Blogging the San Diego Padres… established 1997

…The Giants might have gotten away with one last night. As it is, thanks to the contributions of youngsters Sean Burroughs and Khalil Greene, the Padres’ opener at their new digs was a success (if a bit more stressful than necessary).

In case you missed it, the Pads beat Barry Bonds and company, 4-3, in 10 innings. David Wells pitched a gem in his San Diego debut, working seven scoreless innings before turning things over to Aki Otsuka.

Otsuka pitched a scoreless eighth, and then Trevor Hoffman came in to protect a 1-0 lead. Everyone was ready for a perfect ending: Hometown kid comes home to get the victory, beloved closer nails down his first save since 2002. Life is good.

But the Giants weren’t hip to that plan and collected two singles on two pitches to start the ninth. With runners at second and third, and one out, pinch hitter A.J. Pierzynski hit a sharp grounder to short. Khalil Greene, playing in, fielded it cleanly and threw a strike to Ramon Hernandez to nail Cody Ransom at home. Two outs. Get Ray Durham, and the game is over.

Durham doubles to the gap in left-center, plating two. Giants lead, 2-1.

Damn.

Just moments earlier it was "Hell’s Bells," screaming, and a serious dose of adrenaline. Now it was the morning after, empty beer cans, deflated balloons. We might as well have been watching Carrot Top in Branson.

Then something miraculous happened. The Padres came back. Greene, who finished with three hits and two walks in five trips to the plate, led off the ninth with a crisp single back through the middle. After Ramon Vazquez sacrificed Greene to second, Burroughs stepped to the plate against the Giants’ nominal closer and former Padre, Matt Herges.

Burroughs took ball one. Took strike one. Took strike two. Down in the count, 1-2, he then fouled off four pitches. Took ball two. Fouled off three more pitches. Took ball three. Finally, on the 13th pitch of the at-bat, Burroughs smacked a single to center, scoring Greene. No further damage ensued, but at least the Pads were still alive. Hope was renewed among the faithful.

To the top of the 10th. Enter Antonio Osuna. Enter Marquis Grissom. Exit baseball via left field. Grissom becomes the answer to a trivia question and the Giants are back on top, 3-2. Eddie Oropesa eventually comes in and puts out the fire.

Bottom of the 10th, Herges is still working for the visitors. Kerry Robinson, who had come in for defensive purposes back in the seventh and made a spectacular diving catch (note to Bruce Bochy: the fact that it worked this time still doesn’t make it a good idea to pull one of your best hitters with a one-run lead; having Ryan Klesko unavailable in extra innings is going to come back to haunt this club at some point), works the count and leads off with a single.

This I take as a sign. If Robinson gets a hit, then surely something good must come of it. As it happens, what comes of it is another Jay Payton strikeout (one of three on the night) and a weak fly to left by Hernandez. Once again, the Pads are down to their last out.

Greene proceeds to draw his second walk of the game (gotta like that), bringing up the pitcher’s spot. Vazquez has already been used, so it has to be Brian Buchanan, right? Would you believe, Miguel Ojeda? Would you believe Ojeda hammers a double to deep left-center to plate Robinson? Of course, the way things are going for the Padres, the ball hops the fence and Greene has to return to third.

Up comes Burroughs. With a little less drama than in his previous at-bat, he laces a single back through the middle to score Greene. Game over.

Although it wasn’t the perfect ending that we had envisioned when Hoffman trotted in from the bullpen earlier, in many ways it was more fitting. The Padres’ perseverance and continued struggle to win was a microcosm of the entire process of building Petco Park. The victory over the Giants, like the building of the park, was more difficult than it probably should have been and it wasn’t always pretty. But the end result was very, very sweet.

Take-Home Memories

• Finding our seat in the very last row of Section 229 out in right field. Bring a jacket if you’re up that way. The wind swirls; it felt like Candlestick.
• Booing Bud Selig, although not as mercilessly as I could have. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t ever want to see him in our house again.
• Payton robbing Bonds of his 660th career home run. As much as I would’ve liked to see him tie Willie Mays, I have to admit I enjoyed watching him think he’d done it only to be denied by Payton.
• Wells pitching the home opener in his hometown. He wasn’t overpowering but he got the job done. And he’s still a lot cheaper than Greg Maddux.
• Burroughs and Greene, Burroughs and Greene, Burroughs and Greene.
• Fans starting the wave in the eighth inning of a 1-0 game. Evidently they’d forgotten how to get to the Q. Get that garbage out of here.
• Screaming for Hoffman when he came in from the ‘pen. Thank goodness his teammates picked him up last night. Lord knows he’s been there for them enough times over the years.
• Hangin’ with my buddies Chet and Mark for the last several innings, trashing what was left of my voice when Burroughs drove in the game winner.

