IGD: Padres vs Giants (5 Aug 07)
Sun, Aug 5, 2007
by Geoff Young
| time: | 1:05 p.m. PT |
| tv: | 4SD |
| sp: | Justin Germano (6-6, 4.38) vs Noah Lowry (12-7, 3.32) |
| pre: | Padres.com, SI.com |
Barry Bonds hit home run #755 off Clay Hensley on Saturday night in support of San Francisco’s 3-2 loss to the Padres. I used to defend Bonds back in the day; now I just don’t really care. It’s a shame that Bonds felt the need to taint his already brilliant legacy, but it’s hard to argue with his success.
More relevant to you and me, the Padres have taken a home series and are in position to sweep the increasingly irrelevant Giants. Speaking of which, you know who’s an impressive story for the orange and black? Sunday’s pitcher, Noah Lowry. How can a guy have 12 wins in August for such a crap team? Seriously, he’s accounted for more than a quarter of San Francisco’s wins this season. That’s not ‘72 Steve Carlton, but it’s still pretty darned impressive. If Tom Glavine had done that last year for the Mets, he would have won 25 games.
On the other side, we have Justin “Pumpkin” Germano. We all wanted to believe. Oh, did we want to believe. He gave the Padres such a great shot in the proverbial arm, but the lack of dominance worried us, and for good reason. The month of July was not kind to Germano: 7.24 ERA over 32 1/3 innings covering six starts; opponents batted .298/.366/.511 against him; he allowed four or more runs in all but one of his starts and saw his season ERA rise from 2.67 to 4.38.
We hope that Germano can regain the magic that made him such a valuable asset earlier in the season, but the truth is, he looks more like this year’s version of Mike Thompson — a guy who contributed way more than anyone had a right to expect when it was needed most, but who ultimately cannot sustain a high level of performance in the big leagues.
Prove me wrong, Justin. Prove us all wrong. Nothing would make us happier. Go Padres!
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August 5, 2007 at 10:37 am
Geoff, I’m sensing a little angst there. However, I tend to agree with it. I’m not liking the ‘Pumpkin’ start today either.
August 5, 2007 at 10:41 am
Does anyone know the status of OG and Jenga? If they cant play they need to go on the DL because the lack of bench came bak to bite the pads in the keester last night when they had to use Peavy to PH and send B(l)um in LF.
August 5, 2007 at 10:50 am
Everyone should go read the U-T’s readers’ letters section today. No fewer than three readers criticized the Padres’ trade deadline moves as irrelevant and the players picked up as junk. It’s a pretty hilarious read on the heels of three straight wins powered by the newcomers.
August 5, 2007 at 10:54 am
2: According to yesterday’s pregame notes from padres.com, both are unlikely to start today but should be healthy sometime next week, possibly as early as Monday.
http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com.....mp;c_id=sd
August 5, 2007 at 10:57 am
3: You have to think those letter were written before these games. I liked KT’s moves for the most part. I didnt like the Hairston move, but with his performance and the ijuries in the OF it was a great move in hindsight. My favorite pick up has got to be Mackowiak. The guy seems like ball player.
2: I dont know if it really bit them because they won the game and it looked like Jake enjoyed going out there. I am thinking the injuries are not that bad. You dont want to lose 2 of your productive players to the DL if they dont need it.
August 5, 2007 at 11:07 am
I have been dealing with it for 25 years but let’s face it, San Diego Padres fans are as laid back as can be. Why on earth did Scott Hairston not get a curtain call last night ? In places like Philly or New York he would have gotten one Friday night and last night (which is probably overboard) but c’mon, the guy hit three consecutive BIG, CLUTCH blasts.
Also, only in San Diego would fans be mad that a guy hitting a buck ninety seven would be released. People actually ripped Towers on this blog, saying that no bench players out there are better than Branyan. I thought they were joking. I will never forget a fan calling in to XEXX last week and saying, upon the release of Branyan and Cruz that “we don’t do that to players in San Diego and thus, I am cancelling my season tickets” ! Every single move Towers made was necessary and will help the team.
August 5, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Where the hell was the Pre-Game show today?
August 5, 2007 at 1:31 pm
attaboy NOG
August 5, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Nice catch by Cammy
August 5, 2007 at 1:37 pm
great catch by Cameron - he has a piece of the Sycuan sign stuck in his teeth
August 5, 2007 at 1:38 pm
6: Don’t your points contradict each other there? You’re saying San Diego fans don’t care in the first paragraph and that they care too much about little things in the second.
