first pitch: 7:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Clay Hensley (2-3, 4.37 ERA) vs Jeff Suppan (5-3, 4.50 ERA)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com | ESPN
Albert Pujols is coming to town just as I’m leaving. I’ll be here if anyone needs me:
IGD: Padres vs Cardinals (26 May 06)
Friday Links (26 May 06)
Past, present, future. We’ve got it all. On a personal note, I’m off to Hawai’i first thing Saturday morning for poke, laulau, and a whole lotta hanging around doing nothing, so posting may be light over the next week or so — I’ll queue up the IGDs in advance, but once I’m over there, I tend to lose my motivation.
- Flexibility keeps Balsley thriving, on the job (North County Times). Shaun O’Neill pens a piece on the Padres pitching coach. Aside from the praise of Balsley, it’s interesting to learn that the Padres have a much lower ERA on the road than at Petco Park this season.
- Richard Wade at Friar Faithful has posted the latest installment of the Top 100 San Diego Padres. Hint: he’s a second baseman who played for the club in the early-’80s.
- Tales from the Crossroads: Summer of ’72 (Town Talk). Nice profile/interview of a guy who is sure to place high on the Friar Faithful list, southpaw Randy Jones. I like the angle on this one; it’s done by the newspaper of the town where Jones pitched in Double-A more than 30 years ago.
- David Pinto at Baseball Musings notes that ex-Padre Shane Victorino is playing very well for the Phillies in Aaron Rowand’s absence. Good for him. A lot of failed Rule V guys are never heard from again.
- Speaking of former Padres, reader LynchMob points out that Phil Nevin hit a two-out homer in the ninth to lead the Rangers to victory over Oakland on Thursday. Akinori Otsuka picked up the win. Good to see Nevin getting back into the swing of things for Texas. Earlier in the week he’d lost his starting job to rookie Jason Botts. Even after the homer, Nevin is hitting just .149/.250/.224 during the month of May.
- Baseball America has fired up the 2006 Draft Tracker. The Padres pick at #17 this year. In related articles for subscribers only, the BA team projects the Pads to snag Texas right-hander Kyle McCulloch, who relies more on command than on stuff and who draws comparisons to Brad Radke. Of course, you can still follow along with the folks at Minor League Ball as they prepare for their mock draft.
- Small Ball Who’s Who (Hardball Times). John Walsh investigates the “small ball” set of strategies and which teams excelled at it in 2005. According to Walsh’s methodology, the Padres ranked seventh among all teams in overall employment of small ball strategies. Interesting stuff, although the fact that the Pads “earned” their ranking largely on the basis of their inability to hit homers suggests to me that the measurement system might need a little tweaking.
Cardinals in town for the weekend starting tonight. We’ll get the IGD going around 6 p.m.
IGD: Padres vs Braves (24 May 06)
first pitch: 7:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Chris Young (3-2, 3.58 ERA) vs John Thomson (1-3, 2.76 ERA)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com | ESPN
Some interesting splits for John Thomson. The first two batters in the lineup are doing a lot of damage against him this year: #1 is hitting .360/.429/.640, while #2 is hitting .375/.444/.625. Seems kinda fluky, but who knows. Dave Roberts and Mike Cameron, get on it.
The other weird one is that opponents are hitting .333/.429/.500 against Thompson on pitches 1-15 of a game, .219/.271/.273 on pitches 16-75, and .375/.462/.625 on pitches 76+. Get to him early, get to him late, but watch out for the middle.
On the other side, Chris Young’s ERA is 2 full runs higher at Petco than away from it. So much for coming to a pitchers’ park. Also, I don’t know if anyone has been talking about this, but Young is 6’10″.
Haven’t been in position to win a series in a while. Go Pads!
Welcome to San Diego, Mr. Thompson
Pitching coach Darren Balsley (left) with Mike Thompson. Balsley was Thompson’s coach at Lake Elsinore in 2001.
Right-hander Mike Thompson made his Petco Park debut Tuesday night and won his second big-league ballgame in as many tries. I have a soft spot for guys I saw play at Lake Elsinore, and Thompson is no exception.
Mike Thompson warming up in the bullpen.
With the likes of Jake Peavy, Ben Howard, Eric Cyr, Oliver Perez, Dennis Tankersley, Mark Phillips, Chris Oxspring, Justin Germano, and Clay Hensley running through the Storm staff at the same time, Thompson frequently was “the other guy.” But now he’s pitching for the Padres, and that’s a claim the overwhelming majority of us cannot make.
Mike Thompson delivers a pitch against the Braves.