This is an experience I’ll not soon forget. I really hope the opener is a harbinger of good things to come at Petco. Should be a fun summer…

That was disappointing. Padres very easily could have swept the series up in LA, but instead they drop two out of three. On the bright side, we saw some brilliant starting pitching by Adam Eaton. Eight innings, one run. The Pads need more of that out of their starters. And how about the rocket Eaton hit off the scoreboard in left? Check this out:

         AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO
Lawrence  2 2 2  1  0  0   0  0  0
Peavy     3 0 1  1  0  0   0  0  0
Eaton     3 1 1  1  0  0   0  0  0
Total     8 3 4  3  0  0   0  0  0

Each of the starters hit a double in his 2004 debut. They’re hitting a combined .500/.500/.875 so far. What’s the over/under on homers by Peavy and Eaton combined this year? How about 5.

Trevor Hoffman made his first appearance of the season and looked sharp. Aki Otsuka also bounced back strong from his tough loss. I don’t know about Ismael Valdez. Come in with a guy on first, allow a stolen base, wild pitch, and game-winning base hit in the span of five pitches. That’s not good.

What’s also not good is going into extra innings with Ryan Klesko and Phil Nevin watching from the bench. It’s early, but I could stand to see a little less of Kerry Robinson out there.

We could dwell on the negatives all day if we were so inclined, fixating on things like 33 runners left on base in three games. But let’s look at the positives. First and foremost, the Pads must have done something right to be in a position to leave that many guys on base. If they keep hitting like they have been, from top to bottom, eventually those runners are going to start crossing the plate.

It’s three games, folks. Sure, there are people who probably have jumped back off the bandwagon since Monday, but who needs them. The Pads were in position to win all three games in LA and probably should have taken at least two of them. But it didn’t happen.

Bummer.

Now that we’re over that, it’s time to move onto bigger and better things. Like the regular season debut of Petco Park, David Wells in a Padre uniform, and a series against Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants.

The Pads have a good ballclub this year. An Opening Day victory didn’t make that any more true, nor did two ensuing losses make it any less true. But one thing is for sure: Petco is going to be rockin’ tonight big time. Former Padre Dustin Hermanson goes for the Giants. Game starts at 7:05, but if you’re going to the park, you’ll want to get there as early as you possibly can.

This is going to be fun. Dream scenario: Barry Bonds hits two solo homers to pass Willie Mays on the all-time home run list. Pads win, 15-2. That would be sweet.

Hey, it could happen.

I was going to lead in with a bit about Japanese koto music, but all the good feeling I derived from listening to that at work yesterday disappeared in a flash last night. This was a game the Padres should have won. The things that didn’t come back to bite them in the opener led to their undoing on Tuesday.

We’ll start out positive and then work our way into the stuff that had me screaming at the television. First off, some nice defensive work early in the game, particularly by Phil Nevin, Ramon Hernandez, and Jay Payton. Nevin made a nice diving stop of a grounder hit by Cesar Izturis in the first. Yes, he dove. No, it wasn’t full extension; it was more of a slide-on-one-knee kind of thing. Effective and safe. Nevin also started a beautiful double play to end the third. Dave Roberts hit a smash just over the bag. Nevin fielded it, stepped on first while crossing into foul territory, then spun and fired to Khalil Greene, who tagged a bewildered (and standing) Odalis Perez to complete the twin killing.

Earlier that inning, Hernandez pounced on Perez’ sacrifice attempt and nailed Adrian Beltre at third. Hernandez looked like a third baseman coming in on slow grounder and made a strong and accurate throw while falling away from the play. Pretty athletic move for a stocky guy slogging a bunch of gear. Hernandez also hit a towering three-run homer in the second. That and Jake Peavy’s opposite field double were the offensive highlights.

The last standout defensive play came when Payton gunned down Izturis trying to leg out a double to start the fourth. The Dodgers were down 4-0 at the time and on their way to being laughed out of their own stadium again. It was a nice play by Payton and a bizarre decision on the part of Izturis.

At this point in the game, things are going well. Real well. Peavy is dealing. He’s mostly hitting his spots. Sure, the 0-2 hanger that Alex Cora slaps to center for a single isn’t pretty, but we’re nitpicking.

