first pitch: 4:05 p.m. PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Chris Young (3-2, 3.34 ERA) vs Chuck James (3-2, 4.83 ERA)
preview: Padres.com | SI.com
If you dig deep enough, you can almost always find a statistical split that casts your favorite team/player into a more positive light. Here’s a fun one for the Padres so far this season:
| AB | BA | OBP | SLG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stats courtesy of ESPN. | ||||
| Padres | 393 | .247 | .319 | .412 |
| Opponents | 383 | .198 | .274 | .279 |
Just another way of looking at something we’ve already seen. Still, it’s always nice to have the view confirmed from multiple angles, especially when it looks so freakin’ good…
The Dodgers are making quick work of Florida, they’re up 6-1 in the bottom of the ninth.
For most teams, a player needs to stay above the “Mendoza Line” to keep his spot in the lineup. The Padres have another set of rules:
The “Kouzmanoff Line”= .100
How long can Blum and the aforementioned Kouz keep there heads above water?
Bell is simply lights out right now. Another Kevin Towers gem. This trade is looking really great. Ring will contribute this year as well, while Ben Johnson and John Adkins may not get a whiff of the Mets roster.
Kouzmanoff is simpy not a major league hitter right now.
102: From my observations of Kouzmanoff, it looks like he’s starting to heat up. He hit two balls hard tonight, and it hasn’t seemed like he’s struck out as much. Blum, well, Blum’s never been any good, so it’s not really that surprising.
What’s up with Padre hitters swinging weakly at balls while ahead in the count?
Free Craig Stansberry!
Another single! Big deal.
What’s up with OG’s so-called slugging percentage?
It appears Kouz, Cammy, and Blum have deflected any criticism of Brian Giles weak swings.
I suppose there has to be a chain of criticism.
108: It is fairly weak that OG doesn’t contribute as much offensively anymore, although it’s not much of a surprise.
I wanted to cry when the Braves announcers detailed his declining slugging percentage.
Khalil is making some nice picks tonite.
Quick inning from Linebrink. Should have been even quicker but we’ll take it.
Re: 109
If you were Bud Black, who would be your three starting outfielders?
Man Adrian has a beautiful swing. He made that look easy.
111: If I had to pick a starting OF from our guys, I’d probably go with:
LF: Sledge CF: Cruz RF: McAnulty
Is it a compliment or a critique to compare Adrian Gonzalez’ swing to Will Clark’s?
Re: 113
Word.
Compliment. Clark had a career 138 OPS+ and .303 batting average.
115: Sledge and Cruz give you some speed. McAnulty has more pop than Giles at this point, and probably gets on base at a similar clip.
I’m hating that we’re leaving guys stranded tonite. We can’t do this and expect to win the series against Atlanta.
113: A big problem with that outfield is the defense, though. Cruz would be an average to below average center fielder, and both Sledge and McAnulty have looked pretty bad at the corners.
#114: Compliment. Accurate, too.
118: Good call on the sketchy D. Although honestly, I’d rather have Cruz in CF than Cameron at this point.
Nice outing by CY and Trevor.
Gotta love the month of May.
#90: And now we are living well. I hope Paronto enjoyed his moment.
I love that the plunker to Young gave us a cushion for this game. I’m looking forward to seeing us drill someone on their team tomorrow.
Really got to tip your hat to CY for a couple of great starts in a row.
CY is really starting to put it together. A better call on McCann and and no balk and CY could have had a shut out.
5-1 in May. Keep it up boys.
At Portland … another HR from Sinisi … good stats from Stansberry and McAnulty … http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_05_07_cspaaa_poraaa_1 … but another MEGA-YACK outing from Thompson … ERA now over 19???
Regarding the Hall of Fame trip – has everyone figured out what the best way to do this will be? Was the consensus that a membership would be the best way to go, so that we have better/closer access to the podium?
A very nice, effortless save by Hoffmann and a good win. I bet he does not blow more than 2 more saves this season. Batters hitting .178 against him this season.
Contrasting that is the second best reliever in baseball history who lost a game tonight on a home run. Mo Rivera has this Yankee fan concerned with a 1-3 record, 8.44 ERA and .318 average against.
All good things must end but it certainly looks like Hoffmann has another great year in him.
Just a curious question about tonight’s game – Justin Germano is the scheduled starter for the Pads, but as far as I can tell he hasn’t yet been added to the active roster. Is this true? If he’s already been added then who has been demoted? My guess is that Kouzmanoff gets sent out, since sending down Blum would require putting him on waivers (not that losing him would be much of a blow to the team) and Kouz is batting, what, .103 or something. I truly believe that a hitter as good as KK is going to finish the season with respectable numbers, something like 250/350/450, but damn if he isn’t trying my most optimistic outlook.
Royce Ring has been demoted to make room for Germano.
Thanks Geoff. I honestly had forgotten about Ring. So do we still have 12 pitchers?
Just for the hell of it, since we’re officially 1/5th of the way through the season I’ve been looking up season numbers for Pads pitchers so far – I generally only occasionally check accumulated stats during the season. I was astounded by a couple things – I knew Bell had pitched really well, but until looking at his actual numbers this year I wasn’t aware of how good he’s been. 21 innings, 7 hits, 23 strikeouts? A BAA of109 and a .56 WHIP. He always had great stuff, maybe the Pads just figured something out. Regardless, I’ll take it.
The other thing I noticed is how well Doug Brocail has pitched. 16 innings, 10 baserunners, 10 K’s. I lobbied hard against him this offseason, and I’m glad I was wrong, at least so far. Those two guys have really helped shield the Pads from Linebrink’s homeriffic tendencies this season, not to mention Liney’s sudden inability to strike anyone out – 8 K’s in 16 innings, with only 4 in his last 11. Those are troubling numbers. If he rights things, though, that foursome – Bell, Liney, Brocail and Meredith – is a formidable ‘pen. When your last guy in the bullpen is a rule 5 pick with a 0.00 ERA and a .130 BAA (Cameron), things are looking right in the world.
128: My family opted for a HOF sustaining membership ($100, good for a family of four). The membership won’t help you out for the induction ceremony (it’s a public event that’s held in a park, weather permitting), but it does allow you to get into the HOF about an hour before the general public, as well as as some other neat perks (10% discount in the HOF store, quarterly HOF magazine).
My family is making a 10-day trip out of the whole thing. We’re flying into Detroit, driving to Syracuse (where we’ll stay for a couple nites while we visit the HOF), driving to NYC to catch a game a Yankees stadium before it’s torn down, driving to Pittsburgh to catch a game at PNC, and then returning to Detroit. It’s going to be a lot of driving (and we’re doing the Detroit thing because we have family in Western Ohio), but we’ll get to see a great ceremony and see a couple ballparks along the way.
Thanks for the info Phantom!