The Padres picked up Adrian Gonzalez's 2011 option yesterday. As if there was any doubt.
According to Baseball Reference, Gonzalez had the highest NL WAR for position players not named Albert Pujols, and 4th highest overall (fangraphs is not as enamored; they rank Gonzo 13th in the league). Gonzalez's value by Fangraphs came in at $21.1 million; his actual 2011 contract option is for $5.5 million.
Two other options were reported yesterday by XX1090 during the drive home. Jon Garland exercised his player option and declined to return to San Diego in 2011. He receives the $300K buyout. Yorvit Torrealba also declined his $3.5 million option for 2011, and he receives a $500K buyout.
Gonzo gets a $750K raise. The Padres spent $800K and cleared $10.25M off the books for 2011, making $9.45M more available to sign players in 2011.
I'm a little surprised Torrealba declined to return, however, 2010 was his best season in the majors. He had the most PA he's had since 2007, and he put up his best-ever WAR (2.4, again by Fangraphs). He's 32 years old. Perhaps he thinks he proved himself this past season, and believes he can find an everyday catching gig on the free agent market. That's certainly possible. I love an optimist, so best of luck Yorvit.
I'm not all that surprised Garland is leaving. He seemed irritated at how he was used by Black, especially towards the end of the season. There were a couple of games (against the Giants in early September, against the Cubs the last home game of the season) where he either was visibly upset at being lifted, or verbally indicated he was miffed in the post-game interview. Garland professed to really wanting to pitch at Petco when the Padres signed him in the off-season; things must have gone sour indeed for him to leave after only one season.
Garland had the best K/9 rate, and the second-worst BB/9 rate, of his career in 2010. His xFIP was the seocnd-lowest of his career, so he pitched about as well as he could; yet his WAR was the lowest it had ever been when throwing 200+ innings (and his lowest since 2001, his second year in the majors). His 3.47 ERA was the best of his career.
How crowded would the Padres rotation have been in 2011? Latos, Richard, and Stauffer return. Young has an $8.5M club option. Correia is a free agent. LeBlanc is probably done as a starter. There was room for Garland here in 2011, had he opted to stay.
Well Jon it was fun while it lasted. Wish you could have stopped that 10-game losing streak before it reached 10 games.
Showing posts with label Jon Garland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jon Garland. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
How would the Padres have done?
Day 1 of the playoffs is in the books. Philadelphia's Roy Halladay no-hit the Reds 4-0. Since both those teams could have been Padres opponents, I thought: How would the Padres have done?
1. Would Halladay have no-hit San Diego? With the stuff he had last night, Roy Halladay would have no-hit the '27 Yankees. More to the point, here are the Reds and Padres relative NL rankings in various hitting categories:
2. Would the Padres have no-hit Cincinnati? A little more difficult to answer. The game would have been here, so that's an advantage for the Padre starter. Who would have been the Padre starter? Chris Young would have pitched the Monday play-in game, so Bud Black's options were Jon Garland on extra rest or Clayton Richard on full rest (let's eliminate Tim Stauffer and Mat Latos from consideration; no way they start Game 1 on short rest).
Of course, it doesn't matter. San Diego lost last Sunday. Which meant I had to do this today.
1. Would Halladay have no-hit San Diego? With the stuff he had last night, Roy Halladay would have no-hit the '27 Yankees. More to the point, here are the Reds and Padres relative NL rankings in various hitting categories:
- Average: Reds (1st), Padres (15th)
- OBP: Reds (2nd), Padres (13th)
- Slugging: Reds (1st), Padres (15th)
- ISO: Reds (2nd), Padres (15th)
- And of course, wOBA Reds (1st), Padres (15th).
2. Would the Padres have no-hit Cincinnati? A little more difficult to answer. The game would have been here, so that's an advantage for the Padre starter. Who would have been the Padre starter? Chris Young would have pitched the Monday play-in game, so Bud Black's options were Jon Garland on extra rest or Clayton Richard on full rest (let's eliminate Tim Stauffer and Mat Latos from consideration; no way they start Game 1 on short rest).