The box score will tell you that the game turned in the sixth, when the Dodgers cut the lead in half. But it really started to go downhill the previous inning. After two quick outs, the Pads managed to load the bases for Greene. Let me make it perfectly clear that I’m not picking on Greene here; this is what rookies do. He fell behind in the count, 0-2, and then popped weakly to first to end the inning. Right there I’m starting to think the Pads might be in trouble. (Years of losing will do that to you.)

The bottom of the sixth starts well. The Dodgers have already gone to the ‘pen and now they bring a pinch-hitter up to lead off the inning, which means they’ll be on their third pitcher come the seventh. That hitter, Jason Grabowski, strikes out on four pitches.

Peavy is cruising.

Then Dave Roberts lays down a perfect bunt wide of first. Nevin bobbles the ball, but even if he comes up with it cleanly, he puts it in his pocket. Roberts proceeds to steal second and then (this is the killer) Izturis singles him to third. Then, with Milton Bradley at the plate, Peavy comes off the rubber badly and balks in a run.

With me so far? Bunt to first, single to one of the worst hitters in Major League Baseball, balk. Then Bradley singles and it’s 4-2. Exit Peavy. Thankfully Eddie Oropesa and Scott Linebrink shut the door without further damage, but what happened to Peavy? I don’t pretend to know what’s inside anyone’s head, but it sure looked like Roberts’ bunt rattled him. Or maybe he was running out of gas. Whatever the case, it unraveled for him in a hurry.

But the Padres still have the lead, so it’s all good. Enter Antonio Osuna. With one on and one out, he falls behind Beltre 3-1. Next pitch: meatball, gone. Tie game. Sigh. The bullpen was supposed to be a strength this year. I’m sure I’m not alone in wondering, as Beltre rounds the bases, where is Rod Beck?

I won’t go into all the gory details, but things got worse. Infielders started looking confused (Ramon Vazquez may yet learn how to play first base, but maybe sticking him out there in a tight ballgame isn’t the best way for him to do it) and there was a general inability to hit with ducks on the pond. The Pads ended up stranding 14 baserunners (6 alone by Greene, who twice walked away empty with the bases loaded) and basically gave away a game they had numerous opportunities to win. Give the Dodgers credit for hanging close and chipping away at the lead. But this one hurt.

Okay, now that I’ve meandered my way through various verb tenses, let’s end on an up note. The Padres didn’t go down quietly againt Eric Gagne. It may look that way from the box score, but what the numbers don’t tell you are that Ramon Hernandez crushed the first pitch he saw from Gagne to deep center field. Only a spectacular running catch by Bradley kept that from being a one-out double, which completely changes the inning. Also, Terrence Long, of all people, battled valiantly against Gagne before flying out to end the inning.

Tonight it’s Adam Eaton against Jeff Weaver. Same time, same channel. It’s only the third game of the season, but I’m interested to see how the club responds to Tuesday’s heartbreaker. Early gut check for the Friars. Here’s hoping they bounce back and take the series before coming home to open Petco…

I Need You, Boomin’ Granny
I Said I Want You, Boomin’ Granny
      –Beastie Boys, "Boomin’ Granny"

So that was a nice start to the season. Did you catch the LA fans booing their team as early as the third inning yesterday? Talk about harsh.

Some random observations:

