Greene Day

by Geoff Young on Mar 22, 2004 (0) Comments

The big news, of course, is that Khalil Greene has won the shortstop job. Rey Ordonez abruptly and unexpectedly left camp, essentially giving Greene the nod. It should be said that Greene was making a strong claim on the position even before Ordonez left (which may also have been a contributing factor to Ordonez’ departure). I think I speak for most Padre fans when I say that this is a terrific development. Greene had to come out and take the job this spring, and that’s just what he did. The future at shortstop begins right now.

And now, as the players stretch themselves out in preparation for Opening Day, so do I. If you read Ducksnorts: Best of 2003, I mentioned that one of my goals was to do more in-game analysis this year. Well, thanks to a slick new laptop, I no longer have an excuse not to do just that. So here is my first stab of the year. I was able to go six innings in my first outing. We’ll see how I respond, and hopefully I’ll be good for the full nine once the season starts.

First inning

  • Sean Burroughs draws a leadoff walk against Juan Cruz on five pitches. Cruz’ fastball is running 91-96 mph according to WGN. Burroughs caught stealing to end inning on a Brian Giles strikeout.
  • Brian Lawrence is hitting 80-84 mph with his fastball. It appears to be moving well. He is leaving pitches up in the zone and getting hit hard.
  • Nice play by Khalil Greene moving to his left, throwing on the run to retire Mark Grudzielanek leading off the first.
  • Ryan Klesko in left misplays a wind-blown fly ball hit by Corey Patterson.
  • Eugene Kingsale makes a spectacular leaping catch in left-center to rob Aramis Ramirez of a homer to end the first. Lawrence surrenders two runs, but it easily could have been four.

Second inning

  • This is my first look at Ramon Hernandez. He battles at the plate. Nice opposite field stroke.
  • Jeff Cirillo knocks an RBI single. Second hit of spring, first RBI. Pulls fastball down and in just inside the third base line.
  • Two quick strikes against Greene, then weak popup to first.
  • Lawrence shows a good opposite-field stroke, slaps an RBI single to right.
  • Burroughs knocks an RBI single on a 1-0 slider pretty well down and in. Sharp grounder between first and second.
  • Lawrence gets away with a fastball out over the plate to Gonzalez, who takes Giles to the warning track in right. Wind knocked the ball down. Probably gone if hit to left.

Third inning

  • Cruz makes Klesko look terrible on a changeup for first out.
  • Kingsale sure has a long swing for a guy with no power.
  • Lawrence fans Patterson on a nice 77-MPH slider down and in. He then fans Sosa on 79-MPH slider down and away before retiring Moises Alou on a first-pitch weak grounder to Burroughs. Very strong inning.

Fourth inning

  • Seven-pitch at-bat to Cirillo results in a weak fly to center to lead off inning.
  • Again 0-2 to Greene. Infield hit to 5.5 hole.
  • Burroughs takes first pitch after Lawrence sacrifices Greene to second. Ball one. Strikes out on an 87-MPH slider down and away.
  • Lawrence gets Ramirez looking on a 77-mph slider. Horrible throw by Hernandez trying to nab Lee stealing second. A few feet to the third base side of the bag on a hop and into center field. Lee takes third.
  • Lawrence fans Alex Gonzalez on a 72-mph backdoor slider on the inside corner. Five strikeouts.
  • Paul Bako hits a weak cue shot down the third base line, lots of english. Burroughs can’t handle it, game tied. Burroughs is wrongly charged with an error.
  • Bako steals second. Hernandez is unable to make the transfer to his throwing hand.

Fifth inning

  • Steve Stone mentions the Pads’ lack of starting pitching. I think the Friars’ young arms are going to surprise some folks this year.
  • Now Stone and Caray are attributing Lawrence’s success on the inner half to the inability of Cub hitters to capitalize on his "mistakes." They’ve been dwelling all day on the fact that he isn’t overpowering. But just because a guy doesn’t throw mid-90s doesn’t mean he shouldn’t work inside to keep hitters honest.
  • That said, Lawrence’s command could be better.
  • Lawrence hits 85 and 86 with the fastball on consecutive pitches to Alou, who grounds to short to end the inning.

Sixth inning

  • Cirillo, starting at first base, laces a sharp single to center. Two hits today in three at-bats. Raises his spring batting average to .100 (3 for 30).
  • Ramon Vazquez takes over for Greene at short. Strikes out swinging at changeup down from Bryan Corey to end inning.

