To-do list: buy stamps, mow lawn, procure sugar daddy, post Friday Links. Well, it’s a start… Young & Hot (Baseball-Reference). But enough about me… Hey, there’s a Mat Latos sighting. Top-10 NWL Players of the Decade (2000-09) (EMazing Ems). No Padres appear on this list, I just wanted to point out that the Eugene Emeralds [...]
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Midseason Minor-League Promotions 2010: Hitters
A few weeks back, we examined Drew Cumberland and Blake Tekotte. Both were excelling at Lake Elsinore. Both have been promoted to Double-A San Antonio. Cumberland hit .365/.404/.542 in 60 games for the Storm, so it’s not like California League pitchers were teaching him much. One noteworthy item, however, is that his strike-zone judgment has [...]
Me, Elsewhere: Driving to Portland
My latest Hardball Times article recounts the recent road trip Mrs. Ducksnorts and I took up I-5 to Portland. It expands on the little nuggets I provided last week and, like the trip itself, wanders all over the place. We examine some former and current Padres farmhands, a forgotten minor-league star, Portland’s great 1964 rotation, [...]
Pitching, Payroll, and… I Need a Third Thing That Begins with ‘P’
The Padres somehow extended their National League West lead by 3 1/2 games in the nine days I was out on the road. Like everything else this season, it’s kind of stunning. Not that I’m complaining, but shouldn’t the pitching falter at some point? The list of top ERA+ so far this year blows my [...]
Quick Thoughts from the Pacific Northwest
I’m driving all over the place, so transmissions will be few and far between this week. Here’s a brief recap of the story so far: Day 1: San Diego to Sacramento We tried taking I-15 to avoid LA traffic. It didn’t work, but at least we saw different things while crawling along on the freeway. [...]
Friday Links (18 Jun 10)
Something old, something new… something something, something blue… San Diego Padres 2010 Draft Recap (College Splits). What the title says, with links to all kinds of juicy data. On fifth-round pick Rico Noel: “In three years, he’s been a wizard in the field; his 15 total runs above average in center is the sixth-best defensive [...]
Nine Years and Five Days of Blogging
I’m terrible at remembering anniversaries. Seems I missed one over the weekend. Better late than never, eh? We celebrate/neglect two anniversaries here at Ducksnorts. One, in September, commemorates the original site launch in ’97. The other took place on June 12, when Ducksnorts marked its ninth year of blogging. Pardon me if you’ve heard this [...]
Me, Elsewhere: Cabrera and Seven Other Second-Year Players
My latest at Hardball Times revisits eight position players who garnered regular playing time as rookies in 2009. Some, such as the Cardinals’ Colby Rasmus and the Pirates’ Andrew McCutchen are enjoying terrific sophomore campaigns. Others, such as the White Sox’s Gordon Beckham and the Padres’ Everth Cabrera, are struggling. From the segment on Cabrera: [...]
Mister Cunningham, I Presume
It went down like this on Tuesday: Zach said in the comments: “Why does Buddy [Black] hate Aaron Cunningham? And I’m pretty sure the Will Venable experiment should be over. I’ll always treasure those two months in 2009 when he looked like a major leaguer.” I replied: “Not that I mind seeing Cunningham get a [...]
Talking to Myself: Sometimes I Even Make Sense
The Padres lost on Monday, 6-3, to the Blue Jays. I offered some thoughts on Twitter (some didn’t make it thanks to a surprise visit by the Fail Whale) and figured I’d look back to see if any of it makes sense the next morning. To clarify, what follows is commentary on commentary of an [...]
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