- Neither Garland nor Richard have thrown a no-hitter in their careers to date.
- Garland has 2 post-season starts; he allowed 4 ER in 16 IP (ERA: 2.25) as a White Sox in 2005. Richard has never started a post-season game.
- The Reds hit .275/.335/.437 against RHP and .265/.346/.434 against LHP. That's known as a wash. No advantage there.
- The Padres lost both of Richard's starts against Cincinnati this season. The Padres were 4-2 against Cincinnati overall. Garland's teams are 2-2 in his career when he started against the Reds.
Of course, it doesn't matter. San Diego lost last Sunday. Which meant I had to do this today.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Three and Five
MLB handed down their decision on Yorvit Torrealba's 'discussion' with home plate umpire Larry Vanover Monday night - 3 game suspension. Yorvit was not amused, as quoted by Chris Jenkins:
If it’s a fine, all right, whatever, but three games is a little bit too much. One game, two games, I’m gonna get my lesson no matter what. But I don’t see umpires getting fined and I don’t see umpires getting suspended. They make a lot of mistakes.Jon Garland had a choice comment too. I love this one:
Garland said Wednesday that he’d pay Torrealba’s fine in appreciation for the catcher backing [him] up.The Padres will appeal the suspension, but now that Torrealba has continued to rip the umpire in the press, I would not expect the length to get reduced. I wonder if an appeal has ever resulted in the suspension getting longer. For the record, good for Torrealba for expressing himself clearly, and when will MLB make the review of umpiring performance more transparent? I think some level of public accountability with umpires who make repeated bad calls, are confrontational, and/or are inconsistent pitch-to-pitch or inning-to-inning would go a long way to restoring their reputation as a whole with the players and fans.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Short Rest and Short Tempers
To start last night's series with the Toronto Blue Jays, the Padres decided to thrown Jon Garland on three days (or short) rest. Garland has not fared well in short rest situations; in fact, according to facts I heard after the game, he had only made 2 previous career starts on 3 days rest and was 0-1 with a 7.20 ERA. Even if you are one who does not put a lot of stock in the traditional statistics (and as a general rule, I do not), those numbers do not portend to a good result.
So watching Garland labor through 3 innings while throwing 84 pitches was no surprise. One would think throwing that many pitches meant he wasn't pitching well. In fact, he got 6 of those 9 outs via strikeout. The John Buck 2-run shot in the second hurt, but what really killed him was the walk to Toronto starter Shaun Marcum with two out in the same inning. In fact, it appeared Marcum got a borderline pitch called a ball on a 2-2 count, then proceeded to walk.
It also appeared that call got to Garland - as evidenced by the 2 doubles he then gave up, and the two looks he gave home plate umpire Larry Vanover as he left the field. Garland eventually made it through 5, and allowed only one hit the rest of the way (a two-out single to Lyle Overbay in the fifth).
In the meantime, the Padres were hitting home runs too - except theirs came with no one on. Jerry Hairston Jr homered to lead off the third, an inning after he was left in the batters box while Will Venable was caught stealing. Adrian Gonzalez homered leading off the fourth, cutting the deficit in half.
The Curious Case of Edward Mujica came on, and while he didn't give up a tater, he didn't disappoint by allowing another run to score. With the score 5-2 the Padres finally got a look at the game. Singles by Scott 'Big Country'* Hairston and Venable sandwiched Yorvit Torrealba reaching on an error by the Toronto shortstop Alex Gonzalez**.
*The stadium PA system played 'Big Country' by Big Country before Hairston's first at bat in the second inning. He will forever be known as Big Country on this blog.
** Yorvit wore out Gonzalez in this game - single to short, ground out to short, reach on an error by short. He didn't get a chance to go for the quad though...
Unfortunately, the Hairston Jr just missed a Marcum fastball and popped out to left. Not deep enough to score the run. The Gwynn Jr then hit a slow roller to third. A run scored, but there were two out. Oscar Salazer's soft line out to center ended the majority of the drama for this game.
