Seventeen Innings of Solitude
Mon, Apr 30, 2007
by Geoff Young
Another gut-wrenching loss on Sunday (recap | box score). For the third time in five starts, David Wells didn’t look sharp at all. His final line wasn’t horrible; then again, “wasn’t horrible” is hardly the standard by which starters on a contending team should be measured.
To their credit, the Padres picked up Wells and came back late. Jose Cruz Jr. and Adrian Gonzalez almost took Chin-hui Tsao deep in the 10th, but both drives fell just short.
Cruz, who played another terrific game, had a chance to break things open earlier. In the seventh, Dodgers manager Grady Little inexplicably summoned left-hander Joe Beimel to have Cruz bat from his stronger side with Marcus Giles on first and one out. Beimel retired Cruz on a grounder to shortstop, with Giles bruising his rib cage in an attempt to break up the double play.
Justin Hampson suffered the loss despite giving a better performance than anyone ever has a right to expect from the 12th man on a pitching staff. Unfortunately, in the 17th inning, third-string catcher Pete LaForest, pressed into first-base duty due to a double-switch employed by Padres skipper Bud Black when Hampson came into the game, dropped a routine throw from catcher Rob Bowen on a bunt attempt by Wilson Valdez. (Hey, I once saw the Dodgers lose a marathon game because Fernando Valenzuela had to play first base and wasn’t tall enough to snare a line drive off the bat of Rafael Ramirez. It happens.) Then, with two out, the only man from USD currently playing in the big leagues, Brady Clark, knocked a double down the left-field line. Cruz, who already had made a couple nice defensive plays, reached the ball quickly and fired a strike to Khalil Greene, who in turn delivered a strong throw to the plate, just a fraction of a second late.
The Padres still had one final chance in the bottom of the 17th. With runners on first and second, though, Rob Bowen and Kevin Kouzmanoff struck out to end the game.
Speaking of Kouz, he is starting to become a problem. I try to be patient with the young players, but he is late on fastballs and barely reacting to breaking balls. This is not the hitter we saw in spring training.
Reader Tom Waits asks the big question: “Does sending him to Portland rebuild his confidence or destroy it?” I’m not sure, but I have a feeling we’ll find out sooner rather than later.
As for the Ichiro rumor that Matty V. called us and Gaslamp Ball out on during the telecast, I don’t even know where to start. On the one hand, Ichiro is a pretty good player (not as good as his hype would suggest, but still pretty darned good) whose marketability likely will command more than his on-field contributions merit. On the other hand, the Mariners sometimes do strange things, like trade Rafael Soriano for Horacio Ramirez.
I will say this for Ichiro: I’m pretty sure he’s got the arm to play third base…
by Peter Friberg
The PPR is introducing a new segment. The staff over at MadFriars.com visit each of the Padres’ minor league teams a few times every season. Each time they make a visit, we’ll ask three questions and get their perspective on various topics germane to that team. By the way, if you like Padres’ minor league coverage, you must check them out at MadFriars.com.
This first installment is from John Conniff, who just got back from the Padres Double-A affiliate, San Antonio:
PPR: Chase Headley put on 10-15 pounds of muscle this off-season. Is this power surge (8 doubles, 1 triple, and 4 home runs in his first 23 games) more a function of a random spike or is he putting his newly gained muscle to good use?
MF: I think it’s more than just a random spike, but then again it’s just one month. He spoke to us about really wanting to hit the ball with more authority and trying not to wear down over a long season, which he did last year in Lake Elsinore. What impressed me the most is the power surge hasn’t hurt his average or OBP skills, which have actually gone up.
He still doesn’t look quite as comfortable from the right side as he is from the left, and in the field he’s a little stiff. I think you will see him in Portland by mid-season mainly to give the Padres a chance to move David Freese, who is slightly old for the Cal League, up to San Antonio.
Depending on what happens with Kouz, Headley could challenge for a big league job next spring.
