| time: | 4:05 p.m. PT |
| tv: | 4SD |
| sp: | Clay Hensley (2-3, 6.70) vs Kyle Lohse (7-12, 4.61) |
| pre: | Padres.com, SI.com, B-R.com |
Three things:
- Carlos Ruiz is an idiot. Thanks for lighting a fire under the team’s collective posterior. Here’s hoping Marcus Giles is okay.
- Great response by the Padres. Embarrassing the opposition in its home park with a 14-3 whooping is sweet revenge.
- What did we ever do without Milton Bradley? The Padres score 5.28 runs per game when he’s in the lineup, 4.29 when he’s not.
I cling to a fantasy that Clay Hensley will return to 2006 form. That would be helpful beyond description. Go Padres!
Does Bradley’s effect on the team make him the best pick-up of the year in baseball? I remember when we made the deal, how so many of the national media outlets were concern-trolling the hell out of the Padres. And now, Bradley has shown to have a measurable effect on this team, and I hope we can invent nano-technology to keep him eternally healthy.
Bradley has been amazing. Also, I think someone was asking about Wally’s impact as hitting coach. The usual causation vs correlation and small sample size disclaimers apply:
Merv: 105 G, .243/.312/.389, 4.23 R/G
Wally: 22 G, .277/.352/.475, 5.73 R/G
Whatever the case, it’s nice to see…
hi Geoff
Did you get a chance to read Keith Law’s article on Matt antonelli. How does someone like him get a job with ESPN.com
2: Geoff, has Wally been around for more road games than home games? Just wondering because this team has been a better hitting team on the road all year.
#3: No, I haven’t read it. Law’s a smart guy, but he seems to lose his objectivity when it comes to the Padres and I have no idea why.
#4: Even split: 11 home, 11 road. Quick count shows 5.00 R/G at Petco under Wally, 6.45 away from SD.
KLaw @ Espn asks in his recent piece entitled “Padres lack killer lefty” – “Why would Cla Meredith be facing Marlon Anderson ? ”
He is exactly right. Especially a sidearmer like Meredith. The Pads one glaring weakness (not unlike in years past) is the absence of a late inning lefty. I really like Hampson as a long guy but am as nervous as hell when he comes in late in games in a crucial situations. There may be nothing that can be done at this point but it is no doubt a weakness.
What will the Pads do when Michael Barrett is back ? Do they want him on a post season roster ? I am leaning towards yes, and have the Pads carry three catchers and send down Sledge for a 40 man roster call up. I am really intrigued by Laforest’s potential and believe he may be able to deliver a big blast or two down the strectch, meanwhile I am no longer curious ablout Sledge’s potential. Laforest has some serious lightening in that bat. Also, I think Laforest is out of options ! ?
Expanded roster call ups are of course a week or so away. In my estimation, here are the additions : Clark,McAnulty (though he has had a disappointing year, they don’t want to shatter his confidence) , Stansberry, Myrow (I hope the Pads reward this guy for a magnificent year), Thatcher, another journeyman mop up guy or two : Thompson,Rakers, or Cassidy.
Also, AA San Antonio has some talent that will help this ballclub soon !! They will win the second half first place prize and play in the post season. The biggest darkhorse of all is Texan is the crafty Josh Geer. I believe that this kid really has the makeup of a major leaguer. He has stepped up twice now here in Frisco (in front of what seems like hundred’s of family members) to throw two gems against the Roughriders. Earlier in the season (July) he took a red eye flight to Portland AAA for one quality start before he was sent back to AA. Geer doesn’t throw hard at all but he spots his fastball and breaks a curve at the right times –keeping hitters off balance.
No longer can one say that the Pads farm system is a joke. It was a joke for a long time and it is starting to change. This revamped minor league system is part of the new winning formula by this ownership/management group. Seeing the AA San Antonio team play live a few times makes me really excited about the future. Randy Ready, the Missions manager, is probably a future major league manager — he is constantly teaching the game in a passionate way–coming up to several players and having intense, but positive “one on one’s” with them, all of which usually end of with a laugh before the player jogs off to his position.
William Inman is currently the youngest pitcher in the Texas League at 20 years old. 4 of his last 5 starts have been good. Excited ? Lateral move for the washed up Linebrink? Hardly.
hey JP
just wondering where you saw Antonelli play this year?
Frisco, Texas (30 miles N. of Dallas), Ranger affiliate
JP
so you dont think Antonelli is ready for a shot even with the nice year he has put together 311avg 21 home runs and 28 stolen bases
3: Could you perhaps link to this article because I’m not seeing it.
Richard, I remember in one of Law’s chats someone asked what he thought about Antonelli’s new found power. Law was skeptical, and thought it was an aberration.
14: Okay, I saw that already.
Were those first two balls hit hard enough to justify two pitches, two outs?
Giles, no. Cameron, yes.
And I’m even more pissd off about yesterday since NOG was put on the DL today. Stansberry was called up to replace him and is in uniform tonite.
Pat the Bat just hurt us…
Shit. That’s exactly waht you can’t do, Clay.
Well, he hit that a long way. Time for a beer. I’m drinking Newcastle, how bout you guys.
Good work pitching to Howard and Rollins (the lefties). Not such a great job against Iguchi and Burrell (fastballs down the middle and up are a recipe for disaster).
What happened to Hensley? Last year he was their best starter in the 2nd half of last season, now he’s horrible? Was it just a total fluke or is he hiding some injury that we don’t know about?
Someone should tell Steve Quis that the Padres didn’t catch a break when the guy struck out. Instead of a K we have a dubious foul tip call.
Watching gameday, Hensley has no control. Those pitches are so far off the plate, you’d have to wonder why anyone would swing.
20: Sam Adams Summer Brew for me..
20 & 25: Pyramid Heffeweizen and Pyramid Thunderhead IPA
Geoff Blum, “I only hit when men AREN’T on!”
C’mon, Phantom, we already had a big lead last night. Blum only hits in the clutch, when the pressure is really on.
28: lol
20:
“the one and only”
Best beer in the world.
27 At least he hits (well, sometimes anyway)
Tough to blame Hensley for that walk when, according to Gameday, two of the balls were completely inside the strike zone.
GameDay shows Clay getting hosed on calls.
I didn’t think the “Curse of the Crappy Pitcher” happened to the Padres offense on the road.
I’ll take that double from Khalil. Drive ‘em in Bardo!
KG is on fire
crap
36: Pretty unlucky right there. If that gets into CF, we have a tie game.
Why is Hensley incapable of throwing strikes to Ruiz? That is an inexcusable walk.
20 … Ruby Red Mt Dew …
OT … Dogs lose …
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=270825121
… wow … they have Wells and Hillenbrand … how sweet is that!
I think Hensley is on pace to throw about 3000 pitches if he pitches 9 innings tonight..
third newcastle. Could we please one fricking run.
Interesting choice here with Brocail..
I’m very happy with Hensley’s outing today … ie. it exceeded my expectations … not my hopes … but my expectations (where were admittedly low) … he can build on this outing!
Thru 5 full …
Pitches-strikes – C Hensley 102-62; D Brocail 3-1; K Lohse 62-43.
Ground balls-fly balls – C Hensley 5-4; D Brocail 1-0; K Lohse 4-8.
Batters faced – C Hensley 23; D Brocail 1; K Lohse 19.
You all just know that Bochy would’ve gone to the lefty in that situation…
Big Fly for Mike Cameron…
42: There’s one frickin’ run. Can we get two or three frickin’ runs?
42: Ask and you shall receive… Can you ask for about 6 more?
Wow, such power I didn’t know I possessed. Must be the beer.