Padres @ Cardinals
5:15 p.m. PT
Channel 4SD, DIRECTV 726
AM 1090, FM 105.7, XM 184
MLB, B-R
Welcome to the second half. Here’s what the Padres need to do the rest of the way to reach certain benchmarks:
- 28-39 to finish at .400
- 31-36 to finish at .420 (worst record in NL last year)
- 36-31 to finish at .450
- 44-23 to finish at .500
- 52-15 to finish at .550 (repeat of ’07)
If they win each of their remaining 67 games, the Padres will finish at 104-58, a game back of the ’04 Cardinals.
Are we having fun yet?
#88@Paul R: Agreed. I have been lax in enforcing the comments policy, but that will change soon. More later…
MadFriars reporting that Shane Buschini was released this morning … seems like a quick trigger … but we did draft with an emphasis on hitters this year so guys from previous years who aren’t excelling are getting squeezed …
After a debrief on tonight’s with a friend who watched it … he’s livid about Bud Black … he basically pinch-hit Luis Rodriquez for Khalil Greene … right? Myrow actually PH’d for KG, but that led to sending up Rodriquez for the pitcher’s spot to batters later … hmmm … that doesn’t seem like Bud’s best move …
And what’s up with burning Hairston earlier in the game in a situation where there was no one on and 1 out and the pitcher’s spot due up next … that doesn’t seem like a high leverage spot for Scotty’s bat …
It’s always easy to 2nd guess … but in these cases, they were easy to 1st guess also …
And apparently Myrow didn’t look good in his at-bat … so that didn’t really help Bud out …
My friend put it this way … Bud PH’d a minor leaguer for a major leaguer … that doesn’t seem like a good move in the 9th inning with the tieing run on 2nd and nobody out …
Wynn Pelzer, who got an interesting mention by DePo on Friday night, with another nice start tonight …
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_07_17_ftwafx_cliafx_1
DePo mentioned him as a guy who was poorly used in college (wasn’t a starter, nor a closer) and who the Padres have converted into a starter and he’s had a lot of success now … good story.
103: On PHing for Greene. Against a RHP with a good breaking ball, I’m not sure that PHing Rodriguez for Greene is a terrible move. Khalil s hopeless against offseed stuff from righties this year.
Alderson:
“Our vision for team success has not changed much,†he said. “We want hitters with a high on-base percentage who can drive the ball. But we also want a little more team speed and a lot fewer strikeouts. We want pitchers who throw strikes and keep the ball in the park. And we have to control the running game much better than we have the last several years.â€
Who doesn’t want that? That is what every team in MLB wants.
I would also love to have a perfect world, where everyone gets along, food is abundant, women are beautiful, $ grows on trees, and jobs are not needed.
#106@Oside Jon: “We want pitchers who throw strikes”
As opposed to those teams who seek out pitchers who cant find the plate and walk a lot of batters???
As educated as SA is, he could really use a course in Public Relations.
#106@Oside Jon: #107@parlo: I think the point of what SA is saying is that it somehow contrasts with some things that others are saying … he gets on the radio and the 1090 guys seem to want something different, don’t they? … fans who call in seem to want something different, don’t they? Sounds like you both agree with what SA wants … I know I agree with what SA wants … it’s the 1090 guys and the fans who call in and want something different that I don’t understand. If what SA says doesn’t make sense, then rag on him and tell us what does make sense … but don’t put him in a lose-lose situation by rag’ing on him for saying things that make sense (just because they seem like “common sense”).
DePo addressed this last Friday … and I’m a poor paraphraser, so interpret this more broadly than I present it … he said something along the lines of “some people are saying that our emphasis on on-base percentage isn’t working because we’re in last place so the philosophy has to change … when the reality is that our on-base percentage sucks and that’s a key reason we are losing, which supports the philosophy that on-base percentage is a key factor in offensive success, we just need to execute on that philosophy better” …
#108@LynchMob: I wasnt even thinking that far ahead. My point is that SA tends to speak to the fans as if they are idiots. It reminds me of that scene in Trading Places where the Duke brothers are explaining bacon to Eddie Murphy.
“Bacon,…..as in a bacon and lettuce and tomato sandwich”