IGD: Padres @ Cubs (13 May 06)

by Geoff Young on May 13, 2006 (32) Comments

first pitch: 11:20 a.m., PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Chris Young (3-2, 3.61 ERA) vs Greg Maddux (5-2, 3.64 ERA)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com | ESPN

This post was supposed to be full of optimism and hope. I was going to mention that the Padres had climbed into a first-place tie with Colorado and provide a chart showing how ridiculous the Friars’ success in May over the past two seasons has been compared to what they’ve done in other months.

But then Woody Williams’ injury on the basepaths in Friday’s win turns out to be a good deal more serious than we’d imagined. Now it looks like the Pads will be without their most reliable starting pitcher so far this year for a couple of months.

Damn.

Shawn Estes is still at least a few weeks away from returning. Candidates to replace Williams in the rotation include Brian Sweeney, who worked three innings in Friday’s game and picked up the win, and Portland starter Mike Thompson. Both are similar pitchers who throw strikes and let their defense do the work.

Ah well. As the currently popular tautology goes, it is what it is.

In other roster news, Dewon “Instant Offense” Brazelton has been outrighted to Portland (aw, c’mon, if he threw four straight shutouts, his ERA would be down to 4.00) and Jon Adkins recalled from same. There is some understandable confusion as to why Adkins got the call over Brian Sikorski and his guaranteed contract. Seems to me if you’re going to pay a guy anyway, you might as well put him in a situation where he’s most likely to hellp, but that’s just me. Adkins has 12 shutout innings going for him, while Sikorski is merely leading the Beavers in strikeouts with 40 in 24 1/3 innings.

Also, catcher Rob Bowen has been placed on the 15-day DL due to a sprained left thumb incurred during Thursday’s game against Milwaukee. Paul McAnulty was recalled from Portland and offers the Pads a legitimate left-handed bat off the bench if needed. McAnulty was hitting .278/.389/.583 in 108 at-bats at the time of his promotion.

Anyway, enough of that. It’s still May, and you know how much we love that month. As LaMar suggested during Friday’s IGD we should “get into the clubhouse and change every calendar to read ‘May’ for every month.” C’mon now, who’s with me?

IGD: Padres @ Cubs (12 May 06)

by Geoff Young on May 12, 2006 (76) Comments

first pitch: 11:20 a.m., PT
television: none
matchup: Woody Williams (3-1, 3.12 ERA) vs Angel Guzman (0-2, 7.20 ERA)
previews: Padres.com

Good to see the real Jake Peavy finally arrive on Thursday. In case you missed it, he fanned a career high 13 batters against Milwaukee, en route to an 8-5 victory to close the homestand. San Diego is now just a game out of first place in the NL West, with a 19-16 record — same as last season after 35 games.

The Padres kick off a nine-game road trip through Chicago, Arizona, and Seattle with a Friday morning affair against the Cubs. Woody Williams looks to continue his hot start, and the Pads hope to keep the May magic alive. They have won 32 of their last 38 games played in the month dating back to last year.

Winning is so much more fun than losing.

Friday Links (12 May 06)

by Geoff Young on May 12, 2006 (16) Comments

Happy Friday! At the risk of sounding like one of those obnoxious people who is telling you how incredibly busy they are, I’ve been incredibly busy. I know I owe a bunch of you e-mails, and I’m getting there. Hang tight, folks. Meantime, we’ve got linkage…

  • Sutcliffe gives slurred interview on broadcast (MSNBC). Yep, Rick Sutcliffe’s rambling performance from Wednesday night’s contest has gone national. Channel 4SD says they are embarrassed by the episode, but I have to say, now that I’ve finally watched it on TiVo, this is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen on a sports broadcast. The bit about George Clooney is brilliant. Gaslamp Ball has the audio clip and a transcript, man.
  • Padres rookie travels long road (OregonLive). Nice article on reliever Brian Sweeney and his struggle to reach the big leagues. Quoth Sweeney: “When you’re a 31-year-old in Venezuela, you come to a crossroads. What am I doing? Am I going in the right direction for myself and my family? Am I doing the right thing?” And here I was, whining about traffic on Genesee.
  • Ex-councilman pays $1 to end lawsuits (San Diego Union-Tribune). I hesitate to link to this, but since dude played such a prominent role in the delay of Petco Park’s completion, I don’t see as I have much choice. What a pain in the buttocks he was.
  • Prospect Q&A: George Kottaras (Baseball America). We touched on this one in the comments a few days ago, but it deserves a spot of its own. BA’s Chris Kline talks to the Padres’ top catching prospect. Don’t hate him because he thinks Lenny Kravitz is cool.
  • Speaking of BA, in their May 10 edition of Independent Leagues Notebook, they note that Rickey Henderson may return for another year with the San Diego Surf Dawgs of the Golden Baseball League. I know a lot of folks think he should hang it up and stop embarrassing himself. I say we should all be so lucky to be doing something we’ve loved for a lifetime at age 46.
  • Minor League Splits Database (Brew Crew Ball) is another one lifted from the comments. From their intro:

    The MLSD currently tracks all affiliated Minor Leagues and keeps play-by-play logs of all 2006 Minor League games to date. These logs make possible a much greater range of situational statistics than have ever before been available, including lefty-righty splits, home/road splits, batted-ball data, and statistics specific to certain base/out situations.

