by Geoff Young on May 19, 2005
Guess I broke out the Home Sweep Home headline one series too early. OTOH, if I hadn’t used it, the Pads wouldn’t have won the Atlanta series. See, bloggers can be superstitious too.
Oh, and is it great to have Khalil Greene back and swinging the bat well again? Now if we can somehow get Sean Burroughs and Phil Nevin into the act, the Pads will be downright scary.
Speaking of scary, here’s an interesting breakdown:
vs SD vs others
Atl/Fla/StL 1-9 68-38
Think that got anybody’s attention? Padres are now 16-3 since April 29. Thanks to David Pinto’s invaluable Day By Day Database, we can see exactly how the hitters and pitchers are doing over that period. It’s been Brian Giles, Ryan Klesko, Mark Loretta (whose injured thumb apparently isn’t too serious), and the bench and bullpen.
Pitches per Save
Eric was asking about this in yesterday’s In-Game Discussion. There are currently four pitchers in MLB averaging fewer than 20 pitches per save:
Sv Pit Pit/Sv
Trevor Hoffman 13 222 17.08
Jose Mesa 13 249 19.15
Bob Wickman 11 211 19.18
Jason Isringhausen 9 179 19.89
Last year, Hoffman was the only big leaguer under 20 pitches per save, checking in at 18.85. His past four saves of this season have involved retiring 11 straight batters on a total of 27 pitches.
Other Stuff
Finally, remember that “Prospects from 1996, Revisited” series I said would begin today? Well, it won’t begin today. I still have a few numbers to crunch, which I’ll be able to get to this weekend. Plus I’ve just been too damn busy watching the Padres win. 
by Geoff Young on May 18, 2005
first pitch: 12:35 p.m., PT
television: none
matchup: Adam Eaton (5-1, 3.42 ERA) vs Horacio Ramirez (2-2, 3.47)
Pads have won six in a row and 15 of their last 18. Every day it’s the same story: Fall behind early, stay close through the middle innings, have someone step up late to win it. Tuesday night’s hero was Khalil Greene, dropping the bat head on an 0-2 offering from Braves closer Dan Kolb to serve up a bases-loaded single with one out in the ninth. John Smoltz shut down the Friars most of the night, but Darrell May limited the Braves to one run over five innings to keep them within striking distance.
Akinori Otsuka surrendered a solo homer to Andruw Jones in the top of the eighth to extend Atlanta’s lead to 2-0, but the Padres answered with a run of their own off Smoltz in the bottom half. And then, after holding serve in the top of the ninth, the Friars went to work against Kolb:
Ryan Klesko: walk on 4 pitches
Brian Giles: ground single to right on 2-2 pitch
Phil Nevin: chopper off the plate to shortstop on 2-2 pitch, Klesko scores
Ramon Hernandez: ground single to left-center on 3-1 pitch, Giles to third
Sean Burroughs: intentional walk
Greene: line single to left-center on 0-2 pitch, Giles scores, good night everybody
With the Diamondbacks losing to Houston, the Padres now have first place to themselves in the NL West.
Pads wrap up the homestand Wednesday afternoon with a chance to sweep their second straight series against a tough NL East foe. No television today, but feel free to drop on by and chat during the game. The matchup:
AB BA OBP SLG
Eaton vs current Braves 57 .281 .339 .456
Ramirez vs current Padres 21 .333 .417 .619
Not a lot of at-bats against Eaton. The only homer belongs to Chipper Jones (.500/.556/1.125 in just 8 AB). Even fewer at-bats against Ramirez. Homers from Burroughs and Hernandez.
So, are you starting to feel it yet? Maybe just a little bit?
by Geoff Young on May 17, 2005
first pitch: 7:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4
matchup: Darrell May (0-0, 5.19 ERA) vs John Smoltz (3-3, 3.10)
previews: ESPN | CBS | SI | Padres.com
Once upon a time, May was a Braves pitching prospect. From John Sickels’ 1996 Minor League Scouting Notebook, where he was given a grade of B minus:
May has a decent arm: his fastball has average velocity but good movement, and his change-up is an excellent pitch. Although May has good command of his fastball/change combination, he has struggled to develop a consistent breaking pitch, and this will hurt him if the Braves intend to use him as a starter at the major league level.
