Jeff Sackmann likes the Padres’ bench for 2007.
- The Nine (Bugs & Cranks). Another year, another leadoff hitter for the San Diego Padres. This is impressive, but not in the way you want to be impressed.
There it is. I know you’ve already bought the book, and I thank you for that. Keep spreading the word, and I’ll do the same.
Oh, also, Sunday’s game against the White Sox will be telecast on Channel 4 at 1:05 p.m. PT. We’ll fire up the IGD, so hang with us if you can. Go Padres!
Picking up where last year's version left off, the Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual provides in-depth analysis of and commentary on the San Diego Padres. Get your copy today.
March 16, 2007 at 11:30 am
Paul Hagan of the Philadelphia Daily News talks a bit about the Padres and our bullpen (in a positive way). He says the Pad’s are not interested in trading Linebrink anymore since Sledge and Kouz are doing so well. We know this, but it is interesting to see the Pad’s get so much ink on the east coast.
http://www.philly.com/mld/dail.....914913.htm
March 16, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Rotoworld says that Boston is asking about Linebrink again, but Towers said nothing serious has been discussed.
March 16, 2007 at 4:38 pm
BTW, I’ve added a little comment preview thingy. Words should appear below the comment form as you’re typing. Let me know what you think.
March 16, 2007 at 7:28 pm
Here’s little nugget from a BP article about “After the top prospects are gone, who are the guys most likely to get called up to the majors?” …
Luis Cruz, Padres 2B/SS: Marcus Giles and shortstop Khalil Greene have missed around 60 games combined per season over the last three years due to various injuries, so Cruz could get a shot at some point. He can play both middle infield spots and third base well, so he may get called up as a utility player. He’s got surprising power (12 homers and 38 doubles at Double-A Mobile in 2006), but needs to improve his plate discipline (.301 OBP last year, .284 career).
March 16, 2007 at 7:29 pm
Game underway @ Surprise vs Texas … http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/bo.....=270316113 … anyone watching/listening?
March 16, 2007 at 7:33 pm
BP’s STAT OF THE DAY surprises me a bit …
Top 5 2007 NL Right Fielders, by PECOTA Projected VORP
Player, Team, EqA, VORP
Brian Giles, SDN, .301, 30.3
Austin Kearns, WAS, .290, 25.4
Jeremy Hermida, FLO, .294, 24.2
Corey Hart, MIL, .289, 22.6
Carlos Quentin, ARI, .285, 22.0
March 16, 2007 at 8:21 pm
HOME RUNS: SDG - JOSH BARD (2) OFF JAMEY WRIGHT
March 16, 2007 at 10:19 pm
RE 6: BP loves, LOVES OBP, and Giles is all about OBP. Plus they’ll adjust his power for Petco and now that Abreu is in the AL and Larry Walker is retired, there just isn’t a whole lot of quality in RF. There are some young guys coming up though and I’d be surprised to see him #1 for 2008.
March 17, 2007 at 4:10 am
FYI Geoff, I like the “comment preview”.
March 17, 2007 at 8:31 am
Hurdle and Francis got suspended for Francis throwing at Kouz in the last preseason game between the teams. Hurdle got suspended for one game, Francis for 5, commencing April 2, provided there is no appeal. If the Rockies don’t appeal, Francis would be available to pitch in the Padres opening series at Petco.
http://www.concordmonitor.com/.....007/SPORTS
March 17, 2007 at 1:38 pm
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/bo.....=270317116 …
HOME RUNS: SDG - JOSE CRUZ JR (3) OFF RICH HILL IN THE 2ND
CHN - DERREK LEE (2) OFF TIM STAUFFER IN THE 1ST
3-3 after 1-1/2 …
March 17, 2007 at 1:42 pm
The Padres outrighted outfielder Jack Cust to Triple-A Portland on Friday, leaving 42 players in camp, 32 on the 40-man roster and 10 non-roster invitees.
March 17, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Boy those green hats look funny.
March 17, 2007 at 3:50 pm
KEVIN KOUZMANOFF (2) OFF NEAL COTTS IN THE 8TH
re: green … maybe the hats are greene?