And that’s where I stop. Probably could’ve gone a little further, but I’m on a strict pitch count at this stage. If it’s the regular season, I stay in and finish. But no sense in pushing things in a meaningless game.

Other Stuff

  • Ashby finds elbow room in second stint as Padre (NC Times). “It would have been too easy to shut it down,” he said. “And I’d be kicking myself in the head wondering what if I had tried to come back, wondering what would have happened.” Kicking himself in the head? Maybe the improved flexibility will help him when he returns.
  • Vazquez willing to go where the action is (U-T). Former starting shortstop has seen time at all four infield spots this spring and has been shagging fly balls in the outfield as well, just in case.
  • Otsuka quick to fit in . . . in any language (U-T). “American hitters have very big strike zone…. Good for me.” Useless bit of trivia: Otsuka has one hit as a pro in Japan, a homer in 1997.

That’s all for now. More as it happens…

Spring Training Notes

by Geoff Young on Mar 18, 2004 (Comments Off) Comments

My wrists are killing me, so we’ll keep this short and sweet.

  • Conversation with Tye Waller (PDX Beavers). Jonathan talks to the Pads’ Director of Player Development, who offers his thoughts on Bernie Castro, Freddy Guzman, Jason Szuminski, and more. Nice work here.
  • Padres Notes: Top pick Stauffer makes belated debut (NC Times). Regular reader Howard Lynch passes this one our way. Key points:
    • Stauffer said he felt good, and was able to throw "free and easy."
    • His fastball was clocked at 88-91 mph in his debut.
    • He will start the season at Elsinore.
    • Regarding his decision to tell the Padres of the pain in his shoulder before signing: "Hiding something like that will come back to bite you. I’m very comfortable with my decision to tell the Padres. If I’m good enough, I’ll make that money back. If not, then I didn’t deserve it." An honest man doesn’t necessarily make a great prospect, but it sure is easier to pull for a kid with that kind of attitude.
  • Notes: Peavy improving (MLB.com). The right-hander appears to be over the strained oblique that bothered him at the start of spring training. Rey Ordonez is out for a couple of days "attending to a personal matter." Sean Burroughs is hot, Jeff Cirillo is not.
  • San Diego Padres have faith in bullpen (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
  • Minus Beck, Padres relievers must pick up the slack (NC Times)

Arms about to fall off, must stop typing. Until next time…

Opening Weekend at Petco

by Geoff Young on Mar 16, 2004 (Comments Off) Comments

SDSU vs Long Beach State

I’m still compiling data, and it’s a dangerously small sample, but Petco sure wasn’t kind to hitters during the Aztec Invitational:

 AB  R   H RBI BB  SO   BA
641 78 143  72 75 141 .223

A whopping 3.9 runs per game, per team, with aluminum bats? Here’s the distribution:

runs  times
-----------
  11      1
   7      2
   6      3
   5      2
   4      3
   3      2
   2      3
   1      1
   0      3

Or to look at it another way:

runs   pct.
-----------
 > 5    30
 3-4    25
 < 3    35

Sure, Jered Weaver skews things a tad because he dominates everywhere. But what about SDSU’s Scott Shumaker? He sported a 5.85 ERA and opponents were hitting .307 against him before he spun a three-hit shutout Thursday night.

Again, it’s way too early to draw meaningful conclusions. This is a tiny sample, nobody has ever played in the park before, etc. But I think some of us were expecting a little more offense this weekend, and it didn’t happen.

I’m sure we’ll be discussing whether Petco favors hitters or pitchers a lot over the next several months. Meantime, let’s take a quick look at the Pads:

  • Bonds, Wagner Return; Beck Bows Out (NC Times). Rod Beck, who has yet to pitch this spring, has left the club indefinitely to attend to family matters. He probably won’t be ready for Opening Day. No word on who might take Beck’s roster spot, although right-handers Jason Szuminski and USD alum Bart Miadich are making some noise.
  • Bochy: Beck may be out until May (U-T). Joey Hamilton and left-handers Edgar Huerta, Eddie Oropesa, and Kevin Walker are all mentioned as possible beneficiaries.
  • Nevin hoping to get back into swing of things soon (NC Times). Nevin update. He’s shooting for Opening Day. Another strong effort from Sterling Hitchcock, who appears to be the only one among competitors for the #5 spot actually doing anything to help his cause.