That is, until the earthquake hit in the eighth. I truly was not worried until the tremor kept going and going. The PA announcement to 'REMAIN CALM' did more to excite the crowd than the earthquake did. Of course, I immediately said, to no one in particular, "They're not out of coffee are they? THEY BETTER NOT RUN OUT OF COFFEE!!!" fully realizing no one under 40 would get that joke. Judging from the high school kids looking at me quizzically, they didn't.
The final excitement was Torrealba's final at bat of the night, with Big Country on first and no one out. Based on Torrealba's reaction the pitch was inside; my seats did not support a good angle to see the pitch. Vanover called it strike three and Yorvit went ballistic. Vanover stuck his finger in Torrealba's face (here we go again), and Torrealba got right in his grill. Yorvit also bumped the umpire a couple of times.
Yorvit's going to get fined and probably suspended, and that's too bad. I'll save my umpire rant for the Podcast.*
*I'll also point out that on my last Podcast I stated the Blue Jays had never played San Diego. That's wrong, they faced off in San Diego back in 2004. The Padres have never played in Toronto.
So watching Garland labor through 3 innings while throwing 84 pitches was no surprise. One would think throwing that many pitches meant he wasn't pitching well. In fact, he got 6 of those 9 outs via strikeout. The John Buck 2-run shot in the second hurt, but what really killed him was the walk to Toronto starter Shaun Marcum with two out in the same inning. In fact, it appeared Marcum got a borderline pitch called a ball on a 2-2 count, then proceeded to walk.
It also appeared that call got to Garland - as evidenced by the 2 doubles he then gave up, and the two looks he gave home plate umpire Larry Vanover as he left the field. Garland eventually made it through 5, and allowed only one hit the rest of the way (a two-out single to Lyle Overbay in the fifth).
In the meantime, the Padres were hitting home runs too - except theirs came with no one on. Jerry Hairston Jr homered to lead off the third, an inning after he was left in the batters box while Will Venable was caught stealing. Adrian Gonzalez homered leading off the fourth, cutting the deficit in half.
The Curious Case of Edward Mujica came on, and while he didn't give up a tater, he didn't disappoint by allowing another run to score. With the score 5-2 the Padres finally got a look at the game. Singles by Scott 'Big Country'* Hairston and Venable sandwiched Yorvit Torrealba reaching on an error by the Toronto shortstop Alex Gonzalez**.
*The stadium PA system played 'Big Country' by Big Country before Hairston's first at bat in the second inning. He will forever be known as Big Country on this blog.
** Yorvit wore out Gonzalez in this game - single to short, ground out to short, reach on an error by short. He didn't get a chance to go for the quad though...
Unfortunately, the Hairston Jr just missed a Marcum fastball and popped out to left. Not deep enough to score the run. The Gwynn Jr then hit a slow roller to third. A run scored, but there were two out. Oscar Salazer's soft line out to center ended the majority of the drama for this game.
That is, until the earthquake hit in the eighth. I truly was not worried until the tremor kept going and going. The PA announcement to 'REMAIN CALM' did more to excite the crowd than the earthquake did. Of course, I immediately said, to no one in particular, "They're not out of coffee are they? THEY BETTER NOT RUN OUT OF COFFEE!!!" fully realizing no one under 40 would get that joke. Judging from the high school kids looking at me quizzically, they didn't.
The final excitement was Torrealba's final at bat of the night, with Big Country on first and no one out. Based on Torrealba's reaction the pitch was inside; my seats did not support a good angle to see the pitch. Vanover called it strike three and Yorvit went ballistic. Vanover stuck his finger in Torrealba's face (here we go again), and Torrealba got right in his grill. Yorvit also bumped the umpire a couple of times.
Yorvit's going to get fined and probably suspended, and that's too bad. I'll save my umpire rant for the Podcast.*
*I'll also point out that on my last Podcast I stated the Blue Jays had never played San Diego. That's wrong, they faced off in San Diego back in 2004. The Padres have never played in Toronto.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Garland, Defense Shut Down Cardinals
Jon Garland walked the high wire, and came away unscathed. Especially in the first inning.