Also, batting average is a dumb stat to use when evaluating Branyan. It’s actually a bad stat to use overall, but it’s especially useless when talking about Branyan because it doesn’t capture his walks and homers. Yes, I was mad at the release of Branyan, but the subsequent moves have been good and mostly made up for it. I was in favor of having him on the roster instead of Hairston, but clearly Hairston has proven his value.
August 5, 2007 at 1:41 pm
Does anyone know the status of Hairston? There is no word on line about the injury to his foot.
August 5, 2007 at 1:42 pm
And I just read that Hensley was sent down to Triple A and Thompson brought up. Please ’splain that one to me?
August 5, 2007 at 1:48 pm
I don’t think we properly celebrated Michael Barrett’s first walk with the Padres. So here is the belated congratulations:
WAY TO GO BARRETT!
August 5, 2007 at 1:51 pm
13: Fresh horses, and whiskey for my riders.
Hensley can’t pitch the next few days anyway, they’ll stretch him out in Portland, and they need arms in the pen after the last two days.
August 5, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Wow, 2 pretty awful at-bats to end the inning. Barrett decided he’d been patient enough for one half-season and swung at two pitches badly out of the zone.
August 5, 2007 at 1:58 pm
Ball four to Durham seems to be squarely in the strike zone.
August 5, 2007 at 2:00 pm
17: Not saying it’s right, but when you throw the first three pitches outside in the at-bat, then nick the outside corner for the next two, your odds of getting the inside corner shrink.
How did we manage to not score with he bases loaded and 1 out and Lowry not able to find the strike zone?
August 5, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Wasted inning by Padres. Lowry does not seem himself. Hopefully, they chase him next frame.
August 5, 2007 at 2:11 pm
Calling up Thompson and sending down Hensley means that CY is almost definitely ready to come back for his next start, right? That, or the organization is going to do something stupid and give Thompson a start.
August 5, 2007 at 2:16 pm
Bases loaded on a strikeout, sac bunt, and a walk to number one hitter?
August 5, 2007 at 2:16 pm
Germano in danger of letting this get away and the Padres need innings from him.
August 5, 2007 at 2:21 pm
That inning went groundout, strikeout, sac bunt, walk, groundout, pop out. The potent Giant lineup in action to score the run.
August 5, 2007 at 2:26 pm
Blum’s not really someone you want to give the green light to on 2-0 after 6 straight balls.
August 5, 2007 at 2:45 pm
I think our pen may have needed the assistance, hence the Thompson callup.
August 5, 2007 at 3:03 pm
Big opportunity, Padres need to score a couple.
August 5, 2007 at 3:09 pm
I love the fact that they have a 41 year-old pitcher pinch running…
August 5, 2007 at 4:01 pm
Uh-oh.
August 5, 2007 at 4:02 pm
OK, I really don’t like Molina.
August 5, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Man, that was scary. It’s all good now…
August 5, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Big sweep for the Padres. Good thing for the run in the bottom of the eighth.
August 5, 2007 at 5:22 pm
If you guys think the U-T letter writers were ridiculous, and they were, at least those are the ramblings of semi-educated at best fans. Read Phil Rogers, a professional baseball writer for the Chicago Tribune, and then you’ll really wonder what the hell he gets paid to do. He basically called the Pads deadline moves terrible and called Linebrink one of the most reliable pitchers in the SD bullpen, and couldn’t understand how they traded him for “fringe” players (that’s what he called them). Funny, terrible stuff.
Nice sweep. The Padres really need innings tomorrow from Wells, and I’m not sure I like the sound of that. Is Stauffer still around?
August 5, 2007 at 7:18 pm
I was at the game today in section 126, Molina’s homerun hit a seat in my section and row and only 6 seats to the left. It was nice to finally see a Padre win, but let me tell you that Blum leaves A LOT to be desired in left. He took a terrible line on Klesko’s highly catchable “double” and nearly played Robert’s fly ball in the ninth into a game tying double. It was brutal watching him field.
