IGD: Padres vs Cardinals (12 May 07)
Sat, May 12, 2007
by Geoff Young
first pitch: 7:05 p.m. PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Chris Young (4-2, 3.29 ERA) vs Braden Looper (4-2, 2.66 ERA)
preview: Padres.com
Braden Looper’s transition from reliever to starter fascinates me. After 572 consecutive relief appearances to begin his big-league career, the 32-year-old right-hander has made seven starts this season and pitched remarkably well. He’s only had one bad outing, at Milwaukee on May 1. Considering that the Brewers are beating up on everyone, we’ll cut him some slack there.
If you’re the Cardinals, the concern is that Looper already has worked more than half as many innings as he’s ever worked in an entire season. From the Padres’ standpoint, there isn’t much of a sample against him. Adrian Gonzalez has doubled and walked against him in two trips to the plate, and Russell Branyan has the lone home run.
Irritating split so far for the Padres? As a team, right-handed batters are doing nothing against right-handed pitchers. When we complain about the lack of right-handed hitting on this team, we need to be more specific:
| Split | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | BB/PA | ISO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference, through May 11, 2007. | ||||||
| vs RHP as RH | 455 | .210 | .264 | .328 | .062 | .118 |
| vs RHP as LH | 589 | .255 | .330 | .407 | .097 | .152 |
| vs LHP as RH | 257 | .267 | .341 | .443 | .101 | .176 |
| vs LHP as LH | 123 | .250 | .344 | .442 | .106 | .192 |
Here’s hoping Merv Rettenmund and the boys can figure out how to solve this one. Go Padres!
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May 12, 2007 at 7:04 pm
SAN DIEGO (AP) – The Padres revised their alcohol policy that will limit players’ consumption in the home clubhouse and on some team airplane trips.
Under the new policy announced Saturday, alcohol will continue to be available in the Padres’ clubhouse at home, but will be limited. In addition, the team said alcohol will not be served during the final two hours on team charter flights and not at all on flights to San Diego of less than two hours.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/ne.....;type=lgns
May 12, 2007 at 7:17 pm
Just tuned in to see CY make the pick at 1st. Let’s get some hits.
May 12, 2007 at 7:24 pm
Nice try by Cameron. But, in the replay he was clearly tagged and out. Good call by the 2nd base ump.
May 12, 2007 at 7:33 pm
Gonzalez gets to lead off. I prefer that to him just grounding out.
May 12, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Cammy’s contagious!!!
May 12, 2007 at 7:55 pm
This isn’t good. That 3-2 pitch to Rolen sure looked like a strike to me.
May 12, 2007 at 7:57 pm
Can anyone else hear the shrill children (?) on the MLB tv audio? They’re evidently Cardinals fans and it’s making me crazy.
Any word on the compensation for Cust yet?
May 12, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Did Young lose his command in that last inning or was he getting robbed on the calls?
May 12, 2007 at 8:11 pm
I leave for two innings and now it’s 0-5? WTF?
May 12, 2007 at 8:15 pm
Something I never noticed on GameDay enhanced - the strike zone actually changes based on the batter. What doesn’t make sense is it that the 5′7″ Eckstein has a bigger zone then the 6′0″ Kennedy.
May 12, 2007 at 8:23 pm
10: The raw data in the Gameday XML files has them exactly the same but Kennedy is slightly higher off the ground. Maybe he crouches more? I’ll pay attention next time they bat.
Also, the XML data shows Young hasn’t been getting squeezed too badly Maybe some borderline pitches low in the zone. However, it’s missing data for some pitches, including that 3-2 to Rolen. It’s a conspiracy!
May 12, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Branyan the Manyan should have had that.
May 12, 2007 at 8:42 pm
This is turning out to be a laugher game against us.
May 12, 2007 at 8:48 pm
Justin Hampson stops the laughter!
Bonus points to Channel 4 for the X bumper music
May 12, 2007 at 9:10 pm
Looper going through the Padres lineup like a hot knife through butter.
May 12, 2007 at 9:12 pm
I really like the Padres pitching but this lineup is brutal. To bad the Padres couldn’t keep a bat like Jack Cust’s but there is no room for Cust because we have Sledge.
May 12, 2007 at 9:18 pm
Hampson is a gutsy kid—not the best stuff but good makeup. If this team only hit just a little more.
May 12, 2007 at 9:30 pm
Well, I’m ready to write this game off.
May 12, 2007 at 9:33 pm
Was it just “spin” or were the Padres really seriously considering in the early pre-season employing Termel Sledge as their everyday lead off guy ?
May 12, 2007 at 9:33 pm
The Lake Elsinore boyz are doin’ it again … http://www.minorleaguebaseball.....a_lesafa_1 … grand salami from Mr. Blanks …
May 12, 2007 at 9:34 pm
This game is another example that we have no margin for error. Misplay by Sledge and we end up in a huge hole. We haven’t had the kind of offense to come back from that.
Left is an adventure while Termel is in the game. Even when he makes the play, it can look awkward. CY, while pitching poorly, ends up getting tagged with five when it should have been one, at most, two. Being in a one run game is in our comfort zone. Being down by five is a pretty high hill.
May 12, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Nice game by Ekstrom and Headley … http://www.minorleaguebaseball.....p;did=milb
May 12, 2007 at 9:37 pm
The Mike Thompson sad saga continues … http://www.minorleaguebaseball.....p;did=milb … ERA now 17.05 …
May 12, 2007 at 9:46 pm
Payback REALLY is a *****.
May 12, 2007 at 10:19 pm
I sat in one of the 1B light towers tonite, which was cool, but overall, a tough game to attend. Glad I was able to drink to my heart’s content, since this game sucked.