Rizzomania

by Geoff Young on Jun 09, 2011 (19) Comments

First baseman Anthony Rizzo been recalled by the Padres, and the hype machine is in full effect. Rizzo, acquired in the trade that sent Adrian Gonzalez to Boston, should feel no pressure trying to replace a hometown kid who is one of the best hitters ever to don a Padres uniform. Nor should he suffer any ill effects from playing half his games in San Diego rather than Tucson. Continue reading ›

Stauffer Was Just a Little Better

by Geoff Young on Jun 08, 2011 (14) Comments

What a fun win Tuesday night. Ubaldo Jimenez pitched a gem for Colorado, but Tim Stauffer was just a little better, spinning eight shutout innings en route to his second win of the season.

Stauffer also notched a career-high eight strikeouts and collected two hits, including an RBI single in the fifth. Efficient? Try 97 pitches. Works for me. Continue reading ›

Draft Impressions, First Basemen, Curmudgeonliness

by Geoff Young on Jun 07, 2011 (16) Comments

Today’s not-so-fully formed thoughts are brought to you by Tempus Fugit, frustrating humans since forever… Continue reading ›

Me, Elsewhere: NL West May Recap

by Geoff Young on Jun 07, 2011 (0) Comments

My latest at Baseball Prospectus ($) examines Arizona’s stellar month, Colorado’s not-so-stellar month, and various other shenanigans (including one Dodgers fan who dropped his child while attempting to catch a foul ball… don’t worry; he also dropped the ball). The Padres went 14-14 in May, although it was a bipolar month for the offense:

Dates      G  AB  R   H 2B 3B HR BB   K   BA  OBP  SLG
5/1-5/16  14 493 82 138 24  2 14 44 103 .280 .340 .422
5/17-5/31 14 455 28  98 15  4  5 29 122 .215 .261 .299

As I point out in the article, “this is roughly the difference between Brandon Phillips 2010 and Aurelio Rodriguez 1974.” I point out other stuff as well, so go read it…

Is There a Draft in Here or Is That Just Me?

by Geoff Young on Jun 06, 2011 (33) Comments

While Padres players were taking three out of four (at home!) against the Astros (the NL’s worst team, but we’ll take what we can get), folks in the front office prepared for the 2011 Amateur Draft. And yes, it’s now known as the First-Year Player Draft of Anaheim, but whatever.

The draft starts Monday at 4 p.m. PT, because starting it earlier in the day would make way too much sense, and continues through Wednesday. You can follow the draft online at MLB.com.

The Padres have picks at no. 10 and no. 25 in the first round. They also — thanks to Jon Garland, Yorvit Torrealba, and Kevin Correia — have five of the first 54 58 picks. This should be a good thing, but of course it’s no guarantee.

Anywho, I haven’t been following along as closely this year as in seasons past, but I scrounged up a few resources that you might find useful. Go nuts… Continue reading ›

Thursday Links (2 Jun 11)

by Geoff Young on Jun 02, 2011 (37) Comments

Too much day job… these have been gathering dust for a while, so you’ll have plenty to read while I’m off doing… you don’t even want to know… Continue reading ›

Ludwick, Lee, and Road Field Advantage

by Geoff Young on Jun 01, 2011 (44) Comments

Over at SweetSpot, we’ve assigned letter grades to each team two months into the season. I gave the Padres a grade of F but tried to accentuate the positive, finishing my writeup with a snappy one-liner: “Also, they don’t owe Carlos Lee $37 million over the next two years, so there’s that.”

I hope it’s snappy. That’s what I was going for anyway. Continue reading ›

Thoughts from Tucson, Part 2

by Geoff Young on May 31, 2011 (20) Comments

The minor leagues can be funny. In Albuquerque, I saw a fly ball kick out of the glove of Dodgers prospect Trayvon Robinson and over the left-field fence for a home run. I saw former Padres right-hander Tim Redding face San Diego native (Hilltop High School) Mike Jacobs. Continue reading ›

Me, Elsewhere: On Streaks, Jansen, and Posey

by Geoff Young on May 31, 2011 (1) Comments

My latest at Baseball Prospectus ($) focuses on Arizona’s recent hot streak, the Padres’ recent (well, since April anyway) cold streak, the Rockies’ even colder streak, Kenley Jansen’s freakishly high ERA and strikeout rate, and Buster Posey’s season-ending ankle injury.

From the article:

Speaking of last year’s surprise team, the Padres appear to be on a road to nowhere. Management hasn’t committed to looking toward 2012 yet, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that this is the best course of action. From May 17 to May 28, the Padres went 3-8 and hit .186/.231/.273, scoring as many as three runs in a game exactly once and scoring just 15 runs total.

On the bright side, the Padres are now 14-11 on the road. Go figure…

Thoughts from Tucson, Part 1

by Geoff Young on May 30, 2011 (3) Comments

Caught a couple games in Tucson this past weekend. On Friday, right-hander Matt Buschmann started for the T-Padres and shut down the Salt Lake Bees. Working exclusively out of the stretch, Buschmann tossed a complete game, allowing one run and using just 97 pitches in the process. He isn’t a prospect, but that is a fine effort in that ballpark. Continue reading ›