Padres vs Marlins
7:05 p.m. PT
Channel 4SD, DIRECTV 737
AM 1090, FM 105.7, XM 186
MLB, B-R
The Pads are back in town, and so am I. 
Padres Farm Report (7 Jul 08)
Triple-A — Portland 4, Tacoma 3
Craig Stansberry (SS): 1-for-3, HR, 2 BB
Chip Ambres (DH): 2-for-4, BB
Brian Myrow: 0-for-5
Justin Huber (LF): 2-for-4, BB
Will Venable: 1-for-4, BB
Colt Morton: 0-for-3, BB
Clay Hensley: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 HR, 2 BB, 5 SO (99 pitches, 60 strikes)
With the Beavers down, 3-0, in the ninth, Stansberry launched a three-run bomb to left. Five batters later, Venable drove home Ambres with an infield single. Hensley, after making a brief cameo with the Pads in Denver, returned to the Portland, where he enjoyed his third consecutive 6-inning start.
While I was away, catcher Nick Hundley got called up to the big club. We actually saw one of his last games at Portland before the recall. Short-term, it’s hard to say what he’ll provide, especially if he’s only serving as Luke Carlin’s backup, but long-term, as mentioned in the Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual, I expect Hundley to have a Mike Macfarlane type career.
Double-A — Tulsa 9, San Antonio 8
Drew Macias: 0-for-3, BB, SH
Craig Cooper: 3-for-5, 2 2B, HR
Jose Lobaton: 1-for-4, BB
Kyle Blanks (PH): 1-for-1, HR
Chad Huffman (PH): 0-for-1
Matt Buschmann: 6 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 HR, 3 BB, 3 SO, WP (11 GO)
Jonathan Ellis: 0.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 HR, 0 BB, 0 SO
Paul Abraham: 0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 HR, 1 BB, 0 SO
Some folks have expressed concern at Blanks’ lack of power, but I’m not seeing it. He’s essentially duplicating his 2006 season at Fort Wayne, but with fewer strikeouts:
| Year | Level | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | BB/PA | K/PA | ISO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statistics are courtesy of FirstInning and are through games of July 6, 2008. | ||||||||
| 2006 | A | 357 | .292 | .376 | .455 | .098 | .221 | .163 |
| 2008 | AA | 345 | .326 | .406 | .497 | .104 | .130 | .171 |
No, Blanks isn’t driving the ball with as much regularity as he did at Lake Elsinore in 2007 (when he had a nifty .239 ISO), but the other skills have held and he continues to tighten his strike zone. Interestingly, over his past 10 games, Blanks appears to have favored more of a “grip-and-rip” approach, with 10 strikeouts to 1 walk. Then again, he’s hit .395 with four homers in that span, so it’s hard to complain.
High-A — Bakersfield 8, Lake Elsinore 5
Cedric Hunter: 2-for-5, 2 2B
Kellen Kulbacki: 3-for-4, 2B, BB, E
Mitch Canham: 2-for-5, 2B
Cesar Carrillo: 5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 HR, 3 BB, 2 SO
Corey Kluber: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 HR, 0 BB, 1 SO
Kulbacki is a beast; what else is new… Good to see Carrillo go five… He also picked the same guy off first base twice after walking him…
Low-A — South Bend 6, Fort Wayne 2
Brad Chalk: 1-for-3, 2B, 2 BB, SB
Lance Zawadzki (SS): 0-for-4, BB
Danny Payne (RF): 0-for-3, BB
Justin Baum: 1-for-4
Yefri Carvajal: 1-for-3, BB
Aaron Breit: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 0 HR, 5 BB, 1 SO, 2 HBP
I guess you could say Breit didn’t have his best command…
Short-Season-A — Spokane 5, Eugene 3
Jeudy Valdez: 0-for-4
Logan Gelbrich: 3-for-4, 2B
Cooper Brannan: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 HR, 0 BB, 0 SO
Valdez impressed the heck out of me when I saw him last Tuesday. He knocked three doubles in four trips to the plate, and all of them were hit hard. He is extremely aggressive at the plate and can be pitched to, but he’s also got terrific bat speed. He wears #12, and it’s pretty obvious from watching him that he patterns his game after that of Alfonso Soriano. Valdez looked fine with the glove, although defense is tough to judge at that level. Several players jumped out of the way of ground balls, and given the condition of that infield, I can’t say as I blame them.
Rookie — AZL Athletics 10, AZL Padres 3
Keisy Marte: 1-for-5
Kevin Hansen: 1-for-4, BB
Edgar Garzon (DH): 0-for-4
Rookie
DSL Padres did not play on Sunday.
Padres Sign Five Top International Prospects
I never think of the future. It comes soon enough.
–Albert Einstein
I’m no Einstein, but I certainly think of the future. So, apparently, do the Padres. As threatened, they have proven to be major players in this year’s international market.
In our recent discussion with Sandy Alderson, he indicated that the Padres hoped to “sign some players that we think are a cut above what we’ve been able to sign in previous years,” and that’s precisely what they’ve done.
On July 2, the Padres, who have been criticized in the past for not investing as heavily in amateur talent as they might, shelled out $5 million on five players: RHP Adis Portillo, SS Alvaro Aristy, OF Luis Domoromo, INF/OF Corey Adamson, and RHP Elvin Tavarez. Baseball America‘s Ben Badler and the Padres’ own Paul DePodesta offer their thoughts on the quintet.
Adamson hails from Australia, while the other four all ranked among the top 10 Latino prospects of 2008 according to an article penned by ESPN’s Enrique Rojas last month. Bearing in mind that these kids are 16 years old and a long way from the big leagues, this is a pretty nice haul, especially for a franchise that typically hasn’t been at (or anywhere near) the forefront of the international market.
Whether this young talent turns into anything of value down the line remains to be seen. Still, the club appears to be making an honest effort. Hey, it’s a start…
Me, the Highway, and Life
Okay, here’s the deal. I’m driving up to Oregon this week to visit family and catch a couple of minor-league games. I don’t know what my availability will be like while I’m off yonder, so posting will be real light this week. I will try to pop in every now and then with reports, pix, and/or videos from the road, but I can’t make any promises. At the very least, we’ll have the IGDs up and running every day — assuming anyone is still interested in talking about the games at this point. 
When I return to San Diego, it will be to a full-time office gig. Yeah, it’s about the money. My family and I miss it. Also, if I’ve learned anything from writing about baseball for a living, it’s that thinking about something (even something you love) around the clock will drive you batsh*t crazy.
Anyway, the good news is, I’ve developed a pretty solid workflow for Ducksnorts so I think I’ll be able to keep things going without much trouble. At the same time, I haven’t done the office thing in about 20 months, and I’m not sure how I’ll respond. I do know that I’ve made enough sacrifices to family time, health, etc., in the past that I’m not willing to do it again. I don’t anticipate a problem, but if something has to give, it’s going to be this. Sorry, I’m not as young as I once was.
On a somewhat related note, a 2009 Annual is looking unlikely at the moment. I’ve done some research for it, but as I approach 40, it occurs to me that I could probably do something useful with the hundreds of hours it takes to assemble a product that has no real market. I may be a dreamer, but I’m not daft.
Plus I have other writing projects that have been sitting on the back burner for too long. I still have a lot more to say about my road trip to Cooperstown, and I’d like the chance to say it. We’ll see what happens…
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