PPR: I don’t want to be a spoil-sport, but the pitching staff in Texas does not excite me. However, one guy that I think could be a solid big leaguer is Jonathan Ellis. Does KT have another gem for his bully?
MF: I have to disagree. I don’t see anyone on that staff being a No.#1 or No. #2 starter, but I think a few of them have the potential to have Clay Hensley type careers — which are valuable. Both Sean Thompson and Mike Ekstrom have the potential to be solid #4 or #5 starters on the big-league level. Thompson especially has put together a really nice season so far (3-1 with a 0.64 ERA in 5 starts) and his performance last year was underrated. Ekstrom is still really having his spring training and is a similar pitcher to Hensley, good sinker and a sinking fastball that is faster than most believe (in the low 90’s).
I’ve never been a big fan of Cesar Ramos, and Jose Oyervidez has potential but is just too inconsistent. As for Josh Geer, he always seems to not have the “stuff” to pitch at the next level and he consistently proves me wrong. So keep an eye on him, too.
Right-hander Neil Jamison is a closer that is leading the Texas League in saves. Everything is low, hard and for strikes. I’ve had enough of the guys who supposedly have a great change such as Brad Baker, Jeremy Fikac and J.J. Trujillo and end up getting hammered at upper levels. The rest of their bullpen has been pretty impressive this year, with Paul Abraham, Frank Brooks and Jonathan Searles all having lower ERAs than Ellis, who is also pretty good. All of them could help the team in the future, but the bullpen in Portland is decent, too.
PPR: I like Will Venable. I think he’s somewhat overlooked at a national level. Does he have enough range to play CF or enough power to stay at a corner?
MF: When we talked to Grady Fuson at the beginning of the year he wanted Venable to play some center field, but this year he’s mostly been in right mainly because of the personnel on the roster. I interviewed him [Venable] in San Antonio, and he thinks his arm strength has improved from last year and judging from some of the throws he has made I would agree. He played center field in college, but still profiles as left field being his best position.
His power numbers simply aren’t there right now and Venable spoke about that with us in his interview. He’s trying to incorporate his legs more into his swing and the power will eventually come, but later in the year. The jump from low A to AA is huge and even last year his power numbers came more at the end of the year than at the beginning.
He’s still at least a year away from having a shot at the big club.
. . .
I hope you all enjoyed this new segment.
Thanks, John!
. . .
On to the PPR!
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.
Friday, April 27, 2007
AAA
Craig Stansberry: 5 AB, 4 R, 4 H, 1 RBI; 3 2B
Mike Thompson: 1.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR
AA
Chase Headley: 3 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 0 RBI; BB, 2 SO
Nick Hundley: 3 AB, 0 R, 2 H, 0 RBI; 2B
High-A
Matt Antonelli: 4 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 1 RBI; HR
Low-A
Kyler Burke: 3 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 0 RBI; BB, 3 SO
Aaron Breit: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 11 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR - Yikes!
Commentary:
Trevor Hoffman gives up 4 in the 9th and the Padres take an organizational sweep on Friday.
I don’t believe in Craig Stansberry as a prospect, but 4-for-5 with 3 doubles? Sick!
Saturday, April 28, 2007
AAA
Paul McAnulty: 3 AB, 0 R, 3 H, 1 RBI, BB
AA
Chase Headley: 3 AB, 0 R, 1 H, 0 RBI; 2B, SO
Sean Thompson: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR
High-A
Matt Antonelli: 3 AB, 2 R, 2 H, 1 RBI; 2 BB, SO, SB
David Freese: 4 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 2 RBI; 2B
Kyle Blanks: 4 AB, 2 R, 3 H, 3 RBI; 3B, BB
Brenton Carter: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 10 SO, 1 HR
Low-A
Cedric Hunter: 4 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 1 RBI; BB
Commentary:
It’s good to see McAnulty hitting again. Cedric just keeps getting on base.
