Search results for ‘kevin kouzmanoff

Rizzo’s Debut

Anthony Rizzo made his big-league debut Thursday night at Petco Park. The Padres beat Washington, 7-3, although this was a mere footnote to the “crowd” (if three is a crowd, then 16,464 qualifies), which cheered everything Rizzo did but which seemed uncertain how to occupy the spaces between his moments. The public address announcer helped [...]

At Least the Burgers Were Delicious

Stopped at Elsinore, overlooking empty ballpark. Sipping coffee, chewing on Posnanski’s advice to stay humble as a writer… Don’t preconceive. Don’t hesitate to ask questions that might make you look dumb. Don’t linger too long in your comfort zone. Bearing this in mind, I ask a question: “With one quarter of the season behind us, [...]

Me Elsewhere: Hawpin’ on the Bandwagon

My latest at Baseball Prospectus (free!) touches on the Rockies’ disastrous end-game performance this year (they’ve been outscored, 17-1, in the ninth inning or later so far), Hong-Chih Kuo’s bout with anxiety disorder, and the rest of what’s happening in the National League West… including the sudden emergence of one Brad Hawpe.

Retrosnort: In the Merry Merry Month of May

Inspired by the Padres’ 7-0 victory over the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine on Sunday, reader LynchMob offers the following suggestion: Hey, GY, dust off some of the “May” stories from a couple of years ago when the Padres were unbeatable in May … let’s do that again! To refresh your memory, the Padres owned the [...]

No Offense, but This Is Offensive

Q: How do you keep the Padres from scoring? A: Put them on the field. The Padres got shut out again on Thursday. Through 19 games: Year PA BA OBP SLG RS RA W-L 2009 728 .260 .333 .421 82 97 10-9 2010 726 .240 .317 .392 84 72 11-8 2011 735 .217 .306 .326 [...]

That Was the Weekend, This Is the Title

Did you expect a big finish on Sunday? I didn’t, although after Saturday’s near miss, maybe I should have. If Hunter Pence doesn’t make that sprawling catch of pinch-hitter Nick Hundley’s drive to lead off the ninth, maybe the Padres come back against a shaky Brandon Lyon, who tried his best to cough up the [...]

Pity About the Padres Offense

The Padres made Jake Westbrook work hard on Saturday in St. Louis. The veteran right-hander used 89 pitches and didn’t survive the fifth inning. Five walks helped. Three of those five walks came around to score.

Notes from Peoria

On practice field no. 2, relievers play long toss. Luke Gregerson and Heath Bell are throwing to each other. Chad Qualls is throwing to a left-hander whose name is not visible from here. On other fields, players are working on bunting, fielding, and other skills that might come in handy during the season. It’s 9:30 [...]

Breakouts, Newcomers, and Off-Season Moves

We had an open thread here on Friday, and I learned a lot. First, I learned that open threads are fun, so we’ll be doing more in the future; they may become a semi-regular feature. Second, I got some insightful answers to the questions I posed…

Cameron Maybin: When a Player’s Perceived Value Plummets, That’s the Time to Grab Him

I heard about the Cameron Maybin trade while I was in Arizona, taking in some AFL games (more on that later in the week). I thought about it a lot on the drive home and shared the gist of my conclusion on Twitter: Even if Maybin ends up stinking, so what? Webb and Mujica can [...]