    Giant tip o’ the Ducksnorts cap to Baseball Musings for the heads-up on this. Great stuff here.

That’s all for now. We’ll fire up the IGD about an hour before first pitch. Go Pads!

Padres and Rangers Make Minor Deal

by Geoff Young on May 11, 2006 (8) Comments

The Padres have traded former “center fielder of the future” Freddy Guzman and right-hander Cesar Rojas to the Rangers. I first saw Guzman play at Lake Elsinore in 2002 when he still was known as Pedro de los Santos — one of the most electric players I’ve seen in the Cal League. Unfortunately he’s 25 years old and his only real tool is speed. Lots and lots of it. Guzman projects as a fourth outfield type. The Padres have plenty of those, so off he goes to Texas.

Coming to San Diego are right-hander John Hudgins and first baseman Vince Sinisi. Both are former top prospects whose stock has fallen. Neither is particularly young or projects to be an impact player, but both could be useful, particuarly Hudgins, who has seen significant action in the high minors and could come up in a support role at some point.

Hudgins was the Rangers’ third round pick in 2003 out of Stanford. Baseball America had him ranked #21 among Texas prospects in 2004, #6 in 2005 (#5 was a guy named Chris Young), and #19 this year. Reports have his fastball in the 87-91 mph range, topping out at 93. His curve is average, and his best pitch is “a sinking changeup that he sells with grunts and late violence in his delivery.” BA calls him a potential #5 starter. Not exciting, but potentially useful. Temper your enthusiasm by recalling that Brett Jodie also was “potentially useful.”

Sinisi was drafted one round ahead of Hudgins in 2003 out of Rice. He has been hurt for much of his pro career and never really developed as expected, particularly in the power department. In their 2004 Prospect Handbook, Baseball America notes that “Sinisi reminds scouting director Grady Fuson of Jason Giambi, who was drafted by the A’s when Fuson was their national crosschecker in 1992, at the same stage.” Sinisi was ranked #5 in 2004, #10 in 2005, and #18 this year. At age 24 and with minimal experience above Class A ball, he’s probably not a future regular.

In this year’s book, BA says that “Sinisi can hit line drives to all fields and knows the strike zone” and that “his smooth lefthanded stroke is tailored to hit doubles in the gaps.” Sinisi played the outfield in college, though it’s not clear how much experience he has there as a pro. Doesn’t sound like a threat for an everyday job in the big leagues anytime soon, but could be a useful bat off the bench in, oh, a Todd Sears kind of way.

Both are potentially more valuable to the Padres than was Guzman, who arrived on the scene with his speed game about 20 years too late. Then again, as a buddy of mine wisely pointed out, this deal could be a whole lot of nothing. We’ll see.

IGD: Padres vs Brewers (11 May 06)

by Geoff Young on May 11, 2006 (102) Comments

first pitch: 12:35 p.m., PT
television: none
matchup: Jake Peavy (2-3, 4.17 ERA) vs Ben Hendrickson (0-0, 2.79 ERA)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com | ESPN

For the second straight night, the Padres had a tough left-hander on the ropes but couldn’t put him away. Fortunately, Chan Ho Park and some strong defense were able to shut down a powerful Milwaukee lineup and win the game, 3-0.

