Tag Archive for ‘kyle blanks’ rss

Such Are the Battles One Wages

Padres skipper Bud Black started Alberto Gonzalez at first base on Friday evening against the Dodgers. The results were predictably awful, as Ted Lilly and three relievers proceeded to blank the home club on four hits. With Kyle Blanks and Jesus Guzman nursing injuries and a lefty on the mound, Black’s options were limited. He [...]

Thursday Links (8 Sep 11)

The mind will wander while driving along I-25, south from Albuquerque, through Socorro, to Truth or Consequences and points beyond. The Rio Grande traces the interstate, lining a verdant path through the dusty corridor of southern New Mexico. A man walks along the side of the road, carrying a backpack and a sign that reads, [...]

Padres and Hundley Survive Guzman’s Brain Cramp

Give the Padres credit for clawing their way to a 7-5 victory on Tuesday night at San Francisco. Don’t give them too much credit, though; only shoddy work from the defense and bullpen made such drama necessary.

Me, Elsewhere: San Diego Padres, Scoring Machine

My latest at Baseball Prospectus ($) examines the topsy-turvy NL West, where the formerly front-running San Francisco Giants have played poorly (.405 Pythagorean winning percentage) since the All-Star break and the formerly cellar-dwelling Padres have done the opposite (.600 Pythag). Heck, the Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks are the only two teams in the division with [...]

Sweeping the Marlins, Honoring Hoffman

What’s up with the Padres offense? When they hit the road earlier this month and averaged 7 runs a game on their 10-game swing through Pittsburgh, New York, and Cincinnati, that made a certain amount of sense. But to return home and average 5.4 at Petco Park? Granted, the Mets and Marlins aren’t great teams; [...]

Thursday Links (11 Aug 11)

Despite Kyle Blanks having his string of multi-hit games snapped at five (he singled and walked), Wednesday was a good day for the Padres. Will Venable knocked four hits out of the leadoff spot, Jesus Guzman drove in his 30th run to pull within two of active team leader Jason Bartlett (Cameron Maybin also has [...]

Me, Elsewhere: Mets Series Preview, and NL West Two-Team Race

The good folks at SNY.tv were kind enough to have me on Monday’s edition of The Baseball Show to preview this week’s Padres/Mets series at Citi Field. My comments on Heath Bell probably sounded smarter before he helped his former team come back from a four-run deficit and kept his current team from its first [...]

I Would Like to Order Brooms from You

I received a delightful note from a fan the other day. It didn’t make sense to me at the time, but apparently he was anticipating this past weekend’s three-game sweep in Pittsburgh. I’ll reprint the message in its entirety: Dear Sir/Madam Am Mr Jerry and i would like to order Brooms from you and would [...]

One Day, They Will Be Less Young and Less Awful

It is difficult to watch the Padres right now. Between Cory Luebke’s Monday night clinic on how not to field the pitcher position, Rob Johnson’s excellent Gary Bennett impersonation (hey, there’s a 2-0 slider; I’ll bet if I swing, I can pop it up to shortstop), and the team’s general offensive incompetence, there just isn’t [...]

Adams and Ludwick Go, Bell Stays, Godzilla Threatens to Destroy Village

You know how all those people in the Godzilla movies are running around like crazy all the time on account of the giant lizard thing that keeps chasing them? Twitter at baseball’s non-waiver trade deadline is like that, only without the lizard. Jed Hoyer isn’t doing anything. Why isn’t he doing anything? Oh crap, he [...]