Friday Links (27 Apr 07)
Fri, Apr 27, 2007
by Geoff Young
That was a frustrating series in Phoenix. After losing a heartbreaker on Wednesday, there didn’t seem to be a lot of energy Thursday night (recap | box score). Other than the Adrian Gonzalez three-run homer in the first, the Padres looked completely flat against Livan Hernandez and the Diamondbacks.
Oh well, today’s another day. In fact, it’s Friday, which means we have links:
- Peavy learns from D-backs (Padres.com). Corey’s latest offering includes this quote from Jake Peavy: “I’m not going to be somebody that I’m not. I’m going to try and dominate.” On the one hand, it’ll be difficult for him to improve his efficiency with that approach. On the other, it must be nice to have “dominate” as a fallback option. Honestly, if he keeps pitching like he did on Wednesday, I don’t mind seeing him work only seven innings every time. With the Padres’ bullpen, that is usually a recipe for success. Speaking of Wednesday, I like the fact that Peavy didn’t know how many strikeouts he had. That tells me his focus was in the right place.
- After three-week layoff, Estes returns to mound (North County Times). It’s easy to forget that Shawn Estes is still with this club. Ten months removed from Tommy John surgery, the left-hander is throwing 40-pitch, fastball-only bullpen sessions.
- Open Thread: Nicknames (Gaslamp Ball). jbox is trying to come up with nicknames for current Padres. It’s a pretty good list. I’d add “Tree” for Pete LaForest, “Cheo” for Jose Cruz Jr., and NOG and OG for the Giles brothers. I’ve got some ideas for Geoff Blum as well, but they’re not exactly flattering.
- Padres go Greene; Khalil cleans up (San Diego Union-Tribune). You may have noticed that the Padres shortstop enjoyed a nice road trip. What he did Tuesday night against Randy Johnson was about as good a hitting performance as you’ll see.
- Mud not Mudd (On the Road with Matt and Mud). Ed clarifies the spelling of Mark Grant’s nickname. Just in case you were wondering.
- Game Notes: Padres at Diamondbacks (Friar Watch). Anthony gives his usual solid analysis of the pitching from Thursday night’s contest. I totally agree about Chris Young — if the slider isn’t working, ditch it and go back to getting guys out with the fastball, like last year. Normally I wouldn’t advocate having a starter rely on only one pitch, but Young has demonstrated in the past that he can make it work.
- Autograph Day: Cedric Hunter, Matt Stocco (Baseball in Fort Wayne). Chad has a couple nice autographed photos, including one of everyone’s favorite prospect.
by Peter Friberg
You will not see all the notable performances from the night before, but you will see the notable performances from those who are actually prospects.
AAA
Justin Germano: 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO, 0 HR
AA
Will Venable: 4 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 0 RBI
Chase Headley: 4 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 0 RBI; SO
High-A
Matt Antonelli: 4 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 0 RBI; BB, 2 SB
Matt Bush: 4 AB, 0 R, 2 H, 2 RBI
Manny Ayala: 6.2 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO, 1 HR
Low-A
Cedric Hunter: 4 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 0 RBI; 2 SO
Rayner Contreras: 3 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 1 RBI
Nathanial Culp: 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO, 0 HR
Commentary:
Nothing today… The losses against Arizona suck.
Thanks, Peter. The Padres return home for three against the Dodgers starting tonight. Hopefully a little home cooking will get the guys back on track. We’ll have the IGD up and running around 6 p.m. PT. Happy Friday!
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April 27, 2007 at 8:24 am
Frustrating game. Can’t believe Livan shut down the Padres last night. Urgh!
And from the game recap, who the heck is that?
“The victory came 24 hours after Stephen Drew hit a two-run homer off Trevor Graham with two outs in the ninth”.
Unbelievable. Any editor check?
April 27, 2007 at 8:24 am
Oh, and the first place Giants. WTH?!!!
April 27, 2007 at 8:31 am
Yeah, it’s about the Dodgers, but it is a good story of the battery mate.
http://tinyurl.com/24lvjv
April 27, 2007 at 8:47 am
1 … OUCH … here’s a link to the AP story Didi mentions … http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=270426129 … unbelievable.
What I’ve done is fire off an email to info@ap.org … that’s the email address that AP says to send “questions and comments” to.
