Blogging the San Diego Padres… established 1997

by Peter Friberg

You will not see all the notable performances from the night before, but you will see the notable performances from those who are actually prospects.

Before we get on to the report, Baseball America‘s Jim Callis chatted with subscribers on Friday. Jim was late, however, and reportedly John Manuel stood in until Callis was available. There had been a lot of talk about the money [right-hander Matt] Latos wanted and whether or not he could get it. To me, the biggest variable (which hadn’t been discussed) was where Latos would get drafted if the Padres did not sign him. From the chat:

Peter Friberg from Ducksnorts.com asks:
If the Padres do not sign Matt Latos, where will be drafted, late 1st, sandwich, 2nd?

Moderator: Latos has one of the best arms in the draft, but he’s basically shooting to set the draft-and-follow bonus record, and at this point, he’s not as good a prospect as Adam Loewen was when he set the record in 2002-2003. I don’t see the Padres giving him $3 million, nor do I see any other team doing that, so in turning down $1.3 million from the Padres, Latos might not be helping his cause. He’d go around the supplemental range because while he has electric stuff, his makeup is still an issue (immaturity, lack of competing) and he’s not as sure a bet as, say, LHPs Ross Detwiler or Daniel Moskos, or RHP James Simmons (ed: Simmons was the player BA predicted the Padres would draft at 23). For me, Latos is a back-half of the first round pick if he goes back in the pool.

Friday, April 18, 2007

AAA

Mike Thompson: 4.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR

AA

Chase Headley: 5 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 3 RBI; HR, BB, 2 SO
Nick Hundley: 6 AB, 0 R, 3 H, 0 RBI; 2B
Will Venable: 5 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 0 RBI; SO
Jonathan Ellis: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR

High-A

Matt Antonelli: 8 AB, 5 R, 6 H, 3 RBI; 2 2B
Craig Cooper: 7 AB, 3 R, 2 H, 4 RBI; 2 HR, BB, SO, 2 SF
David Freese: 5 AB, 5 R, 3 H, 3 RBI; 2B, BB, SO, HBP
Kyle Blanks: 7 AB, 6 R, 6 H, 2 2B, HR
Chad Huffman: 5 AB, 5 R, 5 H, 5 RBI; 2B, 2 HR, 2 BB
Yordany Ramirez: 7 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 7 RBI; 2B, HR, SO
Matthew Buschmann: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO, 0 HR

Low-A

Cedric Hunter: 5 AB, 0 R, 3 H, 1 RBI; SB
Kyler Burke: 3 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 1 RBI; 2B, SO
Aaron Breit: 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO, 1 HR

Commentary:

There’s been a lot of talk of moving Chase Headley up to Triple-A at the mid-season mark and promoting David Freese to Double-A to take Headley’s place at third base. I’m not so sure I’m a fan of that idea. The Padres are trying to do two things with the minor league organization:

1. The Padres want to infuse the organization with younger, upper-tier talent.
2. They want to surround that young talent with polished, mature guys who can help the younger guys develop character and get used to winning. The Triple-A Portland Beavers are a mess. It might not be the best thing for Chase to hang around with a bunch of losers in Portland.

Lake Elsinore scored 30. 30! While this may have been one of those Lancaster wind-aided affairs, the Storm shut out the Lancaster JetHawks in their home park. Yes, the score was 30-0. That’s a beat-down in football. In baseball it’s an embarrassment. Wow. We can probably dismiss the stats, but it gives you an idea of why you don’t want to be a pitcher in Lancaster… Well, except that Matt Buschmann showed it can be done.

Aaron Breit has struggled quite a bit this year. It’s nice to see a solid performance out of Breit. Breit is one of the few “impact arms” in the Padres’ system.

Saturday, April 19, 2007

AAA

Pete Laforest: 2 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 1 RBI; HR, 2 BB – played 3B

AA

Chase Headley: 4 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 0 RBI; 3 SO – worst game of the year?
Roger Deago: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO, 0 HR

High-A

Matt Antonelli: 5 AB, 2 R, 2 H, 0 RBI; 2B
Kyle Blanks: 5 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 5 RBI; 2B, HR, SO
Chad Huffman: 5 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 1 RBI; HR

Low-A

Cedric Hunter: 5 AB, 0 R, 1 H, 0 RBI; 2B
Rayner Contreras: 3 AB, 1 R, 0 H, 0 RBI; 2 BB, SO
Kyler Burke: 5 AB, 1 R, 3 H, 0 RBI; SO – heating up?

Commentary:

Deago shows up here so I can say why he won’t show up again. Deago will turn 30 this June. He’s not a prospect.

[Ed note: Deago made two starts for the Padres in 2003. To echo Peter's sentiments, if he didn't get a shot at age 26 with a 98-loss team, then we shouldn't expect him to do so now.]

Sunday, April 20, 2007

AAA

Clay Hensley: 4.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR – rehab start
Jared Wells: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR

AA

Will Venable: 4 AB, 0 R, 1 H, 0 RBI; 2 SO

High-A

Matt Antonelli: 7 AB, 2 R, 2 H, 1 RBI; HR, BB, SO
Craig Cooper: 5 AB, 2 R, 3 H, 4 RBI; HR, BB, SO
Kyle Blanks: 6 AB, 2 R, 3 H, 2 RBI; 2B, HR, SO
Chad Huffman: 4 AB, 4 R, 2 H, 1 RBI; HR, 2 BB, 2 SO
Yordany Ramirez: 6 AB, 3 R, 4 H, 8 RBI, 2B, 3B, HR, SB – cycle!

Low-A

Kyler Burke: 4 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 0 RBI
Ernesto Frieri: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR

Commentary:

Is that really Jared Wells?

After a hot start, Will Venable is now hitting .269/.316/.325.

After Friday’s contest, Kyle Blanks was second in the Cal League in slugging with a mark of .585 according to MadFriars.com. It’s significant to note that the 20-year-old is also hitting every bit as well at home, one of the few pitchers’ parks in the Cal League, as on the road. After Sunday’s contest, Blanks’ splits are as follows: home: .329/.375/.644; road: .350/.422/.613.

In the three weekend games at Lancaster, the Storm scored 63 runs and allowed 20. And they say playing at Coors is like playing on the moon…

Kyler Burke has gone 8-for-16 in his last 4 games. Obviously that’s more likely to be a hot streak than a sign of things to come, but it’s still encouraging. A “not encouraging” sign: 16 strikeouts in the last 11 games (only 5 BB).