IGD: Padres @ Diamondbacks (19 Apr 08)
Sat, Apr 19, 2008
by Geoff Young
Padres (8-9) vs D’backs (12-4)
Chris Young vs Edgar Gonzalez
5:10 p.m. PT
Channel 4SD
AM 1090, FM 105.7, XM 183
MLB, B-R
The Padres need to recall Adrian Gonzalez’s older brother from Portland and stick him in the lineup for this one. How cool would it be to see two different sets of namesakes face each other in the same game?
Picking up where last year's version left off, the Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual provides in-depth analysis of and commentary on the San Diego Padres. Get your copy today.
April 19, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Pads need to right the ship tonight ! They may not be playing all that well right now but they want to at least dread water and not slip a couple or more games under .500.
April 19, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Let’s hope the game is not out of reach early or we’ll see plenty of 5-8 pitches inning against.
April 19, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Lincecum is a stud and Billingsley isn’t there yet.
So, Giants won, Dodgers lose.
April 19, 2008 at 5:09 pm
#1@JP: rather, tread water not dread water.
April 19, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Crabbe getting the start at SS tonight.
April 19, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Nice start, a late for dinner at bat by Giles.
April 19, 2008 at 5:31 pm
CY not lookin good…
April 19, 2008 at 5:32 pm
I hate to say it, but I think CY has a date with the knife soon. Loss of velocity and control coupled with elbow “stiffness” means trouble.
April 19, 2008 at 5:40 pm
That slider looks good, the fastball doesnt
April 19, 2008 at 5:53 pm
8. You may be right. CY doesn’t look like himself at all this year.
Anyone else worried we might be in for a long season?
April 19, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Edmond’s year as a Padre (2008) will be similar and already reminds me a lot of Fred Lynn’s last year in the majors as a Padre in 1990.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/lynnfr01.shtml
April 19, 2008 at 6:09 pm
How many consecutive innings now w/o a run now for the Padres ?
22 ?
April 19, 2008 at 6:10 pm
#11@JP: 90 games, 196 at bats ? Say it aint so Joe.
April 19, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Finally!!!! Off the schneid…
April 19, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Rain! The drought is over!
April 19, 2008 at 6:20 pm
#13@Field39: I really hope not and it is still very early….meanwhile PMAC just stuck it to me and my late cynical analysis of him by lifting a blast to right…..lets hope I am wrong about both.
April 19, 2008 at 6:21 pm
It’s a miracle.
In other news, wheat and milk prices drop.
The dollar gains against the Euro.
Oil under $100 a barrel.
Sun rises in West.
April 19, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Re: Edmonds.
Take a look at Schmidt’s last year, 1989. I could see Edmonds doing that.
Schmidt announced his retirement against the Padres. Saying something along the lines of he just couldn’t perform upto his standards.
I was giving Edmonds a chance since he missed most of ST, but Edmonds looked so bad at the plate in the 22 inning game. I think the injuries have just added up.
April 19, 2008 at 6:26 pm
CY getting into a rhythm. Be nice to see PMac’s HR spark some offense now.
April 19, 2008 at 6:29 pm
re: Edmonds
Towers has had pretty good luck in recent years squeezing a year out of veterans in their twighlight: piazza, maddux, wells two years ago.
With Edmonds, he missed. Worth the gamble but its clear to anyone with vision that Edmonds is done. Since free agency is not an option and frankly a trade is not going to happen, its getting to be time for Hairston in CF and Headley in LF and see what happens.
April 19, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Not to jinx it, but CY has looked good in innings 3 and 4.
April 19, 2008 at 6:30 pm
What drought? Atta baby Giles!
April 19, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Nice hit, O Orange One.
April 19, 2008 at 6:33 pm
I just turned the game on TV, rather than DS and MLB.com. I think my ears started to bleed within 10 seconds.
April 19, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Nice. one pitch, one out.
April 19, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Oops. 2 pitches.
April 19, 2008 at 6:51 pm
#20@GTH: But remember Piazza’s April (.210) in 2006 - all the baseball experts were remarking how sad it was to see the once great Piazza play and that he was definitely done and he went on to have a good season….
April 19, 2008 at 6:52 pm
#27@JP: Yes, but Mike didn’t have to cover center field at Petco.
April 19, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Just got home and sat down…nice to see a little lead…
April 19, 2008 at 6:56 pm
C’mon CY. Two more innings and the bullpen should be refreshed.
Byrnes almost lost his shoes on that swing.
April 19, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Every now and then (or two pitches in a row) CY has been missing really high. Still having issues with his release point?
April 19, 2008 at 7:01 pm
CY getting a lot of check swings tonight
April 19, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Yes, stathead-numbers-sabremetics-bill james guys…
stolen bases are totally meaningless, and not worth the risk… blah blah blah.
