I was lucky the past two days that by the time I had enough time during work to check out the score to the padres game, my espn scorecenter ap on my phone had already alerted me to the fact that we were losing 6-0. Great end to the day right? The JV has got me so depresed about our offense that once the other team scores even just one run I'm already ready to grab a new pair of underwear. And if its more than 3 runs I cant even turn on the game, I'm forced to turn to baseball tonight to get my offensive fix.
I don't have a lot to say tonight except that the offense can only get better from here. I mean seriously. Bud Black is gonna run out of "I think the hitting will come around" lines at some point and Hoyer will be forced to trade the JV for our triple A squad. I mean Rizzo is hitting .400 or something. Rizzo would be much more fun to watch and he cant do any worse than the Hawpe line right??? Plus I cant wait to hear chears from petco "RIZZZZZZZZOOOOOOOOOO", just sounds so awesome.
These JV players really need to step it up though. Baseball is FUN! These guys don't even look like they are having fun. Hey Hawpe I will trade you jobs, I bet you I could play first base and hit .100 right now. Shoot I'll even throw down a few bunt hits! Go have some fun padres! My bag of different rally starters was almost down to bring out the "one nut out of the pants" rally before Ludwig finally hit a bomb (and by bomb I mean about a 1cm over the fence). Common pads I really don't wanna have to get serious and pull out the one nut just to get things going every game, otherwise I'm gonna be watching a lot of games from my living room instead of petco this year.
Your still faithful friars fan Pat
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Braves 7, Padres GOOSE EGG
On 'defense' Brad Hawpe Brad-Hawpe-ed a ground ball up the line with two outs in the 3rd leading to a 5 run spanking in the frame against someone who used to be named THE Mat Latos. Inconsequential, as the JVPadres got 4 hit and shut out, concluding a 1-6 homestand. Watching these games, I find myself constantly and exactly quoting this baby.
The Braves have a team BA only ten points higher than the Friars, but they scored 18 runs in the three game set against us. In Petco. Let's get outta this place and get on the road.
Debacle.
The Braves have a team BA only ten points higher than the Friars, but they scored 18 runs in the three game set against us. In Petco. Let's get outta this place and get on the road.
Debacle.
APRIL SHOWERS...
I've made jokes about it in previous posts. But all shits and giggles aside, the Padres have played A TON of extra-innings this year.
The Padres are at 7 extra-inning games out of the 24 played thus far. Last year we played a total of 14 in the entire season. So far they are 2-5 in those 7 games. I don't have the exact amount of innings but I have to generally assume that's about an extra two or three whole games added on (if you also throw in the added time during that debacle of a game that lasted until 1:30 AM) to this short season. We are currently on a pace to play 47 games that go past the mandatory 9 for the year. Compared to just the rest of the division we are by far the leaders in games that-go-well-beyond-my-parents-bed-time. The closest in the division is the Giants with 4 extended games (one of those being a damn win last night), while everyone else comes in at 2 a piece.
I know that these are professional, for the most part, athletes but extra frames add additional wear to the arms. As consequential is that aspect is over the course of a season, when the team is struggling as a whole the constant extra inning caused by leaving 11hundred runners on base makes it rougher all around on the mind as much as the body.
Which brings me to this: May.
I couldn't find any news articles to back me up but am I wrong in saying that May is our month? Like, we're notorious in that regard right? Well I'm hopping on that party bus right now. Men left on base, obscene amount of extra-inning games, general atrociousness, it's all getting left behind. So go f-yourself April, do you worst, I'm waiting until my month May. In May, 8 out of the 10 series we play are against teams at or below .500 currently. I'm Applebees feeling good in the neighborhood about May.
But we should sweep the Dodgers this weekend for good measure anyway.
GO PADS C'mon Latos let's take this series.
May jocking by matt
The Padres are at 7 extra-inning games out of the 24 played thus far. Last year we played a total of 14 in the entire season. So far they are 2-5 in those 7 games. I don't have the exact amount of innings but I have to generally assume that's about an extra two or three whole games added on (if you also throw in the added time during that debacle of a game that lasted until 1:30 AM) to this short season. We are currently on a pace to play 47 games that go past the mandatory 9 for the year. Compared to just the rest of the division we are by far the leaders in games that-go-well