Fun win Tuesday night (box score). They’re all fun, though, aren’t they? Justin Germano wasn’t brilliant, but he didn’t have to be because the offense came through against defending Cy Young award winner Brandon Webb.
Elsewhere in reality, I’ve started writing for Ballhype. My first article — “Barry Zito Is the New Mike Hampton” — is available for you perusal. Check it out when you have a moment, and “hype it up” if you deem it worthy. (You can “hype up” Ducksnorts articles, too, using that little doohickey at the end of each post. Not that I’m begging, but okay, I’m begging. Anyway…
Again.
Germano just had to keep the Padres in the game, which he did. The home team then took advantage of Webb’s wildness and indecision on a Kevin Kouzmanoff bunt (coupled with a questionable call by first-base umpire Lance Barksdale) to score four runs in the sixth and take command.
You know what else was nice? A 1-2-3 ninth from Trevor Hoffman. Haven’t seen one of those in a while (August 4, at home against the Giants, although he didn’t get a save in that one; last 1-2-3 save came on July 24 — over a month ago — at Coors Field of all places).
I like that Hoffman breezed through ninth a night after struggling. And I like that he got the final two outs against Arizona’s two best hitters.
But Hoffman is toast, right? Or wait, I think it is Michael Barrett‘s fault. What is Barrett’s fault? I have no clue, I just repeat what I’m told.
Speaking of non sequiturs, here’s something “they” never tell you: The Padres have the second best home run differential in the National League.
| Team | HR | Opp HR | Dif |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statistics are courtesy of ESPN and are through games of August 28, 2007. | |||
| Milwaukee | 180 | 136 | 44 |
| San Diego | 131 | 90 | 41 |
| Florida | 167 | 137 | 30 |
| Cincinnati | 177 | 156 | 21 |
| Atlanta | 146 | 134 | 12 |
| San Francisco | 108 | 100 | 8 |
| NY Mets | 137 | 134 | 3 |
| Philadelphia | 166 | 165 | 1 |
| Arizona | 139 | 143 | -4 |
| Colorado | 128 | 133 | -5 |
| Pittsburgh | 126 | 134 | -8 |
| St. Louis | 118 | 127 | -9 |
| LA Dodgers | 96 | 106 | -10 |
| Chicago Cubs | 104 | 139 | -35 |
| Houston | 132 | 167 | -35 |
| Washington | 96 | 146 | -50 |
It would be nice if “they” told you stuff like this, but they don’t, so I do. Hey, as long as it gets out there somehow…
by Peter Friberg
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. – Original preamble for those wondering why I select the performances I do…
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
AAA
Michael Barrett: 3 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 0 RBI; SO – rehab
AA
Midland 6, San Antonio 5 (11 innings)
Matt Antonelli: 6 AB, 0 R, 2 H, 2 RBI; 2B, 3 SO
Chase Headley: 5 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 0 RBI; BB, SO
High-A
Craig Cooper: 6 AB, 3 R, 4 H, 7 RBI; 3B, 2 HR
Kyle Blanks: 5 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 1 RBI; HR, BB, SO
Jose Lobaton: 5 AB, 4 R, 4 H, 3 RBI; 2 2B, 2 HR
Low-A
Game 1: West Michigan 7, Fort Wayne 6
Eric Sogard: 4 AB, 0 R, 2 H, 4 RBI; 2B, CS
Game 2: West Michigan 4, Fort Wayne 1
Cedric Hunter: 3 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 1 RBI; HR
Short Season-A
Danny Payne: 5 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 0 RBI; 2B, 2 SO
Rookie
No significant performances…
Commentary:
Cedric is on a bit of a tear… His August numbers are .333/.411/.484…
Thanks, Peter. The Padres look to reclaim a share of first place on Wednesday. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. PT. Assume the rest to be obvious…
Has there been any news on Morgan Ensberg lately? I find it kind of odd that he has not made an appearance in the last 3 series (including AZ). Not that I want him starting over Kouz, but I thought he would have pinch hit somewhere during our east coast trip. Perhaps Bud Black is doing his best Kevin Cameron move with him.
50: Yep
51: I’ve wondered the same thing. That guy is completely MIA. Is he hurt? If he is, why isn’t he on the DL? I thought he was a better candidate to PH last nite than Macowiak, but then he got HPB, so I shut up.
Macowiak has very good numbers against Webb, plus a strike out in that situation is the worst possible result.
48: Chain Reaction is a fun place. The sound is horrible though, it doesnt matter if you bring your own tech or not. The layout is odd because it was a (mexican?) resturaunt at one point, then it turned into “Public Storage” (there is still a big PS on the florr i think). It seems like they are slowly making the place bigger and more open. Where the merch tables are now used be closed off and it was the “kitchen” (basically 3 couches for the band members and a bunch of old kitchen supplies). Having both performed there and seen probably 50 shows there, the place just has a special ambience about it. I have seen alot of bands pass through there from Papa Roach to Thrice to Fall Out Boy to Rise Against.
50: I dont think those t-shirts are ever coming down.
As far as Barrett is concerned, why did the 2004 Cubs go 89-73 with Barrett behind the plate? Did he subsequently get dumber? Do you think that maybe part of the reason the Cubs are playing better is that Jason Kendall is hitting .308 with a .398 OBP as a Cub, while Barrett was struggling with a .256/.307?
I mean, maybe the guy has been a knucklehead at times with the Cubs, and he is certainly as bad on defense as advertised (especially passed balls), but he’s been a model citizen with the Padres, and I’m a little tired of folks from outside of San Diego trying to tell me how to feel about a guy on my team (also see Bradley, M.).
Enjoy first place in the Central, and hopefully we’ll settle things in the playoffs!
