Friday Links (11 Jun 10)

by Geoff Young on Jun 11, 2010 (6) Comments

Baseball is a funny game. Some days, you beat up Johan Santana and are dominated by Jonathon Niese. Other days, you get links…

  • John Wooden, 1910-2010 (Baseball Analysts). Rich shares his thoughts on the passing of the legendary basketball coach: “Wooden’s favorite sport? Baseball. He coached baseball in college and was offered the job to manage the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1960s.”
  • Seven things you may be presently aware of about John Wooden (Out Of Left Field). Neate Sager chimes in with a few thoughts of his own.
  • This Week in Minor League History: June 7 – June 13 (Baseball Prospectus). There isn’t much of a Padres angle in my latest installment. Randy Bass gets a mention, and I think that’s it.
  • Best of the aughts (2000-09) (Hardball Times). Chris Jaffe is surprised at how well the 2007 Padres fared in this list; those of us who watched them, not so much. That was a terrific team.
  • Unbunch your Herzogs (Watson Files). Dan offers encouraging words on one of the Padres’ more promising young players: “Jonathan Galvez is getting better at shortstop. About a month ago, he looked like an infant giraffe trying to make a field-spin-throw play ranging up the middle. About a week ago he had the same chance and, while it wasn’t perfect, he got the runner.”
  • Top 10s Revisited: NL West (FanGraphs). Marc Hulet likes what he sees from Simon Castro and Cory Luebke (who is pitching well since returning from an oblique strain), but wonders about Jaff Decker.
  • Baxter cycles into Beavers’ history (MiLB.com). The triple came when Mike Baxter was thrown out at the plate trying for an inside-the-park grand slam.
  • Cardboard Gods comes to town: Interview with Josh Wilker (Dodger Thoughts). Jon chats with Josh about his book, Cardboard Gods. [h/t Hardball Times]
  • Simmons appreciates low-scoring games (Padres.com). Quoth Padres bench coach Ted Simmons: “If a pitcher with talent can interpret all we can give him now and apply it, he can come real quick. And I think that’s what we have now. Everyone needs pitching, and we have kids meeting that demand.”
  • Peavy rips Padres over firing GM (FOX Sports). Beyond the fact that Jake Peavy probably should be more focused on trying to help his current team win and less on offering opinions about his old team, he makes a good point in noting that “Kevin Towers is a heck of a general manager.” For example, Towers once traded an injured Peavy and all of his contract to the White Sox for four young arms. Even Peavy’s agent, Barry Axelrod, couldn’t believe that one. Peavy also has opinions about his current team, although they aren’t terribly flattering. On a brighter note, his transformation into Phil Nevin is almost complete. [h/t Gaslamp Ball]
  • A Pitcher for the Padres Is Proving Unhittable (New York Times). Seems someone’s noticed Luke Gregerson: “Among relievers who have pitched at least 20 innings, Gregerson’s ratio of strikeouts to walks is best in the major leagues, as is his average number of walks and hits surrendered per inning pitched. Opponents have a .130 on-base percentage when Gregerson is in the game, 65 points lower than the second-best pitcher in that category, the Cincinnati Reds’ Arthur Rhodes.” [h/t reader Parlo]
  • Latos Shines Again (FanGraphs). Jack Moore likes Mat Latos, and so do I.
  • Padres turn triple play against Mets (Padres.com). Pure awesome.
  • How Jim Joyce went from Toledo to the bigs to national scrutiny (Detroit Free Press). From the article: “My mom didn’t understand why it was so important or why it was so bad,” [Joyce] said. “Mom,” he told her, “it was the last out of a perfect game. She said, ‘I don’t see the difference.’ And I said, ‘Mom, baseball is life to a lot of people.’ ” [h/t Big League Stew]

And the draft, bless its little heart, gets a special section:

Draft

Happy Friday. Let’s get some wins this weekend, eh?