April 27, 2007 at 8:52 am
3 … nice link, thanks, Didi.
April 27, 2007 at 8:54 am
For those who asked about Cooper Brannan the other day, there’s an interview up with him on MadFriars.com right now. He is in the Padres organization, and seems to be making some positive strides. It’s unreasonable to expect anything major from him anytime soon, but that’s where he is.
By the way, the blog entry from Ed is hilarious, but my comment about Mud on that entry is funnier, if I do say so myself.
April 27, 2007 at 9:15 am
Anyone notice Matt Bush 7 for his last 15 with 8 RBIs 2 BB and 1 K? Small step, but a definite sign of life…
April 27, 2007 at 9:19 am
still hitting .220 in A ball
April 27, 2007 at 9:23 am
Todd Greene sighting … in that link to NCT re:Estes above … says this …
C Todd Greene has been the designated hitter in extended spring training at Peoria for the past 10 days. Greene is progressing with his throwing, although he said, “I don’t think any athlete sees the rate (of progress) they want to see.”
April 27, 2007 at 10:28 am
PECOTA’s top 100 prospects over at BP today (no subscription required). Kouzmanoff checks in at 11, Hunter’s at 31, and Chad Huffman at 45. It makes sense that PECOTA likes these guys more than scouts since the Padres organization seems to have a stats over tools emphasis.
http://www.baseballprospectus......cleid=6153
April 27, 2007 at 11:25 am
10: And in Total Talent Stock the Padres moved from 30th last year to 17th this year. In best 25 (24 last year) and under talent they moved from 30th to 22nd. And among farm systems they moved from 28th to 14th.
April 27, 2007 at 1:04 pm
I think Adrian’s nickname should be “mi hijo” (pronounced me-ho). Mi hijo means “my son” in Spanish and it’s a common term of endearment. This nickname works on a few levels, it’s Spanish so it plays on his heritage, he’s from San Diego so it plays on him being a son of the city. And it’s just damn fun to yell, it’s the kind of a nickname a stadium can chant.
April 27, 2007 at 1:04 pm
11: I am excited about all the picks we got with all the FA’s we lost; with the management the Padres have, and sounds of relative looseness with signing bonuses (I hope they have a running comparison of Stephen Drew and Matt Bush at the bottom of every e-mail they send to Moores) they have made, there is reason to hope that the Padres can re-stock the farm system over the next few years. When is the draft anyway?
I think both Coletti and Sabean have “win now, trade farm talent” tendencies (Sheehan called Coletti a “digger wasp” in that apparently digger wasps hollow out hives they find, meaning Coletti was hollowing out the Dodgers; I looked them up on wikipedia and they leave paralyzed insects in the nest for their larvae to eat, so not sure of the metaphor but it sounds about the worst way to go in the insect kingdom), don’t know much about the Rockies, but Arizona will probably be young, good and stocked for awhile.
April 27, 2007 at 4:29 pm
12 … I like it … I like it a lot … are you sure it’s 2-syllable? Looks like 3 …
Also, was looking at some stats … and something ugly jump’d out at me … KK has only scored 1 run so far this season … and that was on his HR off Schmidt … that’s what a .197 OBP will do for ya …
April 27, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Bard activated, Banyan put on the “bereavement list” whatever that means (the list, not bereavment)
April 27, 2007 at 5:21 pm
15 … that’s a perfect question for google.com … here’s what turned up first on a search for “bereavement list” …
http://kmbumb.people.wm.edu/roster/glossary.html
April 27, 2007 at 5:23 pm
16 … odd that the google search also turned up this story … http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/ne.....;type=lgns … which is about “A Gonzalez going on the bereavement list” … refering the Cincy SS … curious, that’s all …
April 27, 2007 at 5:51 pm
I suspect we are “bereaving” in order to allow Laforest time to clear waivers.
April 27, 2007 at 6:04 pm
12: Actually, I could be wrong, but I think that “mi hijo” (me ee-ho) actually means “my son,” but when shortened to “mijo” (me-ho) it is a term of endearment.
This works on another level too (may be a bit of a stretch): Padre, of course, means Father in Spanish. Father-son: Padre-hijo…just saying.
-Carley
PS: thanks for the great blog! I moved to Albany, NY for school last year and it keeps be connected to Padre news!