Before we get to that, a quick comment. Darren Smith, on the Padre BP show, talked about last year's Cardinal/Padre finale and the Will Venable/Albert Pujols dust-up at first base. He shed some additional light on that event; apparently AP tends to straddle the first base line when recording outs at first, so the Padres were told to go through him.
Smith, in attempting to recall the specifics of the event, said it occured in September, on Sunday, and the Padres won. Not quite. Happened on a Sunday? Yes. But, it was 23 Aug 09, and the Padres lost 5-2. It helps my memory that Smoltz struck out a career best 7 consecutive hitters, and that it was Ryan Franklin's last save in 2009, AND that I wrote about it over here. Come on Darren. I know you're a St John's* alum, but you're better than that.
* A little Big East dig, since I went to Villanova.
Garland labored through the first, but got the big strikeouts when he needed them. His defense backed him up by turning 3 double plays during his seven innings. Jerry Hairston, Jr, pulled a rabbit out of his hat and hit his first 2010 HR - off Cardinal ace Adam Wainwright, no less. Another example of the Padres doing just enough to win.
Mike Adams threw an uneventful eighth, and Heath Bell negotiated an interesting ninth (exacerbated by the strike zone, if Ted Leitner/Andy Mazur are to believed) to get the save.
Last night was the third 1-0 win this season by San Diego. That's the most since 2007, when they won 5 such games. The franchise record for 1-0 wins is 6, set in 1985.
If I had anything to nit-pick, it would be Adrian Gonzalez striking out 4 times. However, considering the first three came against the 2009 Cy Young runner-up, that's not much of a nit.
Kevin Correia looks to snap his personal 3-game losing streak tonight against Jamie Garcia. This will be Kevin's second start at Petco against the Cardinals; he lost the first one 7-0 to Chris Carpenter. He is 1-2 in 3 career starts facing St Louis. Five current Redbirds have at least 8 Plate Appearances against him:
My coverage of the game from the Cardinal perspective can be found here. Yes the content is different.
Before we get to that, a quick comment. Darren Smith, on the Padre BP show, talked about last year's Cardinal/Padre finale and the Will Venable/Albert Pujols dust-up at first base. He shed some additional light on that event; apparently AP tends to straddle the first base line when recording outs at first, so the Padres were told to go through him.
Smith, in attempting to recall the specifics of the event, said it occured in September, on Sunday, and the Padres won. Not quite. Happened on a Sunday? Yes. But, it was 23 Aug 09, and the Padres lost 5-2. It helps my memory that Smoltz struck out a career best 7 consecutive hitters, and that it was Ryan Franklin's last save in 2009, AND that I wrote about it over here. Come on Darren. I know you're a St John's* alum, but you're better than that.
* A little Big East dig, since I went to Villanova.
Garland labored through the first, but got the big strikeouts when he needed them. His defense backed him up by turning 3 double plays during his seven innings. Jerry Hairston, Jr, pulled a rabbit out of his hat and hit his first 2010 HR - off Cardinal ace Adam Wainwright, no less. Another example of the Padres doing just enough to win.
Mike Adams threw an uneventful eighth, and Heath Bell negotiated an interesting ninth (exacerbated by the strike zone, if Ted Leitner/Andy Mazur are to believed) to get the save.
Last night was the third 1-0 win this season by San Diego. That's the most since 2007, when they won 5 such games. The franchise record for 1-0 wins is 6, set in 1985.
If I had anything to nit-pick, it would be Adrian Gonzalez striking out 4 times. However, considering the first three came against the 2009 Cy Young runner-up, that's not much of a nit.
