« Previous Entries

Kouz and Kent

Tuesday, August 12, 2008
by Geoff Young
While playing with the PI tool at Baseball-Reference over the weekend I stumbled onto something kind of interesting. Have you ever noticed how similar the first three seasons of Kevin Kouzmanoff's career (through Sunday, at least) are to those of Jeff Kent? Jeff Kent and Kevin Kouzmanoff, Ages 24 - 26 PlayerYearsPABAOBPSLGBB/KBB/PAISOXB/HOPS+ Statistics are courtesy of Baseball-Reference and are through games of August 10, 2008. Kent'92-'941339.270.325.451.323.060.181.372107 Kouz'06-'081076.274.322.454.264.049.180.358108 For grins, here are their lines per 162 games played: Jeff Kent and Kevin Kouzmanoff, Ages 24 - 26, per 162 Games PlayerYearsABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO Statistics are courtesy of Baseball-Reference and are through games of August 10, 2008. Kent'92-'9456479152323219237115 Kouz'06-'0858867161323238632120 Even the shapes are remarkably alike. Of course, Kent was a second baseman (although he did play some third ...
Keep reading >>

Posted in Baseball | 28 Comments »

Peace, Love, and Delusion

Tuesday, June 3, 2008
by Geoff Young
Sometimes you can get away with making stupid mistakes against lousy teams. Unfortunately the Cubs aren't a lousy team, and they saw to it that the Padres paid for their transgressions. Carlos Zambrano is a terrific pitcher when he's on his game. He wasn't at his best Monday night, but the Padres let him off the hook just the same. Despite having trouble controlling his pitches and his emotions (he needed separate conferences with the catcher, third baseman, and manager at various points during the first two innings), Zambrano limited the early damage and then settled into a groove. And he couldn't have done it without the Padres ...
Keep reading >>

Posted in Game Recaps | 74 Comments »

Padres tickets  Chargers tickets  Sports tickets

When Projections Go Bad

Friday, May 30, 2008
by Geoff Young
What the heck, now is as good a time as any to revisit pre-season projections. I know, OPS and ERA aren't the end-all and be-all, but they're good enough for government work... Projections vs Reality: Hitters  OPS PlayerBJCHMAMIZIDSAct Statistics are courtesy of FanGraphs and are through games of May 29, 2008. Click on column head for more info about projection system. Josh Bard785741791728767767540 Adrian Gonzalez839840842810862879894 Tadahito Iguchi760737756723751732657 Kevin Kouzmanoff882796789740837858741 Khalil Greene762764752747742773599 Scott Hairston833740769721722794714 Jim Edmonds830766782739784756498 Brian Giles820777783732773789815 Gonzalez and Giles are doing as well as or better than expected; Iguchi, Kouzmanoff, and Hairston are underperforming; and Bard, Greene, and Edmonds aren't even close. Projections vs Reality: Pitchers  ERA PlayerBJCHMA...
Keep reading >>

Posted in Projections | 42 Comments »

IGD: Padres vs Nationals (28 May 08)

Wednesday, May 28, 2008
by Geoff Young
Padres (20-33) vs Nats (22-31) Shawn Estes vs Odalis Perez 7:05 p.m. PT Channel 4SD AM 1090, FM 105.7, XM 188 MLB, B-R The ability to throw left handed and breathe at the same time can make some men very rich... On a less facetious note, have you noticed how much Kevin Kouzmanoff has improved defensively this year? He's eighth in the big leagues in range factor (ahead of guys like Adrian Beltre and David Wright), and nobody has turned more double plays at the hot ...
Keep reading >>

Posted in In-Game Discussion | 71 Comments »

Notes on a Victory

Wednesday, May 28, 2008
by Geoff Young
Satisfying win on Tuesday night. The last two games I've attended have followed the exact same pattern: Randy Wolf serves up a two-run homer in the first, settles down, and watches his teammates play long ball late. To the bullet points: Hard to complain about a victory, but I'll do it anyway. The Pads really should have put Shawn Hill away early. He had zero command. I love watching Adrian Gonzalez play first base. Aaron Boone hit a grounder down the line at third to start the sixth. Kevin Kouzmanoff made a nice backhanded grab, then fired across the diamond well ahead of Boone. The throw came ...
Keep reading >>

Posted in Game Recaps | 63 Comments »

Those Who Snooze Don’t Always Lose

Wednesday, May 21, 2008
by Geoff Young
We were walking west along J Street, just past Fire Station 4, when the crowd erupted. Cardinals fans seem to travel with their team, so we assumed that the visiting team had extended its seemingly insurmountable 2-0 lead. I was in a lousy mood before we even got to the ballpark -- I forget why, but it seemed important at the time. The game wasn't helping any. In the bottom of the first, after Jody Gerut drew an eight-pitch walk to lead off the inning, Tadahito Iguchi rapped into an easy 6-4-3 double play and I just smiled. It wasn't the smile of a happy man, mind you, more like the thing Jeff Kent does right ...
Keep reading >>

Posted in Game Recaps | 130 Comments »

Winning Is Better Than Knitting

Thursday, May 1, 2008
by Geoff Young
Winning is so much more fun than losing, n'est ce pas? Every starter except Jim Edmonds and Chris Young collected at least one hit on Wednesday in the Padres' 4-2 victory over Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Park. Tadahito Iguchi broke out of a season-long slump with four hits, while Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Kouzmanoff each homered. (The Padres, who allegedly can't hit, have outhomered the Phillies, 4-1, in the first two games of the series.) Young looked solid for the most part. He gave up a two-run bomb to Chase Utley in the first, but if Utley isn't the hottest hitter on the planet ...
Keep reading >>

Posted in Game Recaps | 60 Comments »

« Previous Entries