It’s always nice to see a product of the system “graduate” and make a contribution to the big club. In many ways, it’s even more gratifying when the kid wasn’t highly touted as a prospect.
Aside from checking in at #28 (one slot behind Perez) in Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook 2001, Thompson hasn’t shown up on anyone’s radar. And yet, here is, 5 years later, pitching in San Diego. Pitching in the big leagues.
IGD: Padres vs Braves (23 May 06)
first pitch: 7:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Mike Thompson (1-0, 5.40 ERA) vs Jorge Sosa (1-5, 5.55 ERA)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com
Rookie Mike Thompson makes his second big-league start, after leveraging 14 Padres runs into a win his first time out against Arizona. The Braves counter with Jorge Sosa, who has been abused by left-handed hitters this year (.368/.449/.596 in 57 AB) and in the past (.281/.371/.487 in 690 AB over 2003-2005). He’s also been king of the long ball, serving up 9 taters so far in 36 2/3 innings.
Here’s hoping the suddenly last-place Padres, in the suddenly strong NL West, can stop the bleeding tonight.
Peavy Misses Bats, Padres Miss Winning
Yes, the Padres lost again Monday night, but in the process, right-hander Jake Peavy established a new franchise record for strikeouts in a game by fanning 16 Atlanta Braves. Yes, we’d all rather have the win, but no dice, so let’s take a look at Peavy’s record-setting night instead.
This was the second most dominant game I’ve ever seen by a pitcher (behind only Kerry Wood’s 20-strikeout performance in 1998). Atlanta hitters made contact — fair or foul — with fewer than 30% of Peavy’s offerings, and only one ball left the infield. Unfortunately, that one ball was a two-run homer off the bat of Ryan Langerhans that cost the Padres the game.
The only other pitches put in play all night against Peavy were a grounder to short by Chipper Jones in the first, a grounder to third by Jeff Francouer in the second that went for a single, a grounder to short by Todd Pratt in the second, grounders back to Peavy by Marcus Giles (for a single) and by Jones in the third, a grounder to short by Brian Jordan in the fourth, and a grounder to third by Edgar Renteria in the sixth.
Peavy struck out at least two batters in every inning. He fanned the final 5 batters he faced, and 11 of the last 13.
Here’s the overall breakdown by pitches:
- Pitches: 114
- Swinging strikes: 26 (22.8% of pitches — as a point of reference, Adam Dunn was at 18.5% in 2005)
- Called strikes: 16 (14.0%)
- Foul balls: 24 (21.1%)
- Balls: 40 (35.1%)
- Fair balls: 8 (7.0%)
And a lovely pie chart to go with it (ice cream is extra):
Here are Peavy’s numbers by time through the lineup. This table shows the batting line against him:
| Time | AB | H | HR | BB | SO | Pit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 38 |
| 2nd | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 40 |
| 3rd | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 36 |
| Tot | 25 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 114 |
And the chart below breaks out the numbers in the pie chart by time through lineup. Note that as the game wore on, called strikes and fair balls decreased, while swinging strikes and foul balls increased. Batters were taking more hacks at Peavy’s pitches but not having any more success making contact.
As the numbers would indicate, Peavy was dealing all night long. According to the readings on Channel 4′s telecast, his fastball was sitting at 90-94 mph and it was running back in on right-handed batters. Peavy hit 95 on a couple of pitches to Jones in the first, and his slider and changeup were moving all over the place.
It may be a cliche to say a guy made one bad pitch, but in this case it’s true. The only ball that left the infield while Peavy was on the mound ended up costing him the game. It’s a shame the record couldn’t have come with a victory, but still, kudos to Peavy on a start for the ages.
IGD: Padres vs Braves (22 May 06)
first pitch: 7:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Jake Peavy (3-4, 3.77 ERA) vs John Smoltz (3-2, 3.47 ERA)
previews: Padres.com | ESPN
The battle of the best hitting catchers in baseball begins tonight at Petco Park, as the Braves come to town for a three game set. Atlanta’s top backstop, Brian McCann, is listed as day-to-day due to a sprained left ankle. If he is unable to go, Hilltop High’s Todd Pratt will get the call.
Heckuva pitching matchup in the opener, with Jake Peavy going up against John Smoltz. Now would be a good time for the Padres to snap out of their current funk. At home, with Peavy on the mound? Can’t think of a better way to do it.