Stupid Padre Tricks: Edward Mujica Is Tateriffic, but He’s No Josh Geer

by Geoff Young on Jun 10, 2010 (7) Comments

Edward Mujica is good at giving up homers. In honor of his latest, a walkoff job to the Mets’ Ike Davis on Tuesday that knocked the Padres out of first place in the National League West for the first time since — wait for it — April 19, here are the 10 most homerlicious Padres pitchers ever (minimum 100 IP):

Player              Years    IP HR/9 ERA+
Josh Geer       2008-2009 129.2 2.01  71
Stan Spencer    1998-2000 118.2 1.74  76
Brian Meadows        2000 124.2 1.73  80
Bobby Jones     2001-2002 303.0 1.69  75
Ismael Valdez        2004 114.0 1.66  71
Edward Mujica   2009-2010 122.2 1.61  97
Kevin Jarvis    2001-2003 320.1 1.60  79
Oliver Perez    2002-2003 193.2 1.53  86
Carlos Almanzar 1999-2000 107.0 1.51  78
Josh Banks      2008-2009 108.0 1.50  72

Mujica’s got the best ERA+ of the group, so there’s that. And he still shouldn’t be allowed to pitch away from Petco Park:

      G  PA   BA  OBP  SLG PA/HR
Home 49 277 .237 .272 .366  39.6
Road 41 225 .285 .311 .556  15.0

That’s basically the difference between John Shelby and Sammy Sosa… sort of, but not really (Sosa had a better OBP, but you get the idea).

So… anyone know some good jokes?

Strasburg’s Debut

by Geoff Young on Jun 09, 2010 (1) Comments

Stephen Strasburg is no longer part of my beat, but I covered him a bit when he was at SDSU. In case you missed it, the right-hander made his big-league debut on Tuesday at home against Pittsburgh. His Nationals beat the Pirates, 5-2. Strasburg’s final line: 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 14 K. He fanned the final seven batters he faced.

I’ve said my wows in the past, and now it’s time for the rest of the world to wake up and do the same. Yes, it was the Pirates; no, he’s not going to pitch like that every time he takes the mound — these are the best hitters on the planet, and they will make adjustments. That said, anyone who doubted Strasburg’s ability to perform at the big-league level just got slapped hard.

I appreciate dissenting opinions and have a contrarian streak of my own, but when people who had never seen Strasburg pitch assured me he wasn’t as good as the hype suggested, they had no clue. If you need a reminder of why I liked him so much, here are some articles I wrote at Baseball Daily Digest:

It’s nice that baseball fans around the world finally get to see what we’ve known for a while. This kid is pretty good.

* * *

On a related note, it’s too late this season, but get out and watch some college baseball. There has been some fantastic talent coming through both USD and SDSU in recent years. The Aztecs have produced Strasburg and Cleveland Indians right-hander Justin Masterson, while ex-Torero Brian Matusz pitches for the Baltimore Orioles.

In the recently concluded 2010 draft, USD left-hander Sammy Solis (whose collegiate debut I saw) was taken by the Nationals in the second round; his teammate, right-hander Kyle Blair, went to the Indians in the fourth. The White Sox, meanwhile, popped SDSU right-hander Addison Reed in the third, while the New York Mets took SDSU outfielder Cory Vaughn (son of former Padres slugger Greg Vaughn) in the fourth.

You won’t see another Strasburg, but you will see some good young players that have a chance to move on to the next level. It’ll be cheap and you’ll have a blast.

* * *

Congrats to Strasburg on his fine debut. Here’s to many happy returns. And congrats to Solis, Blair, Reed, Vaughn, and all the rest of the local kids selected in the draft. Best of luck to all!

Me, Elsewhere: Griffey, with a Twist of Whitman

by Geoff Young on Jun 09, 2010 (6) Comments

Lost in the madness of last week’s nearly perfect game, Ken Griffey Jr. announced his retirement. My latest at Hardball Times examines one of the best players I ever saw and includes a story I may have told once or twice but that bears repeating, about the first time I got to see him in person:

The Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres were anointed “natural rivals” but no name was assigned because, frankly, nobody cared. I call it the Selig Series because, as far as I can tell, it appeals to Bud Selig alone.

Snark aside, Selig’s decision did bring the Mariners to San Diego once a year. With the Mariners came Griffey, then a brilliant player in his prime (he would hit 56 homers, win AL MVP, and cure the common cold that year) and my wife’s favorite. Due to circumstances I cannot recall (another joy of aging), we were unable to attend the first Selig Series in ’97.

The next season, however, we made it to the June 24, 1998, contest. We sat in the second row of the field level, opposite the edge of the infield grass on the first-base side, at San Diego/Jack Murphy/Qualcomm Stadium.

. . .

What I remember about Griffey’s night happened earlier, in his first trip to the plate. He drew a walk off [Andy] Ashby, but that’s not important.