April 19, 2008 at 7:04 pm
has CY really only gotten two ground ball outs?
April 19, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Not the prettiest way to get a third out. P-Mac took several steps after getting a ball in the gap, spun, threw high to second, but the batter overslid second by about 8 feet, and the Pads got the tag for the third out.
Thatcher up in the pen.
CY gave the Pads a good 6. Still too wild.
April 19, 2008 at 7:08 pm
It’s time for Iguchi to break out of his slump
April 19, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Or at this rate, keep watching Cruz throw balls. So far, only Hairston’s pop out was a strike.
April 19, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Please A-Gon and Kouz be patient now. Wait for something good.
April 19, 2008 at 7:11 pm
that first to AGon was way outside according to pitch f/x but ump called strike.
April 19, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Well, at least both runners moved up on the fly out.
April 19, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Well, OG moved up. Chan 4 showed both moved up for awhile.
This pitcher is all over the place. Wait for your pitch Kouz
April 19, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Arizona’s announcers keep going on and on about Cruz’s stuff…yea he is nasty, but if he can’t find the plate, then he ain’t nothing.
Nice SB…now we got runners at 2nd and 3rd…
April 19, 2008 at 7:15 pm
re: Gonzalez vs. Fielder, Howard, others
Road OPS in 2007
1. Pujols, 1097
4. Howard, 987
5. Berkman, 970
8. Fielder, 942
10. Gonzalez, 928
22. Holliday, second in MVP voting, never touched the plate.
April 19, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Now that was a nasty 2-0 slider….
April 19, 2008 at 7:17 pm
#33@Richard D.:
1. You’re seriously mischaracterizing mainstream sabremetric ideas about stolen bases. It’s not that they don’t matter. It’s that they don’t matter nearly as much as most traditional baseball types believe.
2. Chris Young could have an in-his-prime Irod behind the plate and most steals would still be successful. Unless you choose to only throw him against older, slower teams, what’s the solution?
April 19, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Nice play by Drew…really nice play by Drew…too bad his brother never played as hard as he does…
April 19, 2008 at 7:19 pm
42: They have definitely been saying that though. They have said a few times he is nasty, but it only matters if you can find the plate. 99 MPH only matters if you throw strikes. But your right that these announcers are more homers than Matt and Mud.
Wow that was a pretty play by Stephen Drew.
April 19, 2008 at 7:22 pm
#47@SDSUBaseball: I have no problem with homers…matt and mudd are there, but these guys are silly…plain silly. I muted it and am watching Harry Potter. That NEVER happens.
April 19, 2008 at 7:24 pm
P-Mac totally misplayed that one
April 19, 2008 at 7:24 pm
SDSU…remember Marc Kroon? That dude was NASTY, but the plate was not big enough for him. Cruz does K A LOT of dudes, but when he is wild he is really not much.
April 19, 2008 at 7:25 pm
#43@Kevin: Road OPS is less accurate than several other measures of a player’s productivity vis-a-vis his home park. It still shows a sizable gap between Agon and the elite, and it also discounts the fact that many of those players hit in hard away environments. Howard leaves home and plays a lot of games in Shea, Florida, and Atlanta.
Agon controls the strike zone less well than the elite hitters, which would seem to be less affected by his home park. He was never a big walker in the minors, it’s not just that he has to deal with pitchers who can pound the zone in SD. That’s really what holds him back offensively (being a relative term), he gets himself out too often.
April 19, 2008 at 7:26 pm
It is scary to compare the outfield defense of ‘06: Roberts / Cameron / 2 years younder OG with ‘08: P-Mac/Hairston/Edmonds/post-surgery OG. Just not fair for Padre pitchers
April 19, 2008 at 7:26 pm
#48@Coronado Mike: Agreed. They are poor announcers. I was just saying that they were pointing out that Cruz’s stuff is worthless if he cant throw a strike.
I am definitely happy with the upgraded MLB.tv. It runs on my Mac (thank god they fixed that) and it is REALLy nice quality. I connect my 42″ LCD to my computer and its pretty darn close to HD quality.
Ouch… P-Mac just kinda nullified his HR.
April 19, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Thankfully we have decent options at the minor league level to replace the bench guys we have now. Crabbe and McAnulty seem destined to be out of here by May.
April 19, 2008 at 7:30 pm
#52@Kelly in SD: If they were hitting it wouldn’t hurt so bad, but only OG is doing his part so far. Hairston’s 673 OPS looks almost Ruthian on this roster.
April 19, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Nice throw PMAC. He’s awful.
Luis Rodriguez should be brought up to replace Crabbe immediately - he will hit better and has twice the glove.
April 19, 2008 at 7:31 pm
As a left fielder, P-Mac makes a good DH. Absolutely horrible throw to home - about 15 up the line toward first - so the batter gets second without a play. Bard may have had trouble getting the ball out of his glove, but just a horrible throw.
