Padres Farm Report (21 Jun 08)

Saturday, June 21, 2008
by Geoff Young
Fun win Friday night. A buddy of mine scored us some sweet seats in the Toyota Terrace for the excellent price of free. Among other things we got to see Greg Maddux pitch a gem and Chase Headley knock his first homer in San Diego. My wife and I particularly enjoyed watching Headley and Khalil Greene homer, as well as watching Paul McAnulty battle in the eighth to work a walk against Detroit's Joel Zumaya and then fall over the fence along the right-field foul line to make a game-ending catch. We saw all three of those players when they were at Lake Elsinore (not at the same time), and it's cool to see them now contributing at the big-league level. The only ...

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 ...
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Padres Farm Report (3 Jun 08)

Tuesday, June 3, 2008
by Geoff Young
My mind is in full-on draft mode, and I've been re-reading some old notes: In 2004, I'd favored Stephen Drew over the two pitchers being targeted. Of the pitchers, I preferred Jeff Niemann to Jered Weaver. Oops... In 2002, I'd wanted Cole Hamels over Khalil Greene. Then again, I'd also wanted Bobby Brownlie... I ran some numbers last July, and maybe it's time to revisit those: Win Shares, 2002 Draft First Round Player200320042005200620072008Total Stats are through games of June 1, 2008, and are courtesy of Hardball Times and Baseball Graphs. Khalil Greene, SD (13th pick)121171319273 Nick Swisher, Oak (16th)-1122219256 Jeff Francoeur, Atl (23rd)--131622455 Prince Fielder, Mil (7th)--21728653 Mark Teahen, Oak (39th)--101916449 Scott Kazmir, NYN (15th)-1131417348 Joe Blanton, Oak (24th)-0141015342 B.J. Upton, TB ...

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...

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 ...

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 ...

IGD: Padres vs Cardinals (19 May 08)

Monday, May 19, 2008
by Geoff Young
Padres (16-29) vs Cards (26-20) Wil Ledezma vs Todd Wellemeyer 7:05 p.m. PT Channel 4SD AM 1090, FM 105.7, XM 187 MLB, B-R It is difficult to remain optimistic when there is no obvious reason for hope. Even if I continue to believe that the Padres' true level of ability is 85 wins, that gives them 61 wins the rest of the way, which puts them at 77-85 to end the season. Obviously that doesn't fit anyone's definition of a contender. Assuming the Padres continue on their present course (or even improve some) and finish with their first sub-.500 record in ...