August 5, 2007 at 9:18 pm
#33
I wouldn’t put too much worry in Blum’s Lf misadventures. He’s strictly an emergency starter there, and B. Giles is supposed to be back tomorrow (and if he’s not, Sledge and McAnulty are in AAA). I am intrigued by the notion that Kouz could be moved to left, with Ensberg taking over third. That’s a very easy way to help the offense.
August 5, 2007 at 9:59 pm
34: What about Bradley?
August 5, 2007 at 10:16 pm
#23 - I am answering you late because I had to work but I don’t think my points are contradictory at all. Of course Pads fans care, but I don’t think that they are as “tuned in” or as knowledgable about the game as say fans in Boston or Philly. Did you know that Hairston’s winning homer and leadoff homer (leading off the game) the next day hasn’t occurred in baseball (according to the Elias Sports Bureau) in about 30 years. He should have gotten a curtain call —plain and simple. Secondly, I would argue that batting average is important though not all encompassing when judging a player….talk about beating a dead horse but I will never understand the anger at Russell Branyan being released. He has been absolutely terrible since April. I guess the true barometer concerning his value will be if he is picked up by another team–my guess is that Branyan will be out of the game –he may get a cup of coffee or two from a team but he’s done.
August 5, 2007 at 10:23 pm
36: Did you want all the fans to look up the Elias report at the stadium t o know this? Or did you know this off hand?
August 5, 2007 at 10:32 pm
Three blasts in a row of all of great importance. Curtain call you think ?
August 5, 2007 at 10:33 pm
http://bugsandcranks.com/the-c.....l-branyan/
If you can’t hit for Padres, you can’t really hit for anyone. He’s already been cut or traded by the Devil Rays, Brewers, and Reds and at 31, no one sees him as a project anymore. So we’ll remember Branyan as Sam Horn who hung on longer or as a skinny Steve Balboni, but we’ll miss his mighty hacks and windy results.
August 5, 2007 at 10:42 pm
Maybe I am making a big deal out of nothing with the silly curtain call but it would be nice to get more passion out of the sushi eaters.
Heath Bell was quoted as being “angry” or “miffed” because he was being booed in his own park for walking Bonds. This sort of makes my point….think he would have been booed in Shea Stadium for walking Bonds ?
August 5, 2007 at 10:44 pm
But I appreciate your firing right back at me SDSU, which makes the Blogging fun late here in the night. One thing is for sure, we are in the Pennant Race again which will make September FUN as Heck !!!
August 5, 2007 at 11:39 pm
I find it fascinating that one of our least knowledgeable commenters is using one of our most knowledgeable commenters as his proof that Padre fans aren’t knowledgeable.
August 6, 2007 at 12:04 am
I have no idea what you just said but I think you’re the guy who once said this “Over Branyan’s last 53 AB, he has a .663 OPS which would be “good” for like 81st in the NL among those currently qualifying for the batting title. Just ahead of Juan Pierre and just behind Craig Biggio. Just thought I’d point that out.” Brilliant
August 6, 2007 at 12:07 am
We need the Giants in town more often. Sweeps are awesome, period. The bad: we barely beat a bad team every game. The good: we did it with a depleted outfield.
I watch all of my games on Tivo. I have developed a few tendencies:
When we pitch, I watch it at “normal”: fast-forwarding through all the down time, but watch the pitch and and any resulting play at normal speed.
When we hit:
Most of the time, I watch it “normal”
If the game is really on the line and I am nervous, or, I am dissecting the swing/pitch recognition of a hitter, I watch slow mo.
When I get frustrated with the team or with a particular player, I fast-forward through the at bats, hoping something good will happen, but am usually correct in that what I am skipping over is outs.
So, all this said, right now AGon is in the fast-forward camp. Yes his jack in the 11-0 romp was cool (not televised on my package, so missed it), but not sure what is wrong, but he is looking really crappy again. Time for another batting coach. (please understand this was meant as a joke). I am kind of baffled by his slump, because he looks so bad (swinging at bad pitches, late on fastballs, trying to pull outside pitches), but he has been such a consistent, good hitter for us, barring his first month last year and this funk he has been in since mid June to mid July; now it’s back.
Another minor thing: KG really looks uncomfortable, but it really looks like he trying to learn to be more selective. He seems to be going deeper into counts, but has a hard time but I seem to think I see some progress. This may all be in my head. He seems to be able to layoff the true cheese with two strikes, but when it is 3-2, which he seems better at getting to, he gets loose again. I think he needs to get comfortable with taking a third strike from time to time. That might mitigate him expanding the zone.