April 19, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Man…it hurst to see our bully blow it. I HATE that.. I know it happens, but I got so used to seeing us not doing it.
April 19, 2008 at 7:31 pm
50: Good call. Snap that wrist as hard as you can and throw it as hard as you can, hope they swing.
Man P-Mac is having a rough inning.
April 19, 2008 at 7:31 pm
#51@Tom Waits: I’m not saying those numbers are the end of the story, and I’m not saying those numbers say that Gonzalez is even with the other first baseman. I just put them up there. They are true, and they are part of the story.
But I do think that Gonzalez is one of the top 10 or so offensive players in the league. Most people don’t think that, or at least don’t get why someone else would.
If he and Holliday switched parks, I think the perception of each would switch, too.
April 19, 2008 at 7:32 pm
#57@Kelly in SD: DH ? He hasn’t shown he can hit at this level to justify a DH spot on any mlb roster.
April 19, 2008 at 7:33 pm
#56@JP: You can bring up Chase, you can bring Rodrigues and you are still one Center Fielder short.
In the meantime another loss goes in the books.
April 19, 2008 at 7:34 pm
45. There is no solution… obviously.
I just love it when stolen bases directly lead to runs… just like I love it when bunts do the same. Mostly because I loathe the use of spreadsheets and sabremetrics when discussing baseball.
Much like I can’t stand the sound of the snake rattle over the PA at D-backs games..
April 19, 2008 at 7:37 pm
#56@JP: Ouch are we talking about the same Luis Rodriguez?
April 19, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Can we trad CFers?
April 19, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I think that Pmac’s fundamental mistakes tonight will accelerate his departure.
April 19, 2008 at 7:42 pm
#60@Kevin: I wouldn’t quibble with a rank between 10 and 20 in the NL, but still a significant gap between him and elite. I mean, the difference in OPS+ between the players SDSU mentioned and Agon is less than the difference between Agon and Mike Cameron in 2007.
#62@Field39: Yep. And I’d add that there’s zero guarantee Luis Rodriguez would hit better than Crabbe.
#63@Richard D.: Do you equally hate it when a caught stealing chokes off a rally or an attempted bunt turns into a DP or fails to advance a runner?
April 19, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Maybe pinchhit for Crabbe at this point?
April 19, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Is it safe to say, in middle-late April, that the Diamondback are clearly better than the Padres.
#62@Field39: Yeah, center field is still a hole. I was guilty of complaining about Cameron and now I wish for him to again be patrolling center. If Edmonds is truly *done* then I would move Hairston to center and give left to Headley.
April 19, 2008 at 7:46 pm
#68@Kelly in SD: Would not have been crazy.
April 19, 2008 at 7:47 pm
#69@JP: I think they were clearly better in March…or December. They have a better roster of ballplayers.
April 19, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Pinch hit for Crabbe in the 8th maybe ?
I have yet to see a Crabbe at bat that shows me that he has a clue at the plate at this level.
April 19, 2008 at 7:47 pm
I know P-Mac doesn’t hit enough to be a dh.
P-Mac is like Jack Cust just without some of the power and most of the strikezone judgment. There’s really not much value there.
I thought that ball was going over P-Mac’s head.
April 19, 2008 at 7:47 pm
I had a thought today while out on my 45 mile ride this morning. Any other GM/owner, with this pitching staff would have brought in a CF and LF who could hit in the off season. Edmunds/Harriston don’t count. In other words, this is the kind of pitching staff that with a good to great offense, could go deep into the playoffs. As the offense is terrible and worse in Petco, I’d be happy with 500.
4.5 back, soon to be 5.5 and a game under 500. Az looks like the real thing.
Adjust your expectations, Padre fan, we are not going anywhere this season and Sandy and KT are to blame.
But once I make the adjustment, I’m still a fan and will go to games. I just won’t expect
April 19, 2008 at 7:48 pm
#71@Coronado Mike: yeah, I know. Somehow I was in denial.
April 19, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Kevin Cameron: The strike zone is not your enemy.
April 19, 2008 at 7:51 pm
I echo PM. Sometime in the last week, I just accepted the Padres will be .500 team - probably a game or two below, with good to great pitching, reasonably good infield play, atrocious outfield play and mediocre (at best hitting).
I’m still a fan, but I realize the team doesn’t have the horses and management is okay with waiting a year for the youngin’s to arrive.
April 19, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Best case scenario for Padres: Edmonds is injured for 100 games, and other players get those at-bats without the Padres having to bench Edmonds. Although Towers and Black will probably do the right thing, as opposed to when Bochy played Castillo a full season.