Observations from Wednesday’s Game

  • Park did a great job of using his ballpark and the defenders behind him. The final line looks brilliant, but there were some pretty loud outs. Mike Cameron and Brian Giles both made spectacular catches in support of their pitcher. I still can’t believe Cameron caught that ball off the bat of Bill Hall in the fifth. Neither can Rickie Weeks, who was well past second base by the time it came down and nearly was doubled off first. Yesterday we noted that Park’s success this year is due in large part to improved command. How much easier is it to throw strikes when you know that even if a guy hits the ball hard, in that ballpark and with those outfielders behind you, chances are you’ll get an out? Park doesn’t have the overpowering stuff he once did, and he has to pitch smart. So far this season, that’s exactly what he’s doing.
  • There is no middle ground with Mark Bellhorn. Either he is on fire and carrying the ballclub or he is completely sucking wind. Bellhorn got the Golden Sombrero last night — four at-bats, four strikeouts. In his third at-bat, he struck out on Chris Capuano’s 42nd pitch of the fourth inning, which if taken would have been ball four, forced in a fourth run, and likely chased Capuano from the game. Thankfully that didn’t come back to bite the Padres.
  • I can’t watch Vinny Castilla’s at-bats. Fortunately they don’t last very long. He has put the first pitch in play 25 times in 118 plate appearances. The payoff? Castilla is hitting .240/.240/.280 in those at-bats. Also, in 64 trips to the plate at Petco Park this year, he is hitting .156/.200/.172. Yep, his OPS is below 400. Castilla seems like a really nice guy, and I hope he pulls out of it, but this is painful.
  • I love our backup catchers. We’ve talked about Rob Bowen (who gets the start Thursday), but how about Josh Bard? I don’t know how the Padres managed to get Boston to throw in a minor-league reliever and “future considerations,” but I’m not complaining. Dude can play. He had some real nice approaches at the plate Wednesday, driving in the first two runs of the game with a double in the fourth. This came just moments after he’d won some admirers with the “None Shall Pass” routine he pulled on Corey Koskie to end the top of the inning. And how about the rapport between pitcher and catcher?

    Quoth Park:

    He’s the kind of catcher who makes you pitch aggressively. I feel very comfortable with him.

    Quoth Bard:

    I’ve just been telling Chan Ho to believe in himself and believe in his stuff … pound the mitt.

    Can you feel the love?

  • Ben Johnson got an at-bat in the eighth and drew a walk. I’d forgotten Johnson was still with the big club. If he can’t get the occasional start against lefties over Eric Young, I don’t imagine there’s much of a future for the kid in San Diego. It’ll be interesting to see where Johnson eventually ends up and what the Padres are able to get for him.
  • I’ll never get tired of Trevor Time. No, he ain’t what he used to be, but ask Gabe Gross why they call Hoffman’s changeup “the icky.”

Thursday’s Matchup

Jake Peavy takes the mound for the Pads in the rubber game. Peavy’s strikeouts are down and his ERA is up in the early going, but he’s pitched well in each of his last two starts. The stuff has been fine, the command a little less so. Now would be a good time to change that.

Ben Sheets was supposed to get the start for Milwaukee, but he’s back on the DL with right shoulder tendinitis. Starting in place of Sheets is promising young right-hander Ben Hendrickson, about whom I know nothing other than he’s young, promising, and right-handed.

Day game at Petco. Get down there if you can. Otherwise, hang out and chat. It’d be nice to get a new winning streak going before heading to Chicago for the weekend.

IGD: Padres vs Brewers (10 May 06)

by Geoff Young on May 10, 2006 (26) Comments

first pitch: 7:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Chan Ho Park (1-1, 4.12 ERA) vs Chris Capuano (4-2, 2.63 ERA)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com

If you’re looking for a counterexample to the notion that the World Baseball Classic hurt pitchers, you could do worse than choose Chan Ho Park, for whom the WBC seemed to work wonders. Although Park isn’t the dominant pitcher he was at times with the Dodgers in the late-’90s, he has been surprisingly effective in early 2006.

How is Park doing it? One word: command. He is throwing fewer pitches per inning than ever before, which has allowed him to go deeper into games. Park’s strikeout numbers are well down from his glory years, but so are his walks. Opponents are reaching base at a .299 clip, the lowest mark against him since 1997.

Can Park keep doing it? Maybe, maybe not. But he’s already paid for, so anything positive is gravy. If he finishes the season with anything close to a 4.12 ERA I’ll be ecstatic.

On the other side, Chris Capuano is coming off what looked to be a career year and off to an even better start in 2006. He doesn’t throw hard but neither does he get hit hard. The league is batting just .210/.255/.341 against Capuano so far.

Should be a good matchup. I’ll be out at Petco Park tonight, so mind the fort while I’m gone. Talk it up, yo!

Winning Streak Ends at Nine, Hot Corner Not So Hot

by Geoff Young on May 10, 2006 (26) Comments

Ugh, what an irritating way for the Padres to end their winning streak. Milwaukee’s got a good ballclub, but how does a guy throw 54 pitches over the first two innings and allow just one run? Oh well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Time to start a new one.