August 6, 2007 at 12:09 am
Anyway, lets refrain from the personal attacks. I have my opinions and you have yours.
August 6, 2007 at 12:18 am
BTW, part of Milwaukee’s trade for Linebrink was they thought Mike Maddux could fix something in his delivery. Well, he has 6k’s in 4 IP and no runs allwed. Small sample, granted, but he had 25k’s for us in 45 IP. I will be tracking him. As per our discussion about coaching, no one really seems to believe hitting coaches have much influence, but a few pitching coaches really seem to. Duncan in STL has the reputation, Mezzoine and now, apparently, Maddux. If this is true, I want one. Anyone seen analysis of this anywhere?
I am not questioning the trade, because even if Maddux turns him back into what he was, we still would have had the bad Linebrink, not the post-Maddux good one. But if he does resurrect his strike out rate and effectiveness in Milwaukee, that will really make me wonder and about pitch coaching.
August 6, 2007 at 6:17 am
I’m very happy with our pitching coach. Darren Balsley has worked with Jake Peavy since both were in High-A ball, and I think Balsley deserves at least some credit for the success of Heath Bell.
August 6, 2007 at 8:24 am
I was saying thinking about pitching coaches in a more general way. Balsley generally gets good reputational marks, especially with young pitchers. Given our ERA and solid performance from relatively unknown players (like Bell), you cannot argue for a change, and I don’t want one.
I was more curious about an analysis that shows how some coaches have been able to consistently resurrect careers. I believe Carpenter in STL was considered a wash-out before Duncan altered his delivery. If this is true, and let’s say Maddux rejuvenates Linebrink, it suggests that there are a few people out there who can identify delivery flaws in once useful pitchers and get them good again. That does not say the same guys are good at working with young pitchers, keeping the staff healthy, etc, other things that you want from a pitching coach, but it does argue it would be nice to find one of those guys and get them, even if not as your primary pitching coach.
August 6, 2007 at 10:06 am
Who is our bullpen coach?
That’s a good theory. Look at Oliver Perez, he got better under Rick Petersen’s tutalage. Now, it could be that Ollie just got more matured, however, the Pirates had him for half a season and couldn’t coax a better performance than the one he gave in Mets uniform.
So, maybe there is something different about those coaches. Just an idea.
Perhaps, the pitching to contact thing was screwing him up.
And, btw, I do hope Linebrink gets his career on track. Nothing would make me happier as he’s done absolutely incredible for the Padres.
As for Scott Hairston, I’m suprised to read he didn’t get any curtain call since I didn’t see any of the game. That was an amazing feat.
August 6, 2007 at 10:17 am
#48: This is a fascinating line of inquiry, although small sample sizes and an unwieldy number of variables make it a bit of a challenge to study. J.C. Bradbury did some nice work on the Mazzone Effect a while back:
http://baseballanalysts.com/ar....._eff_1.php
Be sure to follow the various links within his article.
#49: Darrel Akerfelds is our bullpen coach. He came up from Portland in June 2001 to take over for Greg Booker when the latter became pitching coach. Trevor Hoffman, among others, has praised Akerfelds for his work:
http://www.mesastate.edu/info/.....llalum.htm
August 6, 2007 at 10:32 am
50: Oh, yeah. Akerfelds. He’s done a great job since coming up and getting the best bullpen this year to be that is awesome.
Thanks for the link, Geoff.
BTW, Glavine is in the 300 wins club now. Congratulations to him.
I’m glad that he’s in as it wasn’t quite a sure thing a few years back.
Could he be the last one in? Will be a long while before we find out. The Big Unit is the next closest but he’s on the DL.
August 6, 2007 at 12:05 pm
43: What I said wasn’t an opinion. It was a statement of fact in response to your statement of opinion. How about you do everyone a favor and not pretend that facts and opinions are the same thing.
45: I do believe it was you that suggested you were dealing with fans that aren’t “tuned in” and cited as an example Ben B. who was upset that the Padres released Branyan. I was just responding to your personal attack on Ben by pointing out the irony of a guy who doesn’t know what he’s talking about referencing a guy who does know what he’s talking about as an example of Padre fans not knowing what they’re talking about.