April 19, 2008 at 7:56 pm
#67@Tom Waits: I think it may be a big early for Fielder to be called “elite” yes last year was very good, but I would like to see him repeat it. He wasn’t better than Adrian in ‘06 when they were both basically rookies. I was wrong in saying he is up there with them, but I really dont think he is that far behind. Milwaukee is a band box too, along with Philly. You point out that Howard goes to more difficult places on the road, but Pujols plays in hitters parks on the road (Wrigley, Houston, Cincy, Mil, even PNC). But ya Adrian isnt there, but I think he could get there because I dont think he is far behind and I think if he played in Philly or Mil, he would be even closer and I dont think Howard or Fielder would do much better playing in Petco, and most the NL West for that matter.
April 19, 2008 at 8:00 pm
#79@SDSUBaseball: One thing to throw into the mix, even if A-Gon is not on their level. Howard is 28, and both Howard and Fielder are candidates to not be good in a few seasons if they continue to eat, especially Fielder.
April 19, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Anyone still have a taste for matt murton in LF?
April 19, 2008 at 8:01 pm
#76@Tom Waits: Cameron’s control (or lack thereof) will catch up with him this year. It’s probably why he didn’t get that call against the Rockies in that marathon game in his 14th inning appearance. He was all over the place and got bailed out earlier in the inning (14th) when Atkins hit one way out of the strike zone to pop up.
April 19, 2008 at 8:01 pm
KG has not had a great time fielding the past few nights has he?
April 19, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Wow our team looks bad
April 19, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Ooops…yes, it happens to everyone…
April 19, 2008 at 8:02 pm
#79@SDSUBaseball: Milwaukee’s park factor, since it opened, is basically neutral. No one knows if Fielder will ever repeat his 2007, but he got better from age 22 to 23; Agon stayed the same from ages 24 to 25. But I’ll agree, Agon could get there if he firms up his command of the strike zone. There just aren’t many elite offensive players who walk only 65 times a year, even though that’s a good number.
April 19, 2008 at 8:02 pm
And the damn breaks
April 19, 2008 at 8:03 pm
#81@Coronado Mike: No. I want to see Chase up here tomorrow. Might as well get his growing paines out of the way now.
April 19, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Hey, did anyone see where the wheels ended up when they flew off, or did the sparks from the chassis hitting the pavement blind you?
April 19, 2008 at 8:04 pm
86: I dont think it was neutral last year was it?
April 19, 2008 at 8:05 pm
What a waste. Cannot even get three outs. Give Ledezma another day of rest and see if he can duplicate his last effort. He looked good for all five innings on Thursday. Cameron and/or Thatcher need to be demoted on the bullpen pecking order.
April 19, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Field…he ain’t hitting AAA pitching, what makes you think he is gonna do any better up here? His glove is not better than anything we have up here now and until he can give more with the bat, it is not an upgrade. I love me some Chase, but right now might not be the time.
Unless the Cubs come off of their demands, it is a pointless conversation, but Murton is interesting if we can get him at the right price.
April 19, 2008 at 8:06 pm
I think the wheels hit that bus full of kids left by road from Wednesday’s implosion.
April 19, 2008 at 8:06 pm
#89@Tom Waits: I think thats a question for P-Mac, he loosened all the lug nuts.
April 19, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Can someone remind me that we have had losing records the last two seasons and come back for miracle Mays? Although I know our history, it’s not helping much right now.
Now I know how those other teams have felt when their bullpens can’t hold a lead.
April 19, 2008 at 8:07 pm
#80@Kevin: Fielder went vegetarian. How long that will last if his OPS stays under 800?
#88@Field39: Eh, as long as we’re playing for the future, keep him down long enough to delay free agency. That’s a few weeks yet.
#78@Kevin: Bruce Bochy’s bumper sticker: You can have my Vinny when you pry him from my cold, dead fingers.
April 19, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Man, this is depressing. I wasn’t that optimistic about this team to begin with, but I didn’t expect them to look this bad. It’s no time to panic, but I am having a very hard time finding any silver linings.
April 19, 2008 at 8:10 pm
92: totally agree. Chase proved in in AA, he isnt hitting in AAA, why rush him up, especially when he is learning a new position.
April 19, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Well, have a nice night boys/girls…bed time for me.
April 19, 2008 at 8:12 pm
#92@Coronado Mike: My expectations for this season have vanished. That being the case I would like to see Chase and Antonellie take their lumps now, when it isn’t going to cost anything.
April 19, 2008 at 8:12 pm
#90@SDSUBaseball: It was slightly favorable to hitters last year (102), but multi-year is more accurate (101), because the park didn’t change. Philly’s multi-year is 105, Colorado 108.
April 19, 2008 at 8:13 pm
This year’s team just looks so bad. Can we find a Milton Bradley to help the offense? Can we find one above average fielding outfielder?
And at least KG, OG, and Iguchi got Lyons to throw all of 7 pitches in teh top of the ninth.
At least CY didn’t look horrible today. Still needs to get more consistent.