Kevin Correia looks to snap his personal 3-game losing streak tonight against Jamie Garcia. This will be Kevin's second start at Petco against the Cardinals; he lost the first one 7-0 to Chris Carpenter. He is 1-2 in 3 career starts facing St Louis. Five current Redbirds have at least 8 Plate Appearances against him:
- Felipe Lopez (29 PA): .200/.286/.280
- Matt Holliday (25 PA): .304/.360/.609
- Albert Pujols (13 PA): .400/.538/.500
- Yadier Molina (9 PA): .143/.250/.143
- Skip Schumaker (8 PA): .429/.500/.571
My coverage of the game from the Cardinal perspective can be found here. Yes the content is different.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Still in first - YEE HA
First some administrative items. We have a shortstop for the Juan Eichelberger All-Stars, and he is Yuniesky Betancourt. Remember, this is all about the NAME, not the PLAYER. Because if it was about the player, Betancourt'd be DFA'd today. We also have a back-up catcher: Humberto Quintero. I love this name; it sounds like the nom-de-plume of a Roman Emperor.
Back to the Padres. They won 2 of 3 from a bad Astro team over the weekend, which made me smile. They could have swept, but Mujica decided to test the 'Minute Maid Park is a Band Box' theory (and he was proven wrong), and Jerry Hairston AIR-MAILED a throw to first in the ninth (which led to an unearned tying run). Life goes on.
I have one complaint about this series, only one complaint really, and that is why was Jon Garland lifted after 7 innings and 83 pitches on Saturday night? At the time he left, Garland had allowed 3 baserunners (2 hits and a walk), had retired the heart of the Houston order in the seventh, and had retired 7 of the last 8 hitters (he walked Keppinger to start the seventh, then retired him on a double play off the bat of Carlos Lee) he faced.
Eighty-three pitches is the fewest Garland has thrown in a game this season. Why take him out? Adams came in and gave up a run in the eighth, which further irked me. Thankfully Bell slammed the door in the ninth.
I don't understand the 'setup man/closer' mentality when the starter is rolling along. You never know when you might need to tax the bullpen in the future, so if you can rest everybody behind a dominating performance by the starter, I think you should. Sadly the Padres had to go with an emergency starter on Sunday (Correia missed his start due to a family tragedy), which meant they needed all hands on deck.
Granted, Adams/Bell pitching on Saturday didn't figure into why the team lost on Sunday (see Mujica and Hairston, who we discussed above), but the next time it might not work out that way. It just seemed foolish to me.
Padres start a 3-game set in San Francisco tonight. First place is on the line. I hope we can still say that when the Padres/Giants hook up in August - that'd be really cool.
Back to the Padres. They won 2 of 3 from a bad Astro team over the weekend, which made me smile. They could have swept, but Mujica decided to test the 'Minute Maid Park is a Band Box' theory (and he was proven wrong), and Jerry Hairston AIR-MAILED a throw to first in the ninth (which led to an unearned tying run). Life goes on.
I have one complaint about this series, only one complaint really, and that is why was Jon Garland lifted after 7 innings and 83 pitches on Saturday night? At the time he left, Garland had allowed 3 baserunners (2 hits and a walk), had retired the heart of the Houston order in the seventh, and had retired 7 of the last 8 hitters (he walked Keppinger to start the seventh, then retired him on a double play off the bat of Carlos Lee) he faced.
Eighty-three pitches is the fewest Garland has thrown in a game this season. Why take him out? Adams came in and gave up a run in the eighth, which further irked me. Thankfully Bell slammed the door in the ninth.
I don't understand the 'setup man/closer' mentality when the starter is rolling along. You never know when you might need to tax the bullpen in the future, so if you can rest everybody behind a dominating performance by the starter, I think you should. Sadly the Padres had to go with an emergency starter on Sunday (Correia missed his start due to a family tragedy), which meant they needed all hands on deck.
Granted, Adams/Bell pitching on Saturday didn't figure into why the team lost on Sunday (see Mujica and Hairston, who we discussed above), but the next time it might not work out that way. It just seemed foolish to me.
Padres start a 3-game set in San Francisco tonight. First place is on the line. I hope we can still say that when the Padres/Giants hook up in August - that'd be really cool.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
There may be something to this
The Padres broke their 8-game winning streak on Sunday, when Mike Adams gave up 2 runs in the eighth to Cincinnati. They lost that game 5-4. They then went out and got drubbed by Florida (thanks Josh Johnson) 10-1.
