| time: | 7:05 p.m. PT |
| tv: | 4SD |
| sp: | Chris Young (8-3, 1.97) vs Cole Hamels (11-4, 3.83) |
| pre: | Padres.com, SI.com |
In 2002, the Padres were believed to be interested in local southpaw Cole Hamels with their first pick (#13 overall). Of course, they passed on Hamels (as well as Scott Kazmir) and instead selected Clemson shortstop Khalil Greene. At the time, I was less than enthusiastic about the pick:
I’m not overly thrilled at the selection of Greene when guys like Hamels, [Bobby] Brownlie, and Scott Kazmir were available. For one thing, there’s talk that his future is at second base, which has become an area of relative strength in the organization. For another, he’s a college senior who is a full year older than Sean Burroughs. I hope I’m wrong but I can’t help but think of Kevin Nicholson when I see this pick.
I’m happy to report five years later that I was wrong and that Greene has been the most productive player to come out of the 2002 draft’s first round so far:
| Player | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stats are through games of July 8, 2007, and are courtesy of Hardball Times and Baseball Graphs. | ||||||
| Khalil Greene, SD (13th pick) | 1 | 21 | 17 | 13 | 10 | 62 |
| Nick Swisher, Oak (16th) | - | 1 | 12 | 22 | 11 | 46 |
| Jeff Francoeur, Atl (23rd) | - | - | 13 | 16 | 12 | 41 |
| Mark Teahen, Oak (39th) | - | - | 10 | 19 | 10 | 39 |
| Joe Blanton, Oak (24th) | - | 0 | 14 | 10 | 11 | 35 |
| Prince Fielder, Mil (7th) | - | - | 2 | 17 | 15 | 34 |
| Scott Kazmir, NYN (15th) | - | 1 | 13 | 14 | 5 | 33 |
| Jeff Francis, Col (9th) | - | 2 | 6 | 13 | 9 | 30 |
| Matt Cain, SF (25th) | - | - | 5 | 12 | 6 | 23 |
| B.J. Upton, TB (2nd) | - | 4 | - | 2 | 12 | 18 |
| Cole Hamels, Phi (17th) | - | - | - | 8 | 10 | 18 |
Nice draft by Oakland, eh? Incidentally, the White Sox nabbed left-hander Royce Ring with the pick just after Hamels.
Go Padres!
What happened to his control? The fastballs to Howard were perfectly placed, and now he’s missing badly.
Swing at a ball in the dirt on a change up.
Taxes.
Wow. Throwing the changeup 3-2. Nasty.
Wow, another 3 hit win… This was a fun one to watch though. 2 great starters and the right calls in the ‘pen along with 1 timely hit.
Made the last guy look really silly.
Save No. 509.
Hoffman.
Nice. Three K’s, on three changeups.
Trevor is just amazing. He wasn’t locating well tonight, and he still struck out the side to seal the deal. That 3-2 change in the dirt to Dobbs was pure balls. Fun win.
We have good pitching.