Productive Catchers
Which teams have the best hitting catchers in the big leagues this year? The answer might surprise you:
| Team | AB | BA | OBP | SLG | ISO | RC/27 | AB/HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Padres | 167 | .299 | .381 | .515 | .216 | 6.79 | 20.9 |
| Braves | 150 | .313 | .378 | .507 | .193 | 6.81 | 25.0 |
| Twins | 173 | .341 | .394 | .462 | .121 | 6.91 | 57.7 |
| Stats courtesy of ESPN. | |||||||
The Braves (Brian McCann) and Twins (Joe Mauer) have up-and-coming young catchers who figure to be stars in this league for years to come. The Padres are taking a different approach, using a guy who is supposed to be washed up (Mike Piazza) and two journeymen (Josh Bard, Rob Bowen).
And how are the Padres’ current cadre of catchers comparing with last year’s posse?
| Player | AB | BA | OBP | SLG | ISO | RC/27 | AB/HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Piazza | 96 | .260 | .351 | .448 | .188 | 4.81 | 24.0 |
| Josh Bard | 49 | .347 | .389 | .612 | .265 | 9.28 | 16.3 |
| Rob Bowen | 22 | .455 | .552 | .727 | .273 | 17.29 | 22.0 |
| Stats courtesy of ESPN and include numbers compiled as a catcher only. Bard’s totals include numbers with Boston. | |||||||
Not too shabby. Here are what the guys they replaced are doing this season:
| Player | AB | BA | OBP | SLG | ISO | RC/27 | AB/HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ramon Hernandez | 143 | .301 | .361 | .476 | .175 | 6.39 | 23.8 |
| Miguel Olivo | 103 | .243 | .284 | .447 | .204 | 4.53 | 25.8 |
| David Ross | 40 | .250 | .326 | .525 | .275 | 6.14 | 13.3 |
| Stats courtesy of ESPN and include numbers compiled as a catcher only. | |||||||
No disrespect to Ramon Hernandez, who is enjoying a fine season in Baltimore, but I think I’d rather have Piazza, Bard, and Bowen for $2M than be on the hook for $8M to Hernandez in 2009. Neither Bard nor Bowen displayed much offensive ability in the minors, so who knows how long they’ll keep hitting.
I’m okay with not offering Olivo and his .284 OBP guaranteed money. He did a great job in Hernandez’ absence last season, but he has been erratic on offense and defense throughout his career. A useful guy to have around, but not really a #1 catcher.
As for Ross, I’m not qualified to say. He had 17 at-bats in a Padres uni. I’m glad to see him do well in Cincy, and I hope the Padres get as much use out of Bobby Basham as the Pirates get out of J.J. Furmaniak.
IGD: Padres @ Mariners (21 May 06)
first pitch: 1:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Chan Ho Park (2-2, 3.70 ERA) vs Felix Hernandez (3-2, 4.84 ERA)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com | ESPN
Felix Hernandez likely will be a great pitcher one day. Right now, however, the league is hitting .302/.376/.475 against the 20-year-old right-hander. Lefties in particular are torching him to the tune of .304/.379/.565.
The Padres, meanwhile, look to recapture their May mojo, which apparently decided to stay in Chicago. They turn to Chan Ho Park, who improbably has been the club’s most reliable starter early in the season, in the hope of avoiding a series sweep at the hands of the Mariners.
As has become my custom on Sundays, I will be walking nine miles around Mission Bay (listening to Ted and Jerry on the radio, of course), so you are on your own for this one.
Go Padres!
About the Ads
So, I’ve been struggling with this whole advertising thing. The world has changed a lot since Ducksnorts first launched in September 1997, and so has the World Wide Web.
I’ve thrown a few ads up on the site to try and help recoup some of my expenses. I’ve got a good job that pays the bills, so it’s not like I’m hurting for money. And I appreciate all of you who have donated to the cause.
That said, I don’t ever want anyone who reads and participates in the discussion to feel compelled to support Ducksnorts financially. If dropping a tip floats your boat, great; if not, great. Whatever works for you. Seriously, we’re cool either way, because you’re already making a significant contribution by being here.
On the other hand, I figure if advertisers are willing to pay me to spread their word (so long as it’s something I can live with), who am I to argue? The flip side of that is the impact these ads have on you. I will not sacrifice the look or content of the blog to make a buck.
And as someone who is hypersensitive to being bombarded with ads, the last thing I want to do is screw up the experience here at Ducksnorts for the folks who matter, i.e., all y’all. So if you ever see an advertisement that bothers you, or you just think the whole thing is starting to stink a little (or a lot), I’d appreciate it if you’d drop me a line and let me know.
Because as much as I like getting what amounts to a free cup of coffee every month or so, if it’s pissing folks off, I’ll buy my own damn coffee.
Thanks for listening.
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