kevin kouzmanoff

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 ...

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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 ...

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Posted in Game Recaps | 63 Comments »

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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 ...

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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 ...

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Posted in Game Recaps | 60 Comments »

Gee, I Still Don’t Understand Sample Size

Wednesday, April 30, 2008
by Geoff Young

The Padres need to go out and get more hitters. I know this is true because I keep hearing it. I also know it's a complete load of garbage. What they really need is for the hitters they already have to start performing up to their capabilities. Padres Hitters: 2008, 2007, Career 20082007Career AgePAOPS+PAOPS+PAOPS+ Statistics are courtesy of Baseball-Reference and are through games of April 29, 2008. Josh Bard309554443107136499 Adrian Gonzalez261161267201251673119 Tadahito Iguchi331166453392185796 Kevin Kouzmanoff261236453410971898 Khalil Greene2811657659100233599 Scott Hairston2891922949478586 Jim Edmonds387736411887384132 Brian Giles371141165521097043139 Paul McAnulty276298434914977 The only guy who might be playing over his head is McAnulty. But we don't really know because we've never gotten the opportunity to see what P-Mac is capable of doing at the big-league level over extended periods of ...

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Posted in Baseball | 113 Comments »

Friday Links (4 Apr 08)

Friday, April 4, 2008
by Geoff Young

Look, up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's... Friday links: Tom Krasovic at the U-T provides a brief overview of "Sandyball" (h/t LynchMob) -- the Padres' organizational philosophy under CEO Sandy Alderson: The club has made a habit of acquiring major leaguers who can be free agents at season's end, or signing veterans to one-year contracts. More to the point, the Padres fish those waters year-round. Alderson has said such players can be extra motivated by the prospect of imminent free agency. Further, such a player can strengthen the farm system if his departure nets a draft pick or two. Whoa, that makes way too much sense. Tom Verducci at SI.com has ...

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Posted in Notes and Links | 41 Comments »

Quick Thoughts from Peoria

Monday, March 10, 2008
by Geoff Young

Just bullet points this morning: Bud Black, Wally Joyner, and Rick Renteria all threw during the big-league session we watched. Darrel Akerfelds pitched to minor leaguers over at the next field. Tadahito Iguchi had a nice batting practice session on Sunday. He showed more power than I'd expected. Tony Clark's kid scored 13 goals in two soccer games on Saturday. Relevant? Probably not, but that's the kind of thing you learn while watching guys take batting practice. Some lady asked, and he answered. Rock on. Colt Morton is a big dude. I already knew this, but it bears repeating. He also scalded a ball during Sunday's game against the White Sox, right back through the middle. Randy Wolf looked good on the mound. I didn't see any gun readings, but ...

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Posted in Spring Training | 11 Comments »