52: Mackowiak was definitely the right call there because Webb is much worse against lefties. The obvious situation for Ensberg was in the 8th when the D-Backs brought in the LOOGY to face Sledge. He must be hurt, but I haven’t heard anything at all about him.
I get the feeling that “the lefthander” may have gotten a visit from the FO about the playing time distribution at 3B and has possibly over reacted to that
52, 56: Um this is a blog about the band Mae and an Anaheim rock club. Please stay on topic.
Also, has anyone noticed Pete LaForest’s tidy .360/.467/.520 in limited duty? I haven’t seen him play: how does his defense compare to Bard’s? Maybe he should be starting more often?
Re: Inman vs. Kennedy
That’s where scouts come in to play.
How about this one:
Short Season (as 21 yr old): .272/.384/.456 in 169 AB
Low-A (at 22): .280/.367/.469 in 493 AB
Hi-A (at 23): .304/.374/.514 in 490 AB
AA (at 24): .297/.386/.647 in 374 AB
AAA (at 24): .270/.362/.604 in 111 AB
vs.
Rookie (at 18): .299/.420/.500 in 164 AB
Low-A (at 19): .292/.382/.455 in 308 AB
Hi-A (at 20): .296/.374/.529 in 450 AB
Who am I comparing?
Is that our own Ben B asking a Chris Young question in Will Carroll’s chat today?
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/chat/chat.php?chatId=338
58: lol. That’s pretty damn funny.
54: That place is definitely laid out in a bizarre fashion. There’s also a place in Corona/Riverside right near the 91 and 15 interchange that’s got a pretty bizarre set up too (although the stage is much bigger). I can’t remember the name of it, but they’ve got all sorts of random crap hanging from the ceiling (like a bike). I once saw one of my old friends’ band, hot like (A) robot, perform there.
Re 60: The second player is Banks, my guess is that the first player will be a college 1B prospect, who is not playing for the Padres — Portland pretty much sucks.
#58: New tagline… “All Mae. All the time.”
62: The Showcase Theatre, I believe?
60: The first one is current Padres 1st baseman Adrian Gonzalez?
62: The Showcase Theatre, they used to have a balcony too, not sure if they still do.
Peter, are you going to let us know who the other player is?
66: Nevermind, I didnt even pay attention to the ages
60: Actually that looks like Kouz now that I look at the ages
Can’t be Kouz as his career average in the minors was 332 (and the ages are wrong). Obviously it’s someone in a big market who gets a ton of publicity. There’s no one on the Red Sox or the Yankees who really fits that description I don’t think, I was thinking maybe Ryan Braun but his minor league numbers were way better.
Re 70: I was thinking Connor Jackson, but he debuted in mlb at 22.
I finally figured it out, after about a dozen searches on thebaseballcube. It’s Ryan Howard, which probably should have been obvious given the high slugging percentages and the old age.
Just about to say that too. Howard and Blanks have similar body types too but Blanks is a lot more athletic. What he left out was Howard’s AAA season in 2005 at age 25 which really showed how good Howard could be. For comparison, here are their stats:
http://thebaseballcube.com/players/H/Ryan-Howard.shtml
http://thebaseballcube.com/players/B/Kyle-Blanks.shtml
Howard getting better every year through the minors is crazy to see…..I think we’ll know a ton more about Blanks potential after next season as it is a much tougher league to hit in and he’ll only be playing as a 21 year old
60 & 66: That’s it.
64: Sorry to hijack your blog. I just thought we could just diversify a bit :-p
As for Blanks, I’m really curious to see what they end up doing with him. It seems that it will be at least 2 years before he’s ML ready, but I really wonder what they’ll decide to do with thim.
#75: No worries, bud; just don’t go all Air Supply and Yanni on us.
Are you sure the 1st player isn’t Jack Cust?
76: lol, if it gets to that point, I, as the inestimable Happy Gilmore once said, “I’d have to kick my own ass.”
I say go for Geer on Friday.
Lost in Love and I don’t know much…
PS – Dodgers/Nats 9-9 in the 9th.
#80: Oh no, you didn’t…
Only for you, GY.
Sorry guys, unlike a lot of you, I’m not at my computer all day (the benefits & disadvantages of outside sales) so I only post when I have a couple minutes between work-stuff to log on and check out what’s happening.
Yes, Ryan Howard & Kyle Blanks were the subject of my comparison (was that proper English?)…
I really think Blanks might make Gonzalez expendable…
83: Wow Peter, that’s quite an endorsement. As one of the resident propsect experts on this site, I’ll certainly defer to your knowledge here. How does Blanks’ defense compare to that of Adrian? Also, how does Blank’s plate discipline compare to Adrian’s?
Re: 83 I agree, Adrian will be at the end of his contract in 2010 and Blanks will be ready to play in the Majors.
It’s awfully nice of the Nationals to wear out the Dodger bullpen like this. I guess it would have been nicer if they had managed to actually win two of these games, but, eh, it’s the Nationals. Beggars can’t be choosers.
Looks like Geer is pitching right now for San Antonio, so scratch that name off of the list of possible Friday starters.
It also appears that Shawn Estes is getting the start tonight for the Beavers, when it would normally be Jack Cassel’s turn in the rotation. Cassel is also not listed as a starter for any of the Beavers’ next five games, but neither is Hensley.
87: I guess that means that we’ll end up with Ledezma or Cassel then…
Geer pitching pretty decently. 6 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 0 BB’s, 4 K’s, 0 HR allowed, 1 extra base hit allowed. San Antonio up 3-2.
It would be great to see Cassel get a start or two down the stretch and show some success. The guy fought his was back from a AA demotion last year and was considered a long shot prospect at best to ever contribute at this level.
Got ‘em! Nicccccce…