| time: | 7:05 p.m. PT |
| tv: | 4SD |
| sp: | Greg Maddux (7-4, 3.66) vs Scott Olsen (6-6, 4.93) |
| pre: | Padres.com, SI.com |
For your enjoyment. The usual disclaimers about the limitations of OPS+ as a serious measure of anything apply…
| Player | PA | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|
| Stats are through games of July 2, 2007, and are courtesy of Baseball-Reference. Minimum 1500 plate appearances. | ||
| Carlos Guillen | 1859 | 136 |
| Derek Jeter | 2554 | 127 |
| Miguel Tejada | 2449 | 126 |
| Jhonny Peralta | 1565 | 112 |
| Michael Young | 2585 | 112 |
| Jimmy Rollins | 2607 | 103 |
| Edgar Renteria | 2350 | 102 |
| Khalil Greene | 1803 | 101 |
| Jose Reyes | 2042 | 100 |
| Rafael Furcal | 2394 | 99 |
Go Padres!
Man that’s a nice comp. Make sure to bust that out the next time some people start coming down to hard on our boy, eh?
Very interesting set of numbers. One thing jumps out – Reyes seems undervalued, at least if you listen to the NYC media. OPS+ doesn’t account for steals (does it?). I just hope Khalil keeps hitting the rest of the year.
Well, getting a late start out to the ballpark (waiting on the women folk). Looking forward to another Maddux win. He has a record of beating the crap out of the Marlins.
Go Padres and I’ll blog at you tommorow night. Later…
Here’s hoping for a Giles sonic BOOOOOOM!
Yikes, not the optimal start for Maddux.
He worked his way out of it though. We’ll see how he does in the second inning.
Man OG has got to frustrate opposing pitchers.
Nice to see Gonzo hit one that found its way through.
7 – OG could be very, very effective in the leadoff spot the rest of the way. High pitches seen, high OBP…bodes well.
Cameron just hit that too hard.
10: Yup he put good wood on it, just hit it right to him. If he has to move they may not get Cam at first.
Damn, now we’re playing like the Marlins did yesterday
That should had been a DP
That WAS a DP.
What’s the function of getting men on if we can’t do anything productive with them
OG cashes in on a series of mistakes by the Fish. Walking Maddux with 2 outs was inexcusable.
Glad to see this contest is back to nil. OG has been a complete asset since coming back.
NOG trying to get Khalil flattened there.
wow. nice the way that ball comes back. I’d have been heading for first already too…
June was Cameron’s best month last year… let’shope he caries the heat into July this time.
Oh man, he straight killed that ball.
What a nite for Khalil, 2 BB and a 2 run HR.
hopefully this will help get Khalil’s OBP back up near .300
bummer. Maddux hung that ball really badly.
I’ve never seen anybody just brought in to intentionally walk anyone before…wasn’t Maddux perfectly capable of an IBB? Seems like a pretty big waste of Meredith.
Ok
I have officially now seen everything. WTF??
This is Black’s worst performance as a manager.
Worst inning of the year for Padre pitching, bar-none. 4 hits and 4 walks. A run scored on a wild pitch. Cla coming in to walk someone intentionally. ugh. See you all in the morning.
This was mostly Buds fault. I have been pleased with Buddy for the most part all year but the decisions he made this last inning were just poor.
27: This is absolutely the worst game Bud has had all year. He celarly had no intention of winning this game. Unfrickinbelievable.
28: Agreed. This is the worst game Bud has managed all year. Leave Maddux in too long, (75 pitches or 6 innings for Maddux and Wells Bud!) burn a pitcher when the game is tied and may likely go to extra innings with the way our team plays. Intentionally walk a batter that didnt need to be walked after a wild pitch. Poor, poor, poor…
GY: Were do you get the stats for Maddux/Wells after 6 or 76? I’d like to check it out.
I have to agree with others – Bud’s first huge misstep this season – this whole game and his mismanagment of the pitching staff.
#30 – go to baseball-reference.com, search for Greg Maddux, and look under “splits” and scroll down to 2007.
The AB by Bocachica and the next one, by Cabrera, look exactly alike on Gameday. Weird.
It’s a testament to how strong our pitching has been this year, that when we blew that 4-2 lead I was completely shocked. I was already completely confident that we were going to be able to hold that lead…I hadn’t even thought about the possibility of them coming back on us. Maddux really had been pitching very well until then. That pitch to Ramirez though was just a hanger right down the pipe…it was asking to be knocked out.