That’s all for now. More as it happens…

Spring Training Notes

by Geoff Young on Mar 15, 2004 (Comments Off) Comments

Seems the hosting company moved my site to another server while I was on vacation and ducksnorts.com disappeared for a few days. In case you missed last Thursday’s report, check it out before proceeding.

In other news, Brian Buchanan is seeing a lot of action at first base with Phil Nevin sidelined. Jeff Cirillo and Tagg Bozied have also played there. Xavier Nady spent some time in center field Friday.

Now, in an extreme fit of laziness, I point you to several interesting and/or relevant articles and provide minimal commentary.

From the NC Times:

From the U-T:

  • MIT aerospace grad Szuminski is unique prospect on mound The odds would seem to be against the Rule V draftee, but it’s hard not to root for the guy. Definitely one of the more interesting stories to come through the ranks in some time.
  • Peavy back on mound, feels back on track More info on Peavy. He threw almost exclusively fastballs Friday, averaging 89-93 mph, right about where he usually sits.
  • No panic about Lawrence The right-hander’s fastball has averaged about 81 mph in his first two starts, low even by his standards. Tim Stauffer won’t pitch in games this spring but is expected to be ready when the California League starts next month. According to the Pads, the move is strictly precautionary.
  • Paralyzed policeman, former Padre, returns to S.D. I remember seeing Dan Walters play in my first trip to spring training. Actually, I remember seeing him lug equipment in from the bullpen after a particularly disheartening loss to the Angels, whose right fielder, Tim Salmon, would go on to win the American League Rookie of the Year award.

From elsewhere:

  • Dish of Padres pitches on Helton’s plate (Rocky Mountain News). Apparently Todd Helton was upset with the Padres for intentionally walking him in his final at-bat last season, thus denying the Rockies’ first baseman a chance at the batting crown. He’s over it now. Nice to see Helton, with the benefit of hindsight, take a little responsibility rather than pin his failings (such as they were; how bad is a .358 batting average really?) on one plate appearance in an otherwise meaningless game. Good for him.
  • Petco Opener Provides Record Attendance (Baseball America)
  • Pads notes: Zoning in on timing (Padres.com). Jeff Cirillo tries to correct a mechanical flaw at the plate. After two poor outings, Adam Eaton looked good in his third spring start. Bruce Bochy is leaning toward breaking camp with 12 pitchers. Defense likely will decide the battle for backup catcher between Miguel Ojeda and newcomer Tom Wilson.
  • Pitching Wells: Boomer makes Padres debut (ESPN)

Shortstop battle:

         AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO
3/11
  Greene  4  0  2  0  0  0   1  0  1
3/12
  Ordonez 5  1  1  0  0  0   1  0  0 (error)
3/13
  Greene  3  1  2  0  1  0   0  0  0
3/14
  Greene  3  0  1  0  0  0   2  *  *
  Ordonez 3  1  1  1  0  0   1  *  *

totals (thru 3/14)
  Greene  23 4  8  0  1  1   7  0  6
  Ordonez 21 2  7  2  0  0   5  0  2

*Not available.

That’s .348/.348/.565 for Greene and .333/.333/.429 for Ordonez. The only error this spring has been committed by Ordonez. It’s early, but so far Greene is doing exactly what he needed to do.

Fifth starter battle:

                IP H ER HR BB SO
Howard    3/12 2.1 3  2  0  0  3
Valdez    3/14 DNP - left side strain

totals (thru 3/14)
  Hitchcock    5.0 9  3  0  1  3  5.40
  Howard       3.2 7  7  1  3  4 17.18
  Valdez       3.0 4  2  1  1  0  6.00

Valdez’ scratch Sunday can’t help his cause. Dennis Tankersley did a nice job (2.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO) in Valdez’ place.

That’s all for now. Tomorrow we’ll take a look at the first weekend of baseball at Petco Park.

Who’s On First?

by Geoff Young on Mar 11, 2004 (Comments Off) Comments

While I was off cavorting about California’s central coast, discovering my new favorite small town, Phil Nevin injured his right shoulder. Again. Diving for a ball. Again. On March 7. Again.