[Ed note: I was at Saturday's game in Elsinore. Antonelli's two base hits were a grounder to shortstop and a grounder to second that he beat out. Freese hit the ball to right or right-center all five times up (in addition to the four at-bats, he also hit a sac fly). The triple that Blanks hit was smoked off the wall in right-center. He runs unbelievably well for a man of his size. Beyond the stand-up triple, he also advanced on three separate passed ball/wild pitch opportunities. Carter is a soft-tossing lefty with a breaking ball that gives A-ball kids fits. Most of his strikeouts came on pitches that bounced. At one point he fanned six straight batters. (Yes, I put money in the hat after he struck out the side in the fourth.)]
Sunday, April 29, 2007
AAA
Jared Wells: 6.0 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO, 1 HR
AA
Chase Headley: 3 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 0 RBI; 2 BB, SO
Will Venable: 4 AB, 1 R, 3 H, 2 RBI
High-A
Matt Antonelli: 3 AB, 4 R, 2 H, 1 RBI; 3B, 3 BB
David Freese: 6 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 5 RBI; HR
Kyle Blanks: 6 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 1 RBI; 2B
Chad Huffman: 5 AB, 3 R, 4 H, 5 RBI; 3B, HR, BB
Matt Bush: 2 AB, 1 R, 0 H, 0 RBI; 2 BB
Low-A
Cedric Hunter: 6 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 1 RBI
Kyler Burke: 4 AB, 2 R, 2 H, 0 RBI; 2 BB
Ernesto Frieri: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR
Commentary:
Jared Wells latest constitutes a good start — relatively speaking…
No, I don’t think the Padres should have drafted Matt Bush, but I’m not entirely convinced he won’t put it together…
Good stuff, as always. Thanks, Peter (and John!). Okay, that’s a lot of information, I know. Hey, it’s Monday and you’re still recovering from the weekend; take your time, we’ll be here.
Jake Peavy and the Padres face John Patterson and the Washington Nationals tonight at 7:05 p.m. PT. We’ll have the IGD up and running about an hour before first pitch. Be here or be elsewhere. Go Padres! Ichiro for third base!
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.
April 30, 2007 at 8:29 am
So, LaForest was playing first and dropped the ball with a first basemen’s glove or was he covering first and trying to catch the ball with a catcher’s glove? Not sure why all the double switching yesterday which took our offense out of the game? Loss drops us to 4th place with only the Rockies keeping us out of the basement. Wow, the word basement (or door mat) brings back unpleasant memories. Get em today.
April 30, 2007 at 8:31 am
Here’s hoping Jake has another dominant start tonite and can go seven strong to hand it over to Scotty & Trevor.
Oh, and by the way. Is anyone else mildly hoping we see another Cordero/Khalil match up? I love watching that guy’s reaction every time Khalil jacks a game-tying HR.
April 30, 2007 at 9:04 am
1 … LaForest was in at 1B … if you want to know what folks were thinking/saying at the time, check out last night’s IGD … this action by Bud got a lot of discussion …
PF … THANKS for the interview with the Mad Friar … more of that, please!
April 30, 2007 at 9:12 am
Happy Birthday, Chad Huffman … http://web.minorleaguebaseball.....;fext=.jsp
April 30, 2007 at 9:43 am
I think it’s time to send Kouz to AAA to get his stroke back. I wouldn’t worry too much about his confidence. It’s not here in the ML level anyway. He’s only been in this level for 1 month or so, and he’s not looking comfortable and his plan for his ABs are very suspect. He looked really bad in yesterday’s game. At least, his glove is not affected by his ABs…yet.
Get him down now and let the Branyan show go on for a little while.
April 30, 2007 at 10:40 am
Kouz sounds like he already has his bags packed:
“Whatever they think is necessary, I’m willing to do. I know it’s going to turn around. But if they said go down (to the minors), fine. I’d go down there, get some at-bats and get it going.”
http://www.signonsandiego.com/.....adres.html
April 30, 2007 at 11:01 am
Can we start an online petition to have the Padres and Cameron make a formal statement, that, yes, his eyes and have been checked and that they have in no way contributed to his poor hitting and poor defense?