Ut-oh. Was that the beginning of a crash to earth for the Padres? With Garland pitching Tuesday night (who had struggled so far in 2010), and Correia on Wednesday (who is not the same pitcher on the road he is at home), one wondered if the salad days were over. Remember, they started 2009 9-3 and then struggled mightily until after the All-Star break.
Nope. Jon Garland was tremendous for the second start in a row. Correia? Well, Kevin wobbled through 5 yesterday, but the offense bailed him out, and the bullpen slammed the door getting the last 12 outs. Series win.
The Padres return tonight off a 4-2 road trip, and in sole possession of first place in the Division. Nice. They face a sterner test this weekend in the offensively-loaded Milwaukee Brewers, but Milwaukee's Achilles heel is it's starting pitching, so they have a good chance to keep the momentum going.
Adding fuel to the fire of hope starting to burn brightly around San Diego is Daniel's latest post. During the off-season, the team shifted gears slightly by emphasizing team speed and defense on the roster. So far, they rank #1 in the league in UZR/150 and third in Defensive Runs Saved. Given how hard it is to score runs in Petco, and the old saw 'speed never goes into a slump', that has all the earmarks of a sustainable approach to the season.
With the bullpen being lights out as usual (and in spite of my concerns regarding overuse), the starters just need to be good enough, and the offensive just needs to be average, for this team to compete. And contend.
There may be something to this. It could be a fun summer in San Diego.
Tonight I'm at the ballpark (7:05 start). It's Podcast night, but the 'Cast may not start promptly at 10pm, based on the game. I won't start the show until the game is over and I'm in the car headed home, which means if you've got a comment for the chat room or want to call in PLEASE BE PATIENT. I won't know you're there until I'm back in front of my computer, which might be a while (depending on traffic).
Ut-oh. Was that the beginning of a crash to earth for the Padres? With Garland pitching Tuesday night (who had struggled so far in 2010), and Correia on Wednesday (who is not the same pitcher on the road he is at home), one wondered if the salad days were over. Remember, they started 2009 9-3 and then struggled mightily until after the All-Star break.
Nope. Jon Garland was tremendous for the second start in a row. Correia? Well, Kevin wobbled through 5 yesterday, but the offense bailed him out, and the bullpen slammed the door getting the last 12 outs. Series win.
The Padres return tonight off a 4-2 road trip, and in sole possession of first place in the Division. Nice. They face a sterner test this weekend in the offensively-loaded Milwaukee Brewers, but Milwaukee's Achilles heel is it's starting pitching, so they have a good chance to keep the momentum going.
Adding fuel to the fire of hope starting to burn brightly around San Diego is Daniel's latest post. During the off-season, the team shifted gears slightly by emphasizing team speed and defense on the roster. So far, they rank #1 in the league in UZR/150 and third in Defensive Runs Saved. Given how hard it is to score runs in Petco, and the old saw 'speed never goes into a slump', that has all the earmarks of a sustainable approach to the season.
With the bullpen being lights out as usual (and in spite of my concerns regarding overuse), the starters just need to be good enough, and the offensive just needs to be average, for this team to compete. And contend.
There may be something to this. It could be a fun summer in San Diego.
Tonight I'm at the ballpark (7:05 start). It's Podcast night, but the 'Cast may not start promptly at 10pm, based on the game. I won't start the show until the game is over and I'm in the car headed home, which means if you've got a comment for the chat room or want to call in PLEASE BE PATIENT. I won't know you're there until I'm back in front of my computer, which might be a while (depending on traffic).
Friday, April 2, 2010
Podcast Recap
Spent an hour talking to Steve Adler of Friarhood, Peter Friberg of Padres RunDown, and Web SoulSurfer of websoulsurfer last night on the Podcast. We also had Mike from Avenging Jack Murphy, and for a time RJ's Fro in the chatroom during the discussion. That's a lot of Padres expertise in one chat, and it generated a high level of discussion, references to Joe Randa aside.