Details of Nevin’s injury and prognosis:

Shortstop battle:

         AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO
3/7
  Greene  4  0  0  0  0  0   0  0  3
  Ordonez 2  0  1  0  0  0   1  0  1
3/8
  Ordonez 3  0  2  0  0  0   1  0  0
3/9
  Greene  3  1  1  0  0  0   1  0  1
3/10
  Ordonez 3  0  1  1  0  0   0  0  0

totals (thru 3/10)
  Greene  13 3  3  0  0  1   5  0  5
  Ordonez 13 0  5  1  0  0   3  0  2

That’s 231/.231/.462 for Greene and .381/.381/.462 for Ordonez in equal time, if you’re keeping score at home.

Fifth starter battle:

                IP H ER HR BB SO
Valdez    3/7  2.0 2  1  1  1  0
Howard    3/7  0.1 4  5  1  3  0
Hitchcock 3/10 3.0 7  3  0  0  2

totals (thru 3/10)
  Hitchcock    5.0 9  3  0  1  3  5.40
  Howard       1.1 4  5  1  3  1 33.75
  Valdez       3.0 4  2  1  1  0  6.00

Looks like they’re not counting stats from the March 4 game, but I’ll keep ‘em in there for grins. I’d really like to see Valdez strike someone out soon.

Noteworthy:

  • Jeff Cirillo committed an error Monday while playing second base. That will happen.
  • Adam Eaton got pounded Tuesday against the A’s, surrendering nine runs (four earned) in just two-thirds of an inning. No cause for concern. He’s just getting his work in at this point.
  • Nobody is really stepping it up in the competition for lefty in the ‘pen. Edgar Huerta, Eddie Oropesa, and Kevin Walker all have had at least one bad outing. Watch out for dark horse Mike Bynum.
  • Ramon Vazquez continues to put up solid numbers while playing all over the infield. Even if he doesn’t win a starting job, he’ll be plenty useful.
  • Tagg Bozied, slated for duty at Triple-A Portland, is hitting the ball well this spring. He needs a big year to reassert himself as a prospect.
  • Dennis Tankersley allowed a homer (to Mark Kotsay) and hit one (off John Rheinecker) in Wednesday’s loss to the A’s. He allowed two hits in two innings, striking out four and walking none. Tankersley also singled in his only at-bat Monday against Anaheim.
  • Otsuka and Trevor Hoffman continue to look sharp. Each worked a scoreless inning Wednesday.
  • Brian Buchanan got the call at first base Wednesday, with Nady in right field.

Elsewhere:

Finally, the Ducksnorts Yahoo Fantasy Baseball League has been filled. Thanks to all who expressed interest, and to those who joined, I look forward to beating you. :-) Seriously, it should be fun. I’ll keep everyone posted from time to time (yes, even if I’m getting pasted).

That’s all for now. If you ever find yourself in Cayucos, be sure to stop by the Cafe Della Via for pizza. It’s on the main road, toward the north end of town, just across from the antique shops (where I almost bought the crappiest electric guitar I’ve ever seen; but that’s a story for another day). You’ll be glad you did…

If It Wasn’t for Disappointments, I Wouldn’t Have Any Appointments

by Geoff Young on Mar 09, 2004 (Comments Off) Comments

Apologies to Mssrs. Flansburgh and Linnell for the title, but I recently picked up a copy of Baseball Prospectus 2004 and although I haven’t had a chance to read a lot of it, I did get through the Padre section. Frankly, I’m a little disappointed.

There are some terrific writers on the Prospectus team, so expectations are always high. And they do make some good obervations about the Padres. The comparisons of Sean Burroughs to Jeff Cirillo, and Khalil Greene to John Valentin and Rich Aurilia are spot on, as is the characterization of Ryan Klesko as a "better left fielder–and worse first baseman–than people think." They also correctly note that Xavier Nady needs more time at Triple-A and that Eaton could be a "great sleeper pick in your fantasy league this year." No gripes with any of that.

There are some minor annoyances:

