Well, that sure was fun last night, eh? I can live with giving away the ballgame. I don’t like it, but I can live with it. What really gets me is the fact that the Padres have a manager who hasn’t learned a valuable lesson from the Adam Eaton experience and who still doesn’t know the correct answer to the following question:

Your 21-year-old stud right-hander has just thrown 8 shutout innings, using 110 pitches in the process. Do you:

1. Pat him on the back, tell him he did a good job, and hand the ball over to the bullpen?
2. Send him out to throw 11 more pitches in the ninth like a real man?

Is Bruce Bochy really the best person for this job at this time? I don’t think so. Give him a veteran team, he’ll do fine. But I’m not impressed with the way he’s handled Eaton, Jake Peavy, Ramon Vazquez, or Sean Burroughs over the past couple years. Unfortunately, John Moores is Bochy’s biggest backer, so this is what the Pads get.

For the record, here are Peavy’s pitch counts so far this season:

128
120
111
110
110
110
104
102
93
93
82

Maybe Peavy can develop a blister problem, I dunno. Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself.

In other news, didn’t it break your heart to see Roger Clemens fail in his attempt to win #300 at home the other day? Yeah, me neither. I cannot deny the man’s greatness, but I still don’t like him one bit.

Roster Moves

Jason Bay, broken wrist, out 4-6 weeks. Infielder Jermaine Clark up from Portland to take his place. In his 2001 book, John Sickels gave Clark a grade of C+, noting that he has a weak arm and isn’t great at turning the double play but that he has speed, gaps power, and a good batting eye. In 19 games with the Beavers this season, he was hitting .185/.338/.333, with 13 walks and 9 strikeouts in 54 at-bats.

On the Farm

Portland: Oliver Perez worked six walkless innings at Tucson last night (second straight start, no free passes). Jay Witasick and Kevin Walker each pitched an inning in the 4-2 loss. Wiki Gonzalez collected three hits. Tagg Bozied drew a walk, to give him now 17 on the season against just 23 strikeouts in 139 at-bats. His overall numbers (.230/.319/.374) still aren’t anything to write home about, but he is making progress in his main area of weakness (strike-zone judgment).

Mobile: Cory Stewart punched out six in as many innings in a 3-1 loss to Chattanooga and now has 65 strikeouts in 55 1/3 innings. Khalil Greene had two hits and is starting to show signs of life, now hitting .264/.327/.401 (although he seems to have forgotten how to take a walk–just 2 in his last 86 at-bats after 13 in his first 96).

Ft. Wayne: Brian Whitaker and Dale Thayer combined on a one-hitter in a 2-0 victory over xx. I tend not to put a lot of stock in what a closer in the Midwest League does, but Thayer’s numbers are ridiculous: 22 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 6 BB, 34 SO. Kennard Jones (.296/.424/.377) continues to be an on-base machine.