Earlier in the plate appearance, Griffey swung at and missed a pitch. The bat slipped from his hands and flew into the stands above the first-base dugout, a section or two over from us. He glanced in that direction and winced, as players will do when such things happen, then stepped back into the box to finish receiving his base on balls.

When Griffey got to first base, he looked in the stands. He found the person who had been struck by the errant bat and yelled out, “Are you okay?” I didn’t see the fan respond, but apparently Griffey did, as he waved and flashed that infectious smile (never mind how a smile infects; like the walk, it’s not important, and besides, he probably cured that infection, too).

Anyway, if you’re a fan of Griffey and/or Walt Whitman (whose words are borrowed liberally), head on over and read the article.

Cardboard Gods and the 2010 Draft

by Geoff Young on Jun 08, 2010 (5) Comments

Two things totally not related…

Cardboard Gods

I’ve been meaning to mention that Josh Wilker has published a book called Cardboard Gods. I’m about 40 pages in, and so far it’s an enjoyable read. At some point, I hope to have an actual review, but for now, Dex at Gaslamp Ball delivers the goods:

  • Book Review: Cardboard Gods by Josh Wilker. “All told, the essays blend between memoir and reflection on baseball cards and makes for a good read (if not just occasionally a tad on the longish/writing exercisey side).”
  • Interview: Cardboard Gods author, Josh Wilker. “Well, the Padres offered up a lot of beautiful images in the 1970s, such as the sight of Rollie Fingers in Padre brown and yellow in a 1978 card, or Vicente Romo in his 1975 card looking like he’s putting a hex on the opposition, but in the end it’s really hard to beat this guy…” (because the suspense is killing you, “this guy” is Oscar Gamble).
  • West Coast Kurt Bevacqua Bazooka Bubble-Gum Bubble Blowing Championships. “Here is the info on Josh Wilker’s signing/reading this weekend:”

    SATURDAY, JUNE 12TH, 11 AM PACIFIC
    Upstart Crow Bookstore, 835C West Harbor Drive, Seaport Village, San Diego, CA
    Author appearance and book signing.
    Free and open to the public.
    For more info call: 619.232.4855

Book reading. Huh, if I ever write another, I’ll have to remember that. Anywho, get thee down to Upstart Crow if you can. Should be good times.

2010 Draft

I haven’t had time to follow this year’s draft at all, so I will reserve commentary until these kids have actually performed at the professional level. Meanwhile, here are some insights from folks in the know:

  • Dreamweaving the Draft (FanGraphs). Bryan Smith compares Padres first-round pick Karsten Whitson to Jeremy Bonderman and Matt Clement. Hmmm, let’s hope he’s better than that.
  • Karsten Whitson, Padres first round pick (Friar Forecast). Myron offers his thoughts on Whitson.
  • Karsten Whitson (It Might Be Dangerous… You Go First). DePo offers his.
  • Padres’ Moorad attends, talks about Draft (MLB.com). Owner Jeff Moorad weighs in: “I don’t think you can ever have enough arms.”
  • Padres bluff, take high school pitcher with first pick (NC Times). Ah, the art of intentional misinformation. Quoth Assistant General Manager Jason McLeod: “We had to use a little slight of hand because we didn’t want to tip our hand on this kid. We’ve been on this kid the last 2 1/2 months.” [h/t Gaslamp Ball]
  • San Diego picks a ‘rare’ pitcher (U-T). Quoth Scouting Director Jaron Madison: “Karsten is a guy we targeted midway through the spring because of his skills as well as his makeup and personality.”
  • Jedd Gyorko, Padres second round pick (Friar Forecast). Myron on Gyorko: “Gyorko is rated as the 39th best draft prospect by Baseball America, 43rd by John Sickels, and 57th by Keith Law. Gyorko is a 5-10, 185 right-hand hitting shortstop. He has a stocky frame and will likely move to second or third base in professional ball. He has a very solid bat, however.”
  • Final Mock Draft: Mock Away (Baseball Prospectus). FWIW, Kevin Goldstein had the Yankees taking Gyorko with their first pick.

Update: Here are some more articles of interest:

If you’ve got any thoughts on the draft, feel free to share with the rest of the class. And if you’re in town, be sure to swing by Upstart Crow on Saturday morning for the Cardboard Gods shindizzle.