I fear he is trying to play through it.
How long do we keep Blum? He has been a lot better (though never great) than he is now and is versatile defensively, but his OPS is below that of Peavy, Hensley and Young. Criminy.
April 30, 2007 at 11:14 am
After sitting through yesterday’s 17 inning marathon, and seeing us lose another series to the Dodgers, I only have one question: “Is it May yet?”
April 30, 2007 at 11:22 am
6 … bingo … that’s good news … I think that answer’s TW’s question … it will not crush him to go down … so it can only help him!
Here’s a fun note from KG’s column in BP this morning …
Matt Antonelli, 2B, High-A Lake Elsinore (Padres)
Maybe it’s a rush to judgment, and maybe it’s the California League, but either way, Antonelli is hot. When the Padres took him with the 17th overall pick last June, it looked like bit of a reach for a player whose best skills were working the count and running well. After going homerless in a 205 at-bat pro debut, Antonelli already has three this year in 83 at-bats, going 8-for-18 with eight walks and 11 runs scored in his last five games to lift his season averages to .289/.404/.458. He’s also stolen six bases, and his move to second base had been an unquestioned success so far. One of the worst systems in baseball could use some good news, and here it is.
April 30, 2007 at 11:29 am
Moves padres need to make,
Release Blum
Send Kouz to AAA
Send Bowen to AAA (i know he’s out of options but who would take him at this point)
Recall
Cust (OPS of 1.156 in AAA)
Stansberry (OBP of .437 in AAA)
Andrew Brown (ERA of .59 in AAA)
Make the Linebrink Trade with the phillies for pat the bat or rowand
April 30, 2007 at 11:32 am
Did anyone else check out “The Claw’s” piece in today’s U-T (page E2) reflecting on the Virginia Tech shootings? His reflection gives me an even better opinion of him.
You can read it online here.
April 30, 2007 at 11:33 am
10 … doesn’t Bowen have our only CS’s this season? It’s not obvious he’s a big enough part of the problem to include him on this list … also, as I mentioned in a comment recently while listening to a Portland Beavers game on the radio, Cust’s OF defense makes his value to the Padres less than you’d think just based on his OPS …
I say let’s do the KK for Stansberry swap … see how Stansberry does … if he passes-the-test, then when KK is ready to come back up, he can take Blum’s roster spot …
April 30, 2007 at 11:42 am
Re: 12 with sledge and Cruz on the roster Cust would be used as a pinch hitter and maybe to give adrian a day off every now and again.
As far as Bowen goes he has been terrrible behind the plate and not great swinging the bat, I have been more impressed with LaForest to this point.
April 30, 2007 at 12:19 pm
I think that calling up Cust would be a good idea but I’m not sure that getting rid of Blum is a great idea. Remember, he’s really the last guy on the bench. The only reason he played yesterday is because Branyan is on the bereavement list (although he would have come in when NOG got hurt). Bringing up Cust would give the bench another good hitter which they need. Bowen is better than LaForest for this team as he’s more versatile and a better athlete, it’s not like he’s going to be starting at all.
April 30, 2007 at 12:35 pm
11 … awesome link … THANKS! Matt Gwantley sounds like a man to be remembered … and Clay did a nice job digging deep into his own heart to help us do just that.
April 30, 2007 at 1:59 pm
11: Absolutely great piece by Cla. Thanks for sharing that with us.
April 30, 2007 at 2:27 pm
#11: Wow, thanks Ranger. Very heartfelt stuff from Cla.
April 30, 2007 at 2:36 pm
No problem, y’all would have eventually found it on your own anyway, just thought I’d speed up the process. On a related note, I really appreciate the character of the players on this team, the front office should be commended.