• The top three in the order look real good right now. Sean Burroughs singled on the first pitch of the season, scorching a ball past shortstop Cesar Izturis. He also sacrificed Brian Lawrence to third on what looked like an attempted bunt for a base hit. Burroughs reached base two more times, once on a hit by pitch and once on a line shot back through the middle against southpaw Wilson Alvarez. I like the way Burroughs kept his front shoulder closed against Alvarez. That approach is going to lead to a lot of success against lefties this year. Burroughs struck out in his other at-bat. After jumping ahead in the count, 3-0, he took two questionable pitches (the first looked low, the second might have caught the outside corner) before flailing at another one that looked to be out of the zone but which might have been called a strike. Burroughs also made a couple of nice plays at third.
• In Phil Nevin’s first two at-bats, he looked like a guy who had been out for a while and was trying to find his timing. Both times he got good pitches to hit, both times he was a shade late and just got under the ball. In his third trip to the plate, he fouled off another hittable offering from Hideo Nomo before hammering the next one just inside the left field foul line for a grand slam. Interesting to see Nevin hit a ball out to that part of the park. Coincidence, or preparation for Petco Park? We shall see.
• Jay Payton, the other guy who didn’t see much action this spring and who was questionable to start the season, also homered to left off Nomo. Payton reminds me a little of Derek Bell (the good version who showed up in San Diego): aggressive at the plate, solid contact. I think he’s this year’s Mark Loretta. Last year the Pads settled for Loretta because they couldn’t afford Edgardo Alfonzo. Loretta, as we know, outproduced Alfonzo for a fraction of the cost. This year the Pads settled for Payton after missing on Mike Cameron. I’m not sure there’s going to be a lot of difference between those two, other than the sizes of their paychecks, come September.
• Brian Lawrence was a mixed bag. Positives are that his sinker was moving pretty well and he worked some nice sequences. That slider he threw down and in to punch out Shawn Green was filthy (even if the hurler missed his spot by a foot and a half). The downside to Lawrence’s performance is that he appeared to have trouble locating. He worked behind in the count too often and threw too many pitches. It’s only one game, and the Pads did win, so I’m not even beginning to think about panicking. But the Padre starters need to go six consistently this season. And the best way for them to do that is by being efficient with their pitches. This is especially true for a finesse guy like Lawrence, whose margin of error is smaller than that of, say, a Jake Peavy or Adam Eaton. Again, it’s one game. And I suppose you could count the fact that Lawrence was able to hold the Dodgers at bay despite less-than-stellar command as a positive. But I like his chances for long-term success a lot better if he can spot his pitches and work ahead in the count most of the time.
• Lawrence also doubled and singled in two trips to the plate, scoring the Padres’ first run of 2004.
• Milton Bradley is a stud. I really wish he hadn’t come to the NL West.
• Loretta and Khalil Greene turned three double plays. I honestly don’t know how much immediate success Greene is going to have at the big-league level but he sure plays like a guy who knows he belongs. Everything he does is quiet. At the plate, in the field. Without much fuss or fanfare, he gets where he needs to be and then executes. Greene is just fun to watch. Plus Mark Grant has taken to calling him Spicoli.
• The bullpen didn’t impress a lot. Ismael Valdez looked pretty hittable. I don’t know that Eddie Oropesa adds much value. Scott Linebrink, Antonio Osuna, and Jay Witasick all looked okay but not great. Then again, they were protecting a huge lead so maybe they weren’t exactly bearing down.
• Nice to see Bruce Bochy smiling in the dugout. Hopefully he’ll be doing a lot more of that this year.

Coverage from ESPN: Lawrence stingy, Nevin grand for San Diego.

Tonight it’s Jake Peavy against Odalis Perez. Game starts at 7 PM, Channel 4. Here’s hoping for more of the same…

Yep. It’s finally here. Brian Lawrence and Hideo Nomo hook up at Dodger Stadium, 1 PM start. Throw out the high ERAs and hope everyone is ready. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty giddy about the upcoming season. I know, I always feel that way on Opening Day. But somehow I can’t help but think this is going to be a good year for the Pads.

Caught most of the exhibition games against the M’s this weekend on television. Antonio Osuna looked terrific Saturday night, pumping fastballs past no less than Ichiro Suzuki. And, for the trivia buffs: Brian Giles hit the first homer at Petco in a big-league contest. Mark Loretta knocked the first ball into the Western Metal Supply Co. building. Rick Sutclife seems to think Loretta could hit 20+ home runs this year. I believe that a lot of folks are underselling Loretta in thinking that last year was a fluke, but 20+ dongs? I can see 40 doubles and maybe 15 homers. Maybe. But 20 seems awfully optimistic to me.

In Sunday’s game, Sterling Hitchcock had nothing in the first inning but came back strong and gave up two runs (both in the first) over five innings. His fastball was running low- to mid-80s, and he struck out both John Olerud and Edgar Martinez, making them look bad in the process. No easy task, that.

Kerry Robinson and Sir Eugene Kingsale each saw action. Each was caught stealing. Other than the fact that Robinson has made the club and Kingsale will start at Portland, I still can’t tell the difference between those two. I also don’t understand the justification for carrying a guy whose lone tool is speed. Today’s game really doesn’t allow for that.

The top three guys in the lineup are seeing the ball and hitting it extremely well headed into the season. Sean Burroughs is doing a nice job of working the count, getting his pitch, and hammering baseballs all over the park. If he is able to maintain that approach throughout the season, he could surprise some folks. In my head, I remind myself that Burroughs is probably a year or so away from really making an impact. But I watch his improved approach and confidence at the plate and on the field in general, and I wonder if I’m selling him short. Burroughs is going to be fun to watch this year.