Gwynn’s Throw

by Geoff Young on Jun 07, 2010 (9) Comments

I missed much of the weekend series, but caught the final few innings of Sunday’s victory over the Phillies. One of the key plays of the game came with one out in the bottom of the tenth. With Placido Polanco on first, Chase Utley singled softly to center off Padres closer Heath Bell. Polanco, representing the tying run, tried to take third on the play and was gunned down by Tony Gwynn Jr., who made a terrific running throw.

Mark Grant called it a baserunning mistake by Polanco, but no way. Even with a perfect throw, Gwynn barely got the runner. He made a brilliant play.

This isn’t the first time Gwynn has done that. As ESPN’s Mark Simon informs us ($):

Baseball Info Solutions charts plays in more than 80 categories, and groups them into two groups- “Good Fielding Plays” and “Misplays.”

The definitions for each are very specific to encompass almost anything that could happen in the field.

Gwynn got credit for a “Good Fielding Play” for that 9th inning assist. He now has 11 “Good Fielding Plays” this season and more impressively NO misplays.

His net (good plays minus misplays) of 11 is the best of any centerfielder in baseball, two better than Astros centerfielder Michael Bourn.

Here’s the thing about Gwynn. Until very recently, I didn’t think he could stick in the big leagues on the basis of anything other than his name. However, it is clear from watching him that he has worked hard at his game to get the most out of what talent he has.

I saw Gwynn play several times in college. He had trouble throwing the ball back to the infield on the fly. If you’d told me 7 or 8 years ago that he would ever be able to make a throw like the one he made on Sunday, I’d have said you were full of crap.

Gwynn’s baserunning and defense have improved since he first came to the Padres. I remain skeptical that he will ever hit big-league pitching, but he’s starting to look like a legitimate fourth or fifth outfielder, which is something I didn’t used to believe he could become.

Friday Links (4 Jun 10)

by Geoff Young on Jun 04, 2010 (10) Comments

Oy, strap in this morning. We’ve got lots o’ links…

Adrian and Eck

  • 2010 All-Stars determined by WAR (Baseball-Reference). It’s cute how Andy is surprised that Adrian Gonzalez isn’t in the top five among NL vote getters at first base for the All-Popular game.
  • Should the Padres take Jody Gerut’s advice? (Friar Forecast). Speaking of Adrian, Myron wonders whether the Padres’ hot start has changed their future plans for the best first baseman in franchise history.
  • Baseball strengthens bond for Ecksteins (Padres.com). David Eckstein’s older brother, Rick, is hitting coach for the Washington Nationals.
  • Tip of the cap to Eckstein (ESPN). Mark Simon points out that Eckstein does pretty well when his team is up against the proverbial wall:

    Eckstein has come to bat 29 times in the ninth inning or later in a regular season or postseason game in the following situation.

    • One out from defeat
    • Opportunity to tie game (one-run down, or representing tying/winning run)

    He’s succeeded in either extending the game, or putting his team ahead, with either a hit, walk, or hit by pitch 13 times. That’s a 45 percent success rate. Wow.

    Wow, indeed. [h/t reader Kevin]

Continue reading ›

Me, Elsewhere: Freisleben’s No-No and Other Bits of Minor-League History

by Geoff Young on Jun 03, 2010 (2) Comments

My latest installment of This Week in Minor League History at Baseball Prospectus includes a look at no-hitters by four pitchers who spent time with the Padres. Mickey Lolich, Fred Norman, and Larry Andersen all came up elsewhere and spun theirs as members of other organizations. Right-hander Dave Freisleben, however, notched his while with the Padres Triple-A affiliate, the Hawaii Islanders.

The Padres selected Freisleben in the fifth round of the 1971 June draft (Andersen, coincidentally, was taken by the Cleveland Indians two rounds later) out of a Texas high school. After going 7-3 in his pro debut for Tri-City of the Northwest League, Freisleben enjoyed a 17-9 showing for Alexandria of the Texas League in 1972. He led the league in wins and also in ERA (2.32). Not bad for a 20-year-old at Double-A.

Freisleben’s skipper for the Aces was Duke Snider, the former Dodgers outfielder who served as Padres color commentator during their inaugural campaign and who recommended they select Cito Gaston in the expansion draft. Freisleben’s teammates on that squad included Johnny Grubb, Mike Ivie, and Randy Jones.

The next year, at Hawaii, Freisleben led the Pacific Coast League with a 2.82 ERA and 206 strikeouts. He finished second to Tucson’s Glenn Abbott with 16 wins. Freisleben made three more starts for the Islanders in 1974 before being recalled to the big club, for whom he went 9-14 with a 3.66 ERA (97 ERA+) at age 22.