Some of the highlights:
- No issues with Jon Garland/Chris Young making the opening day starts (on the road and at home, respectively). Who the leader of this staff will be needs to be sorted out amongst the guys in the rotation; it may not be Young by default based on seniority.
- Wade LeBlanc will definitely be up this season, if for no other reason than attrition during the 162-game season.
- Lots of discussion on potential trades should the Padres fall out of the race. Heath Bell, Chris Young, Gonzo moving all covered. Listening to the podcast is worth it just for that part.
- The Padres are pretty deep at second base, according to Pete. I was not aware of this. Even if Antonelli doesn't carry his spring training success into the AAA schedule, the Padres have some up and comers in their farm system.
- All agreed Catcher is still an organizational concern, but aren't worried about the offensive production from that position as much as how they call a game, shut down the opposition's running game, and so on. Lots of love for Hundley (and some for Dusty Ryan), not so much for Torrealba.
A great way to conclude the spring training season and get ready for Opening Day on Monday at Arizona. Besides, the Padres beat Anaheim in Anaheim while the podcast was in progress - doesn't get much better than that.
Some of the highlights:
- No issues with Jon Garland/Chris Young making the opening day starts (on the road and at home, respectively). Who the leader of this staff will be needs to be sorted out amongst the guys in the rotation; it may not be Young by default based on seniority.
- Wade LeBlanc will definitely be up this season, if for no other reason than attrition during the 162-game season.
- Lots of discussion on potential trades should the Padres fall out of the race. Heath Bell, Chris Young, Gonzo moving all covered. Listening to the podcast is worth it just for that part.
- The Padres are pretty deep at second base, according to Pete. I was not aware of this. Even if Antonelli doesn't carry his spring training success into the AAA schedule, the Padres have some up and comers in their farm system.
- All agreed Catcher is still an organizational concern, but aren't worried about the offensive production from that position as much as how they call a game, shut down the opposition's running game, and so on. Lots of love for Hundley (and some for Dusty Ryan), not so much for Torrealba.
A great way to conclude the spring training season and get ready for Opening Day on Monday at Arizona. Besides, the Padres beat Anaheim in Anaheim while the podcast was in progress - doesn't get much better than that.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Pitching Moves and Opening Day Starters
I learned last night that Jon Garland has been named Opening Day starter, and Chris Young the starter at Petco Opening Day 6 games later. Starting on Opening Day is an honor normally reserved for the best pitcher on the staff. This is why Jake Peavy made several Opening Day starts, why Chris Carpenter will start the Cardinals opener in Cincinnati, and so on.
It gets a little tricky when a team opens the season on the road, as the Padres will do this year in Arizona, at least in my opinion. Teams don't want their home opener to be started by someone at the back of the rotation; and in some cases, teams will tweak their rotation so they get the guy they want starting the home opener. A good recent example is LA. Vincente Padilla will start the opener, and although he pitched very well down the stretch for the Dodgers last season, I don't think anyone would argue he's the best pitcher in that rotation. Clayton Kershaw will start the home opener at Dodger Stadium, and lots of people would argue he's the ace of that staff.
So Jon Garland starting Opening Day on the road doesn't surprise or bother me. There's probably some politics in play with the selection; after all, Garland was the big free-agent pickup by this team over the winter, he started the 2009 season with Arizona, he's probably fired up to pitch against them. All well and good. However Chris Young's selection as the home opener starter was a surprise.
Now, I like Young a lot as a pitcher, and have for a couple of years. Not to mention we have tickets to Opening Day, and he's my wife's favorite player, so getting to see him pitch is great. Plus, he's the 'old man' of the staff in terms of Padre service time, so perhaps he deserves this honor. However, he was hurt virtually all of last season, and when he did pitch he was ineffective due to injury.
I thought Kevin Correia should have gotten this start.