On another note, Justin Leone is hitting .316/.410/.576 at Portland, while Vinny Castilla is hitting .243/.289/.301 with the Pads. Just sayin’…

IGD: Padres vs Brewers (9 May 06)

by Geoff Young on May 09, 2006 (22) Comments

first pitch: 7:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Clay Hensley (1-2, 4.28 ERA) vs Doug Davis (2-2, 5.35 ERA)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com | ESPN

Padres shoot for 10 in a row as the Brewers come to town. Clay Hensley makes his first start since being hit in the back of the head by a broken bat. I’m not a big fan of nicknames, but I think I’ll make an exception for Hensley. You get hit in the head by a broken bat and stay in the game, you deserve a nickname. Here’s my lame attempt: “Only a Flesh Wound”; surely, you can come up with something better?

Padres Winning Streak Reaches Nine

by Geoff Young on May 09, 2006 (13) Comments

The Pads beat Chicago, 8-3, Monday night for their first ever four-game sweep of the Cubs. They did it by working the count against Greg Maddux and driving the ball back through the middle, an approach favored by Tony Gwynn, who hit Maddux well during his career.

The first four batters in the San Diego lineup reached base a total of 14 times. The Padres ran the bases aggressively, swiping four bags (three by Dave Roberts) in five tries and taking advantage of weak throwing arms in the Cubs outfield.

Greene Dazzles at the Plate and in the Field

Shortstop Khalil Greene made two plays that still have me scratching my head. The first came in the fourth, with the Pads leading, 3-1. Josh Barfield led off the inning by striking out on three pitches, as Greene had done in his first at-bat against Maddux. This time, Greene launched the first pitch he saw from Maddux into the Western Metal Supply Co. building.

I’ve watched the replay several times, and there are two things that stand out to me:

  1. The pitch was at the letters, in off the plate. You can see Cubs catcher Michael Barrett reach back inside to try and catch it. If Greene doesn’t swing at the pitch, he’s ahead in the count, 1-0. Granted, Maddux missed badly (Barrett was set up down and away), but that still wasn’t an easy pitch to put in play. As TV play-by-play guy Matt Vasgersian asked, “How hard can you hit a sand wedge?”
  2. I cannot believe Greene kept the ball from hooking foul. How did he do that? Maybe Tony Gwynn, who was in the booth Monday night, can shed some light? “I don’t know how he was able to get to that ball and keep it fair.” Okay, maybe not. How about Brian Giles? From the San Diego Union-Tribune: “Giles has said that Greene’s hands are among the fastest he’s seen.” Ah, quick hands. I dunno, I’m still scratching my head.

The other play came in the eighth. With Barrett on first and nobody out, Aramis Ramirez hit a smash well to the left of Greene and apparently into center field. Greene took three steps, dived, and flipped the ball with his glove hand to Barfield, who somehow completed the double play (great footwork, BTW) despite the presence of a rapidly approaching Barrett. At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, you won’t see a better double play.

Young Dominates Early before Fading

Finally, starter Chris Young once again pitched a solid game. Young is walking more batters than I’d expected and serving up more homers, which usually is a horrible combination, but when the league is hitting just .209 against you, I guess it works out okay. As has been his pattern, Young dominated for six before giving ground in the seventh. His season splits by inning:

Inn AB BA OBP SLG
1-3 75 .187 .253 .413
4-6 62 .177 .284 .290
7+ 16 .438 .500 .750

Young is tough to hit early, although susceptible to the long ball. He’s devastating in the middle innings, and eminently hittable late. And if you’re wondering how he’s been able to succeed despite the walks and homers, check out this split:

Situation AB BA OBP SLG
None On 102 .225 .307 .480
Runners On 51 .176 .262 .235

That drop in ISO is phenomenal. With nobody on base, it’s at .255 (Bob Abreu v. 2001); with runners on, it’s at .059 (poor man’s Juan Pierre).

I imagine it will be difficult to maintain that kind of dominance with runners on base, so at some point Young will have to make an adjustment in his approach with the bases empty. He’s a pretty smart guy who should be able to adapt when needed. Meantime, we’ll just admire what he’s done so far.

Tunes: Rush, Outkast, Dead Can Dance, Frank Black, R.E.M., Mark Knopfler, 16B, The Strokes, k.d. lang, Interpol, Jason Falkner, Tragically Hip, Cheap Trick, Bebel Gilberto, Dido.

IGD: Padres vs Cubs (8 May 06)

by Geoff Young on May 08, 2006 (35) Comments

first pitch: 7:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Chris Young (2-2, 3.53 ERA) vs Greg Maddux (5-1, 2.35 ERA)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com | ESPN

Padres try to extend their winning streak to nine and sweep another series. If they’re going to do it, it’ll have to be against a future Hall of Famer. Pads are outhitting the opposition, .263/.339/.406 to .195/.258/.309, and outscoring them, 38-16, in the month of May. Sounds like a pretty good recipe for success to me.