April 30, 2007 at 2:37 pm
14: Blum’s had a lot of high-leverage at-bats, though.
They may carry 3 catchers a while longer to make sure Bard’s groin doesn’t get overworked. I’d sure rather have Cust and Branyan than Blum or Robles.
April 30, 2007 at 2:58 pm
Re: 19 I would much rather have Robles over Blum, Robles is a far superior fielder and probably more productive with the bat at this point.
April 30, 2007 at 2:59 pm
It seems with Blum/Robles and Bowen/LaForest we have some redundancies on this roster. I know Cust is a total liability in the field, but with all the liabilities we have at the plate, it might be worth a shot. If nothing else, maybe it’ll get him the exposure we need to trade him, he has to have more value than another 1.000+ OPS year in AAA
April 30, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Re: 21 he cant be any worse than Klesko out there
April 30, 2007 at 3:24 pm
According to XX padres option Hampson to AAA and purchase the contract of Royce Ring.
April 30, 2007 at 3:37 pm
22: Oh, he can be. Which is why some AL team needs to give him a shot at DH instead of paying millions of retreads that will produce a lot less than him (Baltimore, Minnesota, Seattle).
April 30, 2007 at 3:41 pm
I would love to keep him here in a mark sweeney type roll.
April 30, 2007 at 3:47 pm
At the Lake Elsinore hit parade yesterday Matt Antonelli had six quality at bats,only being retired thants to a horizontal drive in deep center field. He looks like a polished batter–not lunging or guessing.All nine starters got on base at least twice. Freeze hit a monster grand slam. Blanks hit three crushed line fouls and lined another high off the wall in left center. That guy may be the first to have both feet out of the batters box-one in front and one in back.Two of Huffman’s 4 hits were opposite field bloops. Matt Bush is not a standout on this team. As Geoff noted, the poor Stocton catcher has a tough time of it blocking about 50% of the 15 or so balls hitting in front of the plate. In the ninth their reserve catcher came in to pitch. It would have been justice to make one of the Portland relievers “put on the gear”.
April 30, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Kouzmanoff has only had 72 plate appearances and has been unlucky. He has a 17.4% LD%, but only a .154 BA/BIP. That’s .140 lower than it ought to be with average luck. Granted he’d still only be hitting a little above .200, but again it’s only been 72 plate appearances.
April 30, 2007 at 4:04 pm
Re: 27 I think Kouz needs to go down to AAA to take some presure off of him let him find his swing again without 44,000 people watching him.
April 30, 2007 at 4:09 pm
RE 27. KK has the lowest batting average in the NL by batters with 50 ABS or more.
April 30, 2007 at 4:30 pm
29: And his batting average is roughly 50% lower than it ought to be given his LD%.
April 30, 2007 at 4:46 pm
OT … I *love* to see hustle sequences like this one that just happened …
- K. Mench singled to pitcher, K. Mench to second on pitcher K. Wells’ throwing error
- K. Mench stole third
- K. Mench scored on balk
… turning a single into a run w/o the aid of a batter.
April 30, 2007 at 4:54 pm
30 … so where does a 17.4% LD% fall in the spectrum of “good, bad, ugly”? I hear you saying that we think his batting average is “ugly” … but perhaps you’re saying it should only be “bad” …
If so, then I’m saying that a trip to AAA might help him move from “bad” to “good” …
April 30, 2007 at 4:56 pm
OT - Chan Ho going for Mets tonight … http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=270430121
April 30, 2007 at 4:59 pm
At Ft Wayne tonight, Drew Miller gets his first start since 7 no-no innings last week … http://web.minorleaguebaseball.....x_belafx_1 … gave up a run on 2 hits in the 1st inning …
April 30, 2007 at 5:51 pm
#30, Where do you get LD%’s?. KK rates a 31.3 K% and is tied for first in K’s.
May 1, 2007 at 12:24 am
K’s are not bad, they are just outs.