  • Dedicating two pages to the discussion of how other teams have fared on moving into new ballparks seems a bit excessive, especially when only the final four paragraphs address how this might affect the Padres and there is no mention whatsoever of the 2003 season. But the Prospectus folks aren’t as keen on rehashing the past as, say Bill James was, in his old Abstracts. So although I would’ve liked to see at least some talk of what happened last year, I can understand why it isn’t there.
  • Calling Mark Loretta a "good utility infielder and a mediocre regular" despite the fact that Loretta performed much better as a regular in 2003 than as a part-timer the previous two season isn’t quite right. Given Loretta’s age and unexpected performance spike, it strikes me as reasonable to question where his true level of ability lies. And Prospectus is hardly the only publication expecting his performance to drop considerably in 2004. But referring to Loretta as a mediocre regular is exaggerating matters a bit.
  • Neglecting to mention Xavier Nady’s premature return from an elbow injury in 2002, subsequent learning of a new defensive position while skipping a level, and then being pushed ahead of schedule to the big leagues thanks to Phil Nevin’s injury keeps an important part of his story from being told. Not disastrous, but it might help to mention that Nady has confronted more than his share of obstacles to this point in his career. That’s useful information that could make a difference in his future development and in our expectations of his potential ceiling.
  • Projecting Brian Buchanan (.262/.340/.458) to outhit Nevin (.268/.339/.447) doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Such is the nature of projection systems, which view players as amalgamations of their statistical records and generally fail to consider other influences. A 10% decrease in homers from year 2 to year 3 can be easily calculated and integrated into a series of equations that produce a projected statistical line for year 4. More difficult to program is the role, say, an injury in year 3 may have had in that 10% decrease. So the system works with effects and ignores or at least downplays causes. This isn’t a fault with Prospectus, this is just the nature of projection algorithms that rely primarily on numerical input. But when a system generates weird results (e.g., Buchanan outhitting Nevin), it would be helpful for a human to step in say, "I realize what the system says, but in this case it’s wrong." Again, a relatively minor quibble, but something like that would’ve been a nice touch for folks who might not know better.
  • Citing "strong won-loss records" as a primary factor in Justin Germano’s ascent seems overly dismissive. I don’t believe Germano is a top-flight prospect, but I do believe it’s hard to talk about him without so much as mentioning the freakish control he’s exhibited throughout his minor-league career to this point. I might even go so far as to say that if anything has defined Germano as a pro, it’s his ability to throw strikes and not his ability to win games.
  • Nodding toward Jay Witasick’s spring training injury as a possible factor in his reduced effectiveness last year vs 2002 might have been useful. Sure, his park and defense could also be factors in his decline, but not mentioning his injury is a pretty glaring omission in this reader’s opinion.

But again, these are minor nuisances. Where I really start to have trouble is in the discussion of Josh Barfield, of whom it is said that:

The jump in power is what got people’s attention, however, so know this: the Padres have had a bunch of guys go through Lake Elsinore and do much the same.

The reason this jumped out at me is that I’ve been going to Elsinore games for several years and I know a couple of things about that team and its park:

  1. Elsinore has been affiliated with the Padres only since 2001: a total of three seasons.
  2. The Diamond is not a bandbox, especially as compared to some of the other parks in the Cal League, which are among the most extreme hitters’ environments in pro ball. That’s anectodal evidence. Prospectus gives Elsinore’s park factor as 955, 964, 964 for the seasons 2001, 2002, 2003. I can also tell you that the Storm rank fifth (out of 10 teams) with 317 homers over that same three-year period, accounting for 9.9% of jacks hit in the Cal League during that time.

So I did a little checking to see who we might point to as a cautionary tale for Barfield’s increased power at Elsinore. I looked for any player who had posted 300+ plate appearances and 180+ ISO (both arbitrary values) at Elsinore during the Padre years, and here is what I found:

              Yr Age  ISO XB/H
Josh Barfield 03  20 .193 .368
Tagg Bozied   02  22 .248 .464
J.J Furmaniak 03  23 .210 .402
Shawn Garrett 01  22 .192 .360
Joe Gerber    03  24 .194 .405
Xavier Nady   01  22 .225 .411
Jon Knott     02  23 .199 .392
Greg Sain     03  23 .197 .422
Troy Schader  01  24 .185 .398

That’s a total of nine players. Next question: Which of these players experienced a jump in power on moving up to Elsinore? Bozied and Nady effectively made their pro debuts at Elsinore (technically speaking, Bozied had spent time in the Northern League and Nady singled as a Padre in September 2000), so that removes them. Furmaniak was repeating the level when his power spiked and Gerber was with a previous organization the previous season, so we can throw them out as well. That leaves us with five players. Let’s take a look at how they fared on moving from Ft. Wayne to Elsinore:

                Ft. Wayne      Elsinore
              Age  ISO XB/H  Age  ISO XB/H
Josh Barfield  19 .097 .201   20 .193 .368
Shawn Garrett  21 .146 .345   22 .192 .360
Jon Knott*     23 .215 .429   23 .199 .392
Greg Sain      22 .176 .442   23 .197 .422
Troy Schader   23 .236 .447   24 .185 .398

*Knott’s promotion came in-season, the others moved up one year at a time.