AB BA OBP SLG
May vs current Braves 22 .227 .261 .273
Smoltz vs current Padres 81 .284 .315 .370
The injured Eric Young is the only batter who has had as many as 10 at-bats against either pitcher, so not much to go on here. May seeks to become the first #5 starter to win for the Pads since the current #1 starter Tim Stauffer was credited as being the first #5 to win for the Pads in a very long time. For the Braves, starter-turned-closer Smoltz has returned the rotation and, except for an Opening Day disaster at Florida, been his dominant self. The good news, if you want to call it that, is that he hasn’t been real effective after the sixth inning:
Inn AB BA OBP SLG
1-3 84 .226 .275 .321
4-6 78 .256 .314 .346
7-9 29 .379 .387 .621
The other good news is that Dan Kolb, and not Smoltz, is now closing games for Atlanta. Kolb isn’t bad, but his ERA is over 5.00 and he has walked more than he’s struck out so far. Let’s just say he strikes a little less fear than did Smoltz. Of course, there’s still the matter of getting to Smoltz in the first six, so don’t get too excited.
by Geoff Young on May 17, 2005
After yet another come-from-behind win, the Padres are now tied with the Diamondbacks for first place in the NL West. I’ll say it now: This is a better team than last year’s version. Deeper bullpen, deeper bench. Not that they didn’t battle last year, but they’re better equipped to put up a fight now. Fun to watch.
Timmy
Tim Stauffer looked good out there last night. Fastball mostly ran 89-93 according to the Channel 4 radar, occasionally hitting 94. Mixed his pitches well, kept hitters off balance – especially toward the end of his outing. Kid also looks like a good athlete. He was real quick off the mound fielding his position, and he even took a few decent hacks at the plate. Very solid first impression.
Here’s a closer look at Stauffer’s first two starts – shaky first inning, then brilliance.
IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP BA OBP SLG Pit
first: 2.0 4 4 4 1 3 0 2 .444 .643 1.000 57
after: 11.0 7 1 1 0 2 11 0 .184 .220 .237 153
And I hesitate to mention this next one because the sample is so small, but the split is huge so here it is:
AB BA OBP SLG
vs R 23 .130 .192 .130
vs L 24 .333 .448 .625
I wonder what his left/right split was like in the minors. Anybody know?
Trevor
Trevor Hoffman has saved three of the Pads’ four wins on the current homestand. He’s retired all nine batters he’s faced, on just 23 pitches:
IP H BB SO ERA Sv Pit
3.0 0 0 2 0.00 3 23
Here are his numbers so far in May:
IP H BB SO ERA
8.0 3 1 10 0.00
And his numbers since the Opening Day disaster at Coors:
IP H BB SO ERA
15.0 7 2 16 0.60
Elsewhere
Other thoughts around the Padres blogosphere:
by Geoff Young on May 17, 2005
I recorded this late last year, when there was no baseball happening. It has lyrics that probably shouldn’t be sung:
I need caffeine, need caffeine, need caffeine, need it now
(repeat a bunch of times)
Give me some coffee, give me some tea
Just give me anything with a lot of caffeine
Brian G. offers these lyrics as well:
They say that Geoff’s a bad mutha (shut yo’ mouth)
But I’m talkin’ ’bout Geoff.
Then we can dig it!
Someone probably could rap that freestyle over the middle part.
Anyway, the song has nothing to do with baseball, the Padres, or even ducks. But I like to think that it speaks to the blogging experience. Enjoy…
This MP3 file is licensed under a Creative Commons License and is copyrighted © 2004 by Geoffrey N. Young.
Caffiend
2004
Theme song for Ducksnorts baseball blog.
Geoffrey N. Young
Geoffrey N. Young
–>
by Geoff Young on May 16, 2005
first pitch: 7:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4
matchup: Tim Stauffer (1-0, 3.00 ERA) vs John Thomson (3-2, 3.55 ERA)
previews: ESPN | CBS | SI | Padres.com
After a weekend sweep of the Marlins, the Padres turn now to the Braves. Tim Stauffer makes his debut in front of the home crowd at Petco. The Pads have won 8 of their last 10, and 13 of their last 16. Following Sunday’s seventh inning outburst, the Friars are now outscoring the opposition 80-37 from the seventh on; they are hitting .281/.379/.437 during those innings, while holding the other guys to just .198/.278/.310. No team in the big leagues has scored more runs after the sixth inning this year than the Padres; no team has allowed fewer.
AB BA OBP SLG
Thomson vs current Padres 93 .301 .359 .570
Ryan Klesko (.348/.464/.652 in 23 AB) has seen Thomson the most, and has had the most success against him. Klesko has one of four homers surrendered by the Braves right-hander. Brian Giles, Ramon Hernandez, and Mark Sweeney also have taken Thomson deep.
by Geoff Young on May 16, 2005
We did a Minor Monday last week, so I figured we’d take this one off. You know, let a little more transpire before we analyze stuff again. That’s not to say there won’t be anything going on at Ducksnorts this week.
Really, like what?
Glad you asked. Here’s the dirt:
| Day |
Whazzup |
| Monday |
In-Game Discussion. Tim Stauffer makes his home debut as the Braves come to town |
| Tuesday |
Ducksnorts Theme Song. It ain’t Shaft or even Magnum P.I., but it’ll do for our purposes.