One of the reasons given for slotting Chris Young #2 in the rotation was to keep him from pitching in Coors. OK, that's fine, Coors isn't a great place to pitch, and Chris hasn't enjoyed all of his starts there (3-3, 5.31 career in 8 Denver starts). However if he was the #3 starter he still wouldn't pitch there next week.
It is a fine point, and over a 162-game schedule doesn't matter much, but I find it curious.
In other news, it appears Clayton Richard nailed down the #4 slot, and there's still been no official announcement as to who the #5 starter will be. With Tim Stauffer and Sean Gallagher apparently headed to the bullpen (and Joe Thatcher to the DL), we can reasonably narrow the competition down to two: Wade LeBlanc and Mat Latos. Both have pitched spectacularly during the spring, so either choice will be a good one.
The SD U-T put up a story yesterday projecting the final 25-man roster. It can be found here. I don't have any real issues with Bill Center's projected roster. I know Matt Antonelli returned from the dead only this spring (after two years in hitter's exile), but I cannot help but wonder if David Eckstein's days starting at second are numbered. If Antonelli continues to tear it up in AAA, like he has in spring training, how long will the club let him languish at Portland? Especially if Eckstein continues to struggle at the plate (.260/.323/.334).
Quick programming note: I will moderate a Padres Pre-season forum during the next Podcast (10 pm PDT Thursday). I will announce the confirmed list of Padre blogger participants tomorrow, stay tuned.
It gets a little tricky when a team opens the season on the road, as the Padres will do this year in Arizona, at least in my opinion. Teams don't want their home opener to be started by someone at the back of the rotation; and in some cases, teams will tweak their rotation so they get the guy they want starting the home opener. A good recent example is LA. Vincente Padilla will start the opener, and although he pitched very well down the stretch for the Dodgers last season, I don't think anyone would argue he's the best pitcher in that rotation. Clayton Kershaw will start the home opener at Dodger Stadium, and lots of people would argue he's the ace of that staff.
So Jon Garland starting Opening Day on the road doesn't surprise or bother me. There's probably some politics in play with the selection; after all, Garland was the big free-agent pickup by this team over the winter, he started the 2009 season with Arizona, he's probably fired up to pitch against them. All well and good. However Chris Young's selection as the home opener starter was a surprise.
Now, I like Young a lot as a pitcher, and have for a couple of years. Not to mention we have tickets to Opening Day, and he's my wife's favorite player, so getting to see him pitch is great. Plus, he's the 'old man' of the staff in terms of Padre service time, so perhaps he deserves this honor. However, he was hurt virtually all of last season, and when he did pitch he was ineffective due to injury.
I thought Kevin Correia should have gotten this start.
One of the reasons given for slotting Chris Young #2 in the rotation was to keep him from pitching in Coors. OK, that's fine, Coors isn't a great place to pitch, and Chris hasn't enjoyed all of his starts there (3-3, 5.31 career in 8 Denver starts). However if he was the #3 starter he still wouldn't pitch there next week.
It is a fine point, and over a 162-game schedule doesn't matter much, but I find it curious.
In other news, it appears Clayton Richard nailed down the #4 slot, and there's still been no official announcement as to who the #5 starter will be. With Tim Stauffer and Sean Gallagher apparently headed to the bullpen (and Joe Thatcher to the DL), we can reasonably narrow the competition down to two: Wade LeBlanc and Mat Latos. Both have pitched spectacularly during the spring, so either choice will be a good one.
The SD U-T put up a story yesterday projecting the final 25-man roster. It can be found here. I don't have any real issues with Bill Center's projected roster. I know Matt Antonelli returned from the dead only this spring (after two years in hitter's exile), but I cannot help but wonder if David Eckstein's days starting at second are numbered. If Antonelli continues to tear it up in AAA, like he has in spring training, how long will the club let him languish at Portland? Especially if Eckstein continues to struggle at the plate (.260/.323/.334).
Quick programming note: I will moderate a Padres Pre-season forum during the next Podcast (10 pm PDT Thursday). I will announce the confirmed list of Padre blogger participants tomorrow, stay tuned.
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