I’m still not sure about Khalil Greene’s bat. I like his new, more open stance. Seems like it should give him a little more balance and leverage. And he is a strong kid with quick hands. But he gets into bad counts a lot and helps the pitcher too much. My suspicion is that, like Xavier Nady last year, Greene will run hot and cold. The difference, of course, is that right field is an offense-first position. If Greene can put up Nady-like numbers while playing shortstop, he and the Padres should be happy.

From where I sit, the keys to the upcoming season look to be:

• The health of David Wells and the big boppers in the middle of the lineup.
• The continued development of Adam Eaton and Jake Peavy; can they consistently work into the seventh inning?
• The amount of production from the 6-7-8 hitters; if either Ramon Hernandez or Jay Payton can come close to what he did last year, this could be a very dangerous offense.

Ben Howard for Blaine Neal

The Pads sent RHP Ben Howard to Florida for RHP Blaine Neal. This is an interesting move. Neal’s profile is similar to Howard’s in a lot of ways: real hard-thrower who has taken longer to develop than expected.

Neal was a fourth-round pick of the Marlins in 1996. In BA’s 2001 Prospect Handbook, he was ranked the #7 prospect in their organization. At that time his fastball was described as "95-96 with late movement."

In the 2002 edition of the same book, Neal was ranked #8 among Marlins prospects. His fastball was described as "93-95 with late movement."

Looks like a couple of teams got tired of waiting for their young power arms to develop and decided to swap ‘em, see if a change of scenery might help.

More info:

• Marlins get Howard from Padres for Neal (Washington Times)
• Marlins, Padres exchange live arms (BA). Jim Callis offers his thoughts on the deal.

Final Spring Training Notes

• Cirillo out 4-6 weeks with broken finger (NC Times). He hurt it in a bunt attempt against the Rangers last Monday. Former Padre Damian Jackson has been mentioned as a possible replacement, as have in-house candidates Rico Washington and Ben Risinger.
• Lake Elsinore’s 2004 club will feature Padres’ top pick from 2003 (NC Times). Tim Stauffer is scheduled to make his pro debut next week with the Storm. RHP David Pauley, OF Kennard Jones, and 1B Michael Johnson are among the notable names that will join Stauffer in the Cal League.
• Padres decide relievers will be in left-field bullpen (NC Times). The pitchers aren’t real thrilled about it, as it is much further from the dugout than the right-field bullpen and the space is limited. "There is no place for Hoffman or the other pitchers to play long toss while warming up. Lengthening the bullpen to provide room for long toss would require moving a fence or taking out a sand volleyball pit." This, of course, begs the question: Why is there a volleyball pit in the middle of a baseball stadium?
• Padres to use bullpen in left (U-T). From Trevor Hoffman: "They are aware of the situation. I would assume that the right-field bullpen would be in the outfield (beyond the right-center fence) in a year or so." Are you serious? And deprive fans of their God-given right to play volleyball at a baseball game?
• Is there an echo in right-center? (U-T). Count Seattle’s Bret Boone among those impressed with Petco. He also wonders what the Padres were thinking by making right-center field so unreachable given that their top three power threats all hit the ball to that part of the park. The infield, which from this fan’s perspective looks immaculate and like it plays true, also drew praise.
• Szuminski could stick with team (U-T). A rehashing of past Rule V disasters in Padreland and a quasi-satisfactory explanation that Szuminski isn’t like the others. Also, news on Tim Stauffer, Gary Matthews Jr. (he isn’t on the radar), and the trade of RHP Brian Sanches (acquired from the Royals last summer in the Rondell White deal). Sanches was shipped to Philly for the ubiquitous PTBNL. Earlier in the week, minor-league RHP J.J. Trujillo was traded to the Royals, also for a PTBNL.

Oh, and there is also the disturbing news that the talented but troubled Milton Bradley has been traded to the Dodgers. The bright side is it cost the Dodgers Franklin Gutierrez, one of their top hitting prospects. But Bradley, if the Dodgers can keep him from imploding in LA, gives them a legit middle-of-the-order threat. Realize this: No matter how the Padre announcers might try to spin it ("desperate" was one word used during Sunday’s telecast), this is not good news for the Padres.

On the other hand, it’s Opening Day and for the first time in a long time, the hometown nine look to field a competitive ballclub. Seriously, what’s not to like?

Play ball!