In-Game Discussion. Darrell May vs John Smoltz; the quest for a win at #5 continues – should I be concerned? |
| Wednesday |
In-Game Discussion. Adam Eaton vs Horacio Ramirez; remember, this one starts at 12:35 p.m. PT. |
| Thursday |
Prospects from 1996, Revisited. This is the first in a series that I plan on running each Thursday for the next, oh, 8-10 weeks; it’s actually something I first put together toward the end of 2002 and have been meaning to update for some time. |
| Friday |
In-Game Discussion. Don’t know the pitching matchups yet, but the Pads will be in Seattle taking on Ichiro Suzuki and the Mariners. |
There you go. I hope you’ll join us.
Meantime, if you need something with a little more meat right this very instant, might I suggest Checkpoint: Heart of the Order, Home/Road Splits, Pythagoras from Saturday.
by Geoff Young on May 15, 2005
Padres beat the Marlins, 12-4, Sunday afternoon thanks to a 10-run outburst in the seventh. Brian Lawrence and A.J. Burnett were locked up in a 1-0 game until Carlos Delgado hit a routine grounder to second with two out in the top of the sixth. With a defensive shift on, Mark Loretta was playing in shallow right-center and the ball rolled into the outfield for a single. From there, things quickly unraveled for Lawrence, and moments later he was out of the game, down 4-1.
But the Friars didn’t quit, and eventually got into the Florida bullpen. How big was the seventh? Pinch hitter Mark Sweeney walked, singled, scored two runs, and drove in another. Dave Roberts hit a no-doubt three-run jack to cap the scoring. I think the Padres are getting used to hitting at Petco.
Brian Giles and Ryan Klesko continue to scorch the ball. Khalil Greene broke out of his early-season funk with two singles and a double. And despite the less-than-stellar final line, Lawrence really pitched a beautiful game and deserved better. Of the 17 outs he recorded, 12 were ground balls, 4 were strikeouts, and just 1 was a fly ball.
Bottom line is, the Padres won the game and swept a series that – silly though it may sound in May – had a playoff intensity. With the Dodgers losing on Sunday and the Diamondbacks winning, the Pads now find themselves in second place, a half game behind Arizona.
For more coverage of the weekend series, check out what Rich and Peter have to say over at San Diego Spotlight.
Next up, the Atlanta Braves. Go get ‘em, boys.
by Geoff Young on May 15, 2005
first pitch: 1:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4
matchup: Brian Lawrence (2-4, 5.09 ERA) vs A.J. Burnett (3-3, 2.70 ERA)
previews: ESPN | CBS | SI | Padres.com
For the second straight game, the Pads got seven innings out of their starter on just 99 pitches. Saturday night was vintage Jake Peavy. Of those 99 pitches, 74 were strikes. The only hard hit ball all night came off the bat of Carlos Delgado, who ripped a 1-2 fastball into the left-center field gap to start the sixth and came around to score the only run Peavy would surrender. All you need to know about Peavy’s night: in the third inning he retired the side in order on seven pitches, all strikes. Trevor Hoffman closed out the victory in the ninth, throwing four pitches to retire three Marlins to end the game.
Now just a half game back of the NL West leading Dodgers, the Pads go for the sweep this afternoon.
AB BA OBP SLG
Lawrence vs current Marlins 155 .284 .313 .406
Burnett vs current Padres 60 .233 .373 .450
Against Lawrence, Juan Encarnacion (.474/.524/.789 in 19 AB) and Mike Lowell (.385/.385/.692 in 13 AB) are getting it done. Lowell has one of three homers against Lawrence; the other two are by Juan Pierre (.321/.321/.464 in 28 AB) and Paul LoDuca (.250/.291/.346 in 52 AB). As we’ve mentioned before, Lawrence also has some of the most extreme home/road splits of any Padres pitcher. At Petco, opponents are hitting just .181/.227/.229 in 83 at-bats. Oddly, Lawrence actually pitched better on the road (3.86 ERA) in 2004 than he did at home (4.42). One other split that has reversed itself from last year is the left/right split:
2004 2005
LHB .301/.356/.486 .238/.287/.363
RHB .272/.306/.432 .316/.389/.481
Theories? The absence of Larry Walker (.417/.576/.708 in 24 AB) and Barry Bonds (.476/.645/1.000 in 21 AB) in the NL West this year can’t hurt. Then again, could just be small sample.
For the Pads, Phil Nevin (.444/.500/1.222 in 9 AB) is doing the most damage against Burnett. Nevin has two of the three homers, with Damian Jackson accounting for the other. Jackson was a part of the lineup that Burnett threw the no-hitter against at the Q in May 2001. Jackson was hit by a pitch in that game that broke his right thumb and put him on the shelf for over a month.
by Geoff Young on May 15, 2005
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