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Friday Links (28 Sep 07)

Friday, September 28, 2007
by Geoff Young

Coffee in the bloodstream, jazz in the ears, baseball on the brain. Let's get busy... Trade winds blow true (San Diego Union-Tribune). Tom Krasovic tells us what we already know: Kevin Towers is good at that trading thing. Here's a passage that helps confirm some things we've long suspected: Padres statistical analysts deserve credit, Towers has said. Research shows that home run suppression can be a predictor of success for a pitcher. [Left-hander Joe] Thatcher excelled in that area. Statistics favored by the Padres showed that [right-hander Heath] Bell had been unlucky with the Mets and that his excellent strikeout-to-walk numbers were better measures of his talent. Yep, it's all about the peripherals....

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Posted in Notes and Links | 103 Comments »

Jake the Efficient

Thursday, September 27, 2007
by Geoff Young

What to say about Wednesday night's win (box score)... Huge? Yeah, a little. Fun? You bet. Jake Peavy struck out just one batter over seven solid innings en route to his 19th win. First time since August 2003 he's registered fewer than two strikeouts in a game. Matt and Mud speculated that maybe Peavy had purposely changed his approach to save some bullets for Sunday in Milwaukee if needed. In the post-game interview, Peavy confirmed as much. Bob Scanlan in the wrap-up show wondered why Peavy worked the seventh with ...

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Posted in Game Recaps | 246 Comments »

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Cassel’s Made of Sand (and Blue)

Tuesday, September 18, 2007
by Geoff Young

Dude, what's the name of that one taco shop we used to eat at on Convoy? One game out of first with 13 remaining? I'd say that's a good place to be. Just bullet points today: Congrats to Jack Cassel on picking up his first big-league victory on Monday night. He scared the heck out of me on several occasions (only when he was pitching), but he got the job done. Khalil Greene hit his 23rd homer of the season and just missed his 24th. Greene crushed a ball to dead center in the fifth that probably would have left any other ballpark. The Pirates batted a kid named Nyjer Morgan ...

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Posted in Game Recaps, Minors | 60 Comments »

I Love It When a Plan Comes Together

Wednesday, September 12, 2007
by Geoff Young

If Tuesday night's opener provides any indication, this series in Los Angeles is going to be tough. Sure, the final score was 9-4, but the Dodgers just would not go away. The Padres even had to get Trevor Hoffman up and warming at the end. Jake Gets It Done Jake Peavy came back strong after last week's disastrous start in Phoenix. He served up a two-out solo homer to James Loney in the third, and worked out of a couple tough jams. In the second, with a 4-0 lead, Peavy allowed a leadoff single to Jeff Kent. Then, after jumping ahead in the count, 0-2, Peavy walked nemesis Luis Gonzalez on seven pitches. After a Russell Martin groundout to first moved runners to second and third, ...

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Posted in Game Recaps, Minors | 29 Comments »

Peavy Ties Benes, Bullpen (Barely) Holds On to Beat Mets

Thursday, August 23, 2007
by Geoff Young

Nice to hang on for the win Wednesday night (box score). Congrats to Jake Peavy for tying Andy Benes' career mark for strikeouts by a Padres pitcher. The game wasn't without its white-knuckle moments, aka the ninth inning. Several folks have noted that the Padres are having difficulty closing out games, and I'm happy (or unhappy, really) to report that it's not all in your head: Padres Relievers, First and Second Half PlayerFirst HalfSecond Half IPERABAOBPSLGIPERABAOBPSLG Statistics are through games of August 22, 2007, and are courtesy of Baseball-Reference. Note: Linebrink's numbers are with ...

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Posted in Game Recaps, Minors | 95 Comments »

Slugging Shortstops and Home-Field Advantage

Wednesday, August 15, 2007
by Geoff Young

Not to beat a dead horse, but it's worth noting that since reaching the big leagues in September 2003, Khalil Greene has hit more home runs on the road (42) than any other shortstop in baseball. Baltimore's Miguel Tejada comes in second, with 40 in about 300 more at-bats. Greene also has the best ISO. Here's the full list: Slugging Shortstops, September 2003 - August 2007 PlayerABBAOBPSLGISOAB/HR Statistics are courtesy of David Pinto's Day by Day Database and are through games of August 14, 2007. Minimum 500 plate appearances. Khalil Greene929.274.331.509.23522.12 Hanley Ramirez553.316.365.524.20827.65 Carlos Guillen976.303.372.497.19430.50 Miguel Tejada1225.305.360.470.16530.63 Jimmy Rollins1360.274.328.433.15943.87 Bobby Crosby774.248.311.403.15532.25 Alex Gonzalez904.246.298.398.15233.48 Juan Uribe961.239.276.386.14735.59 Felipe Lopez959.264.337.409.14539.96 J.J. Hardy465.241.303.385.14435.77 Jose Reyes1038.275.325.418.14351.90 Michael Young1321.297.344.438.14141.28 Jhonny Peralta802.253.320.394.14138.19 Derek Jeter1270.292.357.424.13242.33 Edgar Renteria1162.293.352.422.13146.48 Julio Lugo1145.281.338.412.13149.78 Cristian Guzman632.234.270.351.11763.20 Y. Betancourt588.287.315.400.11373.50 Alex Cintron732.264.294.377.11381.33 Clint Barmes481.218.260.331.11353.44 Jack Wilson1135.262.304.369.10766.76 Rafael Furcal1208.257.313.363.10671.06 Angel Berroa874.238.265.342.10462.43 Adam Everett908.228.272.328.10069.85 Omar Vizquel1061.292.351.390.09896.45 Neifi Perez683.255.286.350.09575.89 Jason Bartlett478.274.346.368.09495.60 Cesar Izturis849.285.326.372.087169.80 Royce Clayton901.260.312.340.080225.25 David Eckstein1046.276.332.347.071130.75 Greene's road ISO ...

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Posted in Baseball | 150 Comments »

Road Trip to Cooperstown: San Diego to Oklahoma City

Wednesday, July 25, 2007
by Geoff Young

I am so sick of beef jerky and granola bars. Seriously, you have no idea. Three Things Two common billboards that adorn the highway in New Mexico are those that sell fireworks and those that preach abstinence. There is a joke here somewhere. The aunt of Khalil Greene's wife works at a bank in Amarillo. She was very helpful. Oklahoma is nice, but how many Arapaho words for "flat" do you suppose there are? Day 1 of the Ducksnorts World Tour got off to a shaky start. I forgot that Arizona doesn't observe daylight savings, got caught in a few nasty thunderstorms between Phoenix and Winslow, and then spent 40 minutes driving around parts of Albuquerque that -- although quite "interesting" -- did not contain a baseball stadium. I ...

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Posted in Travels | 14 Comments »