Of these players, Knott and Schader actually suffered a drop in power output on moving up a level to Elsinore. Sain basically maintained. Garrett’s power increased, though not to the degree Barfield’s did. So we’re pretty much down to Garrett in terms of the data set "experienced a jump in power on arriving at Elsinore." I’d tell you what he did at Double-A the following year except that he didn’t play in the Padre organization and I was too lazy to look for his stats on some other team. It doesn’t really matter, though.

The point is, there has been exactly one player to come up through the Padre system who saw his power jump on arriving at Elsinore: Shawn Garrett. No disrespect intended, but I don’t think Garrett is a real good comp for Barfield. He was two years older and didn’t have Barfield’s pedigree.

Shifting our focus slightly, we note that there are three players in our original list who have played above A-ball in the Padre organization. Why don’t we see how they fared in the season following their big year at Elsinore:

                Elsinore       higher level
              Age  ISO XB/H  Age Lvl  ISO XB/H
Tagg Bozied    22 .248 .464   23 AAA .158 .333
Jon Knott      23 .199 .392   24  AA .262 .541
Xavier Nady    22 .225 .411   23 AAA .139 .258

Knott displayed even more power on moving to Double-A. Bozied, after an in-season promotion to Mobile in 2002 (where he struggled mightily), jumped to Triple-A and saw his power drop. As for Nady, his power took a serious hit on promotion to Triple-A. However, it is worth mentioning that he skipped a level and was learning to play a new defensive position.

So from the original statement, if we take guys who showed either a power spike on arriving at Elsinore or a power outage on leaving, we are left with three names: Bozied, Garrett, Nady. I’m being generous here, because Garrett wasn’t as highly regarded a prospect as the others and there were mitigating factors with Nady. But even if we grant three data points, that is not what I think of when I read "a bunch of guys." What I have in my head when I read the original statement is that prospects routinely arrive at Elsinore, show a power surge, then disappear. And that is not correct.

Don’t get me wrong, there are legitimate concerns with regard to Barfield as a prospect. Can he stay healthy? Will his plate discipline improve? What defensive position will he end up playing? But the possibility that he will flame out at Double-A because this sort of thing often happens with Padre hitting prospects ain’t one of them.

Believe it.

Spring Training Notes

by Geoff Young on Mar 08, 2004 (Comments Off) Comments

Greetings from San Luis Obispo, a town along the central coast of California about 6 1/2 hours’ drive northwest of San Diego. Vacation, what a concept!

Now that games have started, we can start monitoring the shortstop and #5 starter battles. Way too early to draw any conclusions, but here’s how things look so far:

         AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO
3/4
  Greene  2  0  0  0  0  0   0  0  1
3/5
  Greene  1  0  0  0  0  0   0  0  0
  Ordonez 3  0  1  0  0  0   1  0  1
3/6
  Greene  3  2  2  0  0  1   4  0  0
  Ordonez 2  0  0  0  0  0   0  0  0

Nice to see Khalil Greene off to a good start. Ramon Vazquez has seen action at second base, third base, and shortstop in the Pads’ first four games. That should remove any remaining doubts as to the club’s intentions with Vazquez.

In other news on the offensive side of things, outfielders Brian Buchanan and Terrence Long have gotten off to hot starts, as have prospects Tagg Bozied and Jon Knott. Jeff Cirillo has played some each at second and third base.

               IP H ER HR BB SO
Valdez    3/4 1.0 2  1  0  0  0
Howard    3/4 1.0 0  0  0  0  1
Hitchcock 3/6 2.0 2  0  0  1  1

Also, Akinori Otsuka was a little spotty his first time out, but came back strong in his second appearance. The early reports on Trevor Hoffman are encouraging. Southpaw Edgar Huerta failed to record an out in his Padre debut.

Some links for further reading:

  • Hitchcock throws two scoreless innings (U-T). Speedster Freddy Guzman is out at least 4-6 weeks with an elbow injury. Greene has "tweaked his hitting setup to become more consistent this year" Otsuka’s fastball was clocked at 92 mph.
  • Hoffman’s next step: pitching back-to-back (U-T). Jake Peavy, who has been bothered by the same left oblique muscle that troubled him last summer, threw off a mound and "looked great" according to pitching coach Darren Balsley.
  • Mariners 16, Padres (ss) 5 (SFGate.com). Lawrence, Hoffman, and Howard struggled. Josh Barfield strained his left hamstring and is out at least two weeks. Should have no long-term impact, but it sure is a bummer for the youngster.