That whole inning by Maddux was a disaster – do you realize that Maddux didn’t throw a single ball that inning? I understand efficiency and getting ahead of hitters and all that, but sometimes you have to waste one and see if guys will swing at something outside. Ramirez was 0-2 when he hit that home run. I don’t know why but this loss really irks me – Black’s poor decision making especially. I suppose I’ll get over it. Dodgers are about to win and tie for first, btw. Sigh.
EDIT – that last post should read “The count on Ramirez was 0-2″…he was pinch-hitting, and it was his first AB of the game.
31: Thanks.
34: Yup, I dont understand it. He may have been pitching well, but he has to realize him and Wells are 75 pitch pitchers.
Black should have gotten the pen up as soon as Maddux gave up that hard single to Olivo, and certainly after the next guy almost hit it out.
He has been pulling a much younger Germano after 6 almost all year. You gotta do the same thing with your 40+ pitchers.
Padres were the only simulation favorite not to win tonight. vr, Xei
Xei, thanks for that link. It’s pretty cool.
Ugh. This was easily the most frustrating game I’ve attended all season. I do not understand what Black was doing with his pitching staff tonight.
I can deal with being outplayed by the opposition. Losing because of poor decision making, OTOH, eats at me…
Here’s a BR Play Index list of guys who came in for an IBB and no other batters.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/shareit/mPa2
Meredith was the third pitcher this year to have the one IBB and then gone.
41: I feel your frustration Geoff. I keep telling myself that we are still 12 games over .500. But when your team routinely struggles to score and has a lights out bullpen, I feel like we have to take all necessary precaution to guard a 4-2 lead. So while I understand why Maddux began the 7th–he WAS facing the bottom third of their order: Olivo, Linden and a PH (not so imposing)–I find it almost criminal that Black did not see the warning signs early on in that inning (taking into consideration Maddux’s numbers after 75 pitches).
Olivo ripped his single to left and then Linden, LINDEN, drove a ball that would have left most other parks. At this point, alarm bells should have been going off. I would have sent Balsley out there to stall, anything to get a reliever ready. The 0-2 pitch to Ramirez was just a bad pitch, but at least we were still tied with no one on and one out. To me with the top of the order coming up, it’s an easy call to take Maddux out. But he didn’t, not even after three straight hard hit balls, including the game tying HR. So after two more hits and Cabrera coming up, he’s then going to take Maddux out to bring in Cla’ to IBB the guy? That was a criminal misuse of your ‘pen.
I, like Mike, thought that things were looking good once we went up 4-2 going into the 7th. Never thought I would witness the sequence of events that transpired in the 7th. Black said that he was bound to make some mistakes, but this one takes the cake. In a tight race, we can’t afford to give away games like this one.
#42: Thanks, Bob. Seeing Eddie Oropesa’s name and realizing that he no longer pitches here always makes me feel better…
Okay. It’s official. I HATE Bud Black.
#2: OPS+ doesn’t account for steals. Honestly, it’s kind of a garbage stat, but I find it useful in doing rough comps. As for Reyes, he gets dinged heavily for posting some poor numbers in ’04 and ’05. Since then, he’s been a stud and he’s just 24 years old.
In the AP story of the game, Black said he had Meredith issue the IBB to give Ring more time to warm up.
47: Why couldn’t Maddux do that? It doesn’t make any sense.
It doesn’t make much sense to me and I think Black just got caught unawares.
On the list, I noticed that back in 1977, Chuck Tanner used Goose Gossage for an IBB and nothing else in a game. I suppose he was going for a platoon advantage in the game, but if you look at the details, it makes no sense.
In 1977 Gossage was pretty much unhittable.
48: Burning a pitcher gives a little more time, because Meredith gets some time on the mound to warm up. If Maddux had pitched the IBB then it’s just 4 quick pitches. NOT to say I think the decision was a reasonable one.
The real question is why wasn’t Ring ALREADY in the bullpen warming up? IF you’re going to use Maddux in the 7th – and that’s a BIG “only idiots do this” if – then you want to have a pitcher or two up in the pen even BEFORE trouble starts, because you know trouble is a’coming.
And as for his “we’re all bound to make mistakes” quote…I would forgive the mistake if it wasn’t one he’s been making every single time Wells and Maddux start. I know I’m exaggerating this and Bud has actually done a lot of things right this year, but it’s just so hard to lose a game like this.
This is why it’s good baseball teams play every day. If I had to sit on this game for a week, it’d be a long week. Instead we can look forward to a C.Y. start.