pitchers

Random Roster Notes

Tuesday, March 18, 2008
by Geoff Young

Brian Giles saw his first action this spring on Monday. He went 0-for-2 against the Diamondbacks in Tucscon, but who cares? The important thing is, he was in the lineup and able to play right field. Quoth Giles: This was a pretty good test. I know it was only three innings, but the conditions weren't that good out there. It's a little wet in the outfield, and it's windy and cold. Meanwhile, Rule V draftee Callix Crabbe is pushing hard to make the Padres' Opening Day roster. Batting eighth and starting at third base on Monday, Crabbe singled twice and doubled in three trips to the plate. He's hitting .415 this spring, which doesn't tell us as much as his career .369 OBP ...

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Posted in Roster Notes, Spring Training | 41 Comments »

Spring Training Notes (19 Feb 08)

Tuesday, February 19, 2008
by Geoff Young

I kind of run on autopilot around here sometimes and forget to ask y'all what you want. Let me know if there's anything specific you'd like me to focus on this spring or whatever. I'm open to suggestions, but if I don't hear anything, I'll just assume all is well and keep doing whatever the heck it is I do around here. Meanwhile, back to our February optimism: Jim Edmonds underwent an insane workout regimen this past off-season (hat tip to Coronado Mike). Quoth personal trainer Jim Moss, a member of the Los Angeles County SWAT team: I told him that just because we're 38 doesn't mean we're over the hill. ...

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Posted in Notes and Links, Spring Training | 57 Comments »

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OBG08 Projections for Padres Pitchers

Sunday, February 17, 2008
by Geoff Young

Yesterday we ran the hitters, today it's time for the moundsmen: OBG08 Projections for Select Padres Pitchers PlayerNo.IPERARange Key: No., number of people who submitted guesses; IP, innings pitched, ERA, duh; range, lower and upper guesses for ERA. Left-Handers Hampson, Justin11484.213.50 - 5.05 Thatcher, Joe11582.861.96 - 3.42 Wolf, Randy151244.183.71 - 4.91 Right-Handers Bell, Heath12812.762.25 - 3.53 Cameron, Kevin11533.783.10 - 4.85 Germano, Justin14814.623.74 - 5.50 Hensley, Clay13804.433.80 - 5.20 Hoffman, Trevor15513.212.60 - 5.00 Maddux, Greg171914.093.80 - 4.29 Meredith, Cla14722.972.40 - 3.41 Peavy, Jake212122.812.12 - 3.20 Prior, Mark14684.163.21 - 5.15 Young, Chris171793.232.40 - 4.15 I don't know if people got tired of the project toward the end or just had less confidence in projecting pitchers (especially relievers), but there was less participation here. I'm not being critical, ...

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Posted in Projections | 8 Comments »

Bad Pitching Performances, Book and Spring Training Updates

Thursday, January 17, 2008
by Geoff Young

Three things on the agenda today. Four if you count "an almost fanatical devotion to the pope," but I digress... Bad Pitching Performances I've got a new article up at Hardball Times: "Ten pitching seasons to forget." Three of these guys once pitched for the Padres. One was Mark Davis, which gave me an excuse to revisit the Keltner List I did for him over at Baseball Think Factory many moons ago. Steve Arlin merited an honorable mention for his 1973 season with the Padres. Before I added an innings-pitched component to the formula, Arlin made my top 10. Here's the writeup on him that got left on the ...

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Posted in 2008 Annual, Spring Training | 53 Comments »

Congrats to Goose on Overcoming Extreme Voter Stupidity Syndrome

Wednesday, January 9, 2008
by Geoff Young

Congratulations to ex-Padre Rich "Goose" Gossage on being voted into the baseball Hall of Fame. Better late than never, eh? On another note, three of the following five pitchers are in the Hall of Fame. One is still on the ballot, while the fifth has been dropped from consideration. Can you tell which is which just by looking at the numbers? (Answer below the table.) Five Relievers GIPH/9HR/9BB/9SO/9ERA+WSSV Statistics are courtesy of Baseball-Reference. #19441701.17.800.652.606.87119188310 #210021809.17.450.593.647.47126223341 #38801132.17.950.872.856.97121157367 #410221289.17.910.623.398.73131198478 #56611042.17.590.662.677.43136168300 I dunno, I'm not seeing a lot of separation here. Good thing the "experts" can ferret out things that aren't readily apparent to the rest of us. Who's who? #1, Rollie Fingers (in); #2, Gossage (in); #3, Jeff Reardon (out); #4, Lee Smith (waiting); #5, Bruce ...

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Posted in Baseball | 42 Comments »

Why I Don’t Trust Rookie-League Numbers

Tuesday, December 4, 2007
by Geoff Young

I spent most of Monday piecing together the minor-league chapter for the Ducksnorts 2008 Annual. Mainly I worked on the pitchers -- Mat Latos and a whole lot of strike throwers with minimal upside. Part of what I'm doing is trying to provide context for individual players. When you look at a stat line, you need to know something about the environment in which it was produced in order to make sense of it. Comparable Players To that end, I'm playing around with comparables for key position players in the Padres organization (haven't decided if I'll do the same with pitchers). These have no predictive value but hopefully give some indication of how well a player performed relative to his current league. For example, Cedric Hunter hit .282/.344/.373 in ...

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Posted in 2008 Annual, Minors | 84 Comments »