Gotta run. More as it happens…

Padre Preview

by Geoff Young on Mar 04, 2004 (Comments Off) Comments

Just a quick note to let everyone know my 2004 preview is now up at Primer. Hopefully my prediction on how the club will do is better than last year’s. Stop on by, check it out, leave comments if you have ‘em.

That’s it for today. There are still spots open in the Ducksnorts Yahoo Fantasy Baseball League. Drop me a line if interested and I’ll give you the scoop. Later…

Petco Pix

by Geoff Young on Mar 01, 2004 (0) Comments

Spent three hours touring the park yesterday. Initial reactions:

  • The stadium has a very open feel to it. The marketing folks have been saying that Petco takes advantage of what San Diego has to offer and they’re not kidding. Where the Q felt a bit monolithic and claustrophobic (particularly after the lone view of Mission Valley was obliterated to accommodate the Super Bowl), Petco feels intimate and open. The place is going to rock.
  • What little breeze there was came straight off the harbor and across the field almost directly from left to right field. The wind was less pronounced closer to the field, where the structure is not as open. If you’re sitting in the upper deck, you’ll want to bring a jacket regardless of the time of day or year. What effect this wind has on hitting remains to be seen.
  • Right field is goofy. I don’t know that pictures do it justice, but between the visitors’ bullpen, the little section of seating that juts out to the left of the foul pole, and the deep corner in right-center, this is going to be a bear to cover. Center field looks pretty spacious in itself, but just from the looks of it, a compelling case could be made for sticking one’s best defender in right. There’s a lot of ground to cover, obstacles to avoid, and caroms to learn. I don’t envy Brian Giles (or anyone else who plays there).

Enough talking. A picture is worth a thousand words, so here you go:

I’ll be taking the next few days off to finish up a season preview piece I’m working on for Primer. Meantime, my buddy Jeff has been good enough to start us up a Ducksnorts fantasy baseball league on Yahoo. Drop me a line if interested, and I’ll give you the dirt.

Until then, enjoy…

Spring Training Notes

by Geoff Young on Feb 27, 2004 (Comments Off) Comments

Listening to Outkast’s "Hey Ya" a lot. Trying to deconstruct it. Much of what gets played on the radio is garbage, but this is some pretty serious stuff. The multiple syncopated vocal lines and killer synth bass are cool. But what really gets me is the acoustic guitar chord progression that repeats throughout the entire song. It’s G-C-D-E. That E at the end is just bizarre. It doesn’t resolve the progression; it kicks the song into a new key and then abruptly returns it to the original key with the G. It makes no musical sense. The kicker is when he gets to the chorus. The second "Hey Ya" is a G. That’s the note that puts the "minor" in E minor. But he sings it over that freakin’ E major chord. Somehow, maybe because the guitar is pretty far down in the mix, it actually works. I play an E minor in the chorus because it’s really disorienting to try and sing a G against an E major. Because it sounds so dissonant, you end up trying to correct your vocal pitch and everything goes to hell. I don’t know how he gets that to work.

Anywho, we talk about baseball ’round here so let’s get to it. I did a little googling, and here’s what I found:

And from the kind folks who constantly point me toward cool stuff:

  • Erie feeling about Indians (ESPN). Although this is about the Tribe, Rob Neyer does share some interesting thoughts on the Padres. Thanks to Howard Lynch for the link.
  • Edgar Orchard, the chocolatero of Culiacán. Jeff #287 sends along this hilarious Yahoo translation of one of yesterday’s articles on Edgar Huerta (aka Eddie Orchard). Pure genius: The first question on Orchard is if it belongs to bullpen or can be a consistent opener. Lee Sigman decided to send it to the calentadero to the starting of the season and his first appearance arrived the 22 from March in the Park Serdán Brothers before the Red ones of the Eagle, where hits in 4 stopped a 9 offensive of innings and 2/3 when throwing 2 1/3 in target and with 3 ponches. Culichi would add other 3 wonderful relief before undergoing its first punishment, in Tabasco, at the beginning of April.

Finally, because Friday lends itself to general wackiness, I leave you with Weight Watchers recipe cards from 1974. Do with these what you will, but please, for the love of humanity, steer clear of the Rosy Perfection Salad.