Sadly, Freisleben’s rookie campaign would prove to be his best. After that season, among his top comps at Baseball-Reference were Darryl Kile, Pete Smith, and Mudcat Grant. Those three men won 325 big-league games among them. Freisleben won 34 and was finished by age 27.

It is fitting that one of his top career comps is former Padres right-hander Steve Arlin. The two were even teammates in ’74, and both ended up with eerily similar numbers:

            GS    IP  ERA ERA+  H/9 HR/9 BB/9  K/9  W-L
Arlin      123 788.2 4.33  78  9.04 0.70 4.26 5.28 34-67
Freisleben 121 865.1 4.30  83  9.33 0.70 4.47 4.47 34-60

It was almost as if there had been a passing of the torch, from one talented but largely disappointing right-hander to the next. From Freisleben, it passed to Juan Eichelberger, and then to Andy Hawkins. After Hawkins, there was an awkward gap filled briefly by the likes of Ricky Bones and Frank Seminara. Then the relay continued with Joey Hamilton, Matt Clement, Adam Eaton, Justin Germano, Mike Thompson, Josh Geer… It may not be much, but even the humblest traditions deserve to be recognized.

Freisleben’s best game with the Padres came as a rookie, when he spun 13 shutout innings in a 1-0 victory over the Big Red Machine at home on August 4, 1974. Freisleben took a no-decision because his teammates couldn’t score against ex-Padre Clay Kirby and the Cincinnati bullpen until the 14th. That Reds squad won 98 games, behind a lineup that featured Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench, and Tony Perez, among many other talented hitters.

Freisleben earned 31 of his 34 big-league victories as a member of the Padres. He headed to Cleveland in a June 1978 trade for left-hander Bill Laxton, then spent the following year in the Toronto bullpen before calling it a career.

Mailbag: Cumberland, Tekotte, and the Rest

by Geoff Young on Jun 03, 2010 (5) Comments

Before we get started, I must thank David Eckstein for making me look smarter than I am. In case you missed it, no sooner do I admit to the world that I want Eckstein up in a crucial situation than he whacks an RBI single to tie Wednesday’s game with two out in the ninth on an 0-2 pitch. As Green Day says, sometimes I give myself the creeps.

Oh, and I liked the celebration after Adrian Gonzalez’s walk-off grand slam. It’s a shame Kendry Morales had to go and break his leg for people to figure out that maybe having everyone jump all over everyone else wasn’t the best way to protect multi-million dollar investments, but at least guys seem to have gotten the message.

Anyway, on to the mailbag. Reader Jake asks:

I was wondering if you have been following what Drew Cumberland, Blake Tekotte, and the rest of last year’s 100-win TinCaps have been doing at Lake Elsinore, Geoff. Should I be as excited about this class as I am?

Thanks, Jake, for the question. Yes, I have been following what the Storm are doing, and… well, I’m not sure how to quantify your level of excitment, so I’ll sidestep that one. I will say that there is a lot to like in the organization right now. Grady Fuson and company did a nice job of restocking the system before they departed. There still could be more top-end talent, but the depth at most positions is better than it was a few years ago. Continue reading ›

Me, Elsewhere: Chatting with Mets Today

by Geoff Young on Jun 02, 2010 (16) Comments

With the Mets in town, Joe Janish of fellow ESPN SweetSpot blog Mets Today invited me to answer a few questions about the 2010 Padres, and so I did. We’re all a bit puzzled by the club’s hot start, but here’s something just as puzzling to me:

Bottom of the ninth, two outs, tie ballgame, and Adrian Gonzalez is standing on third base. What Padre hitter do you want to see in the batter’s box?

I’ll get killed for this, but there’s no question it’s David Eckstein. That won’t happen because of the way Black constructs his lineup, but Eckstein is the one guy on this team who can put the ball in play with consistency. When the winning run is 90 feet away, that particular skill takes on greater importance than it does in other situations, where you might prefer to see someone who can drive the ball more. But if all you need is a single or an error, give me Eckstein.

I know it’s in vogue to hate on Eckstein, and maybe this is as much an indictment of the Padres’ offense as anything else, but can you think of another guy on the current roster that you’d rather have up in that situation?

Read the entire Q&A at Mets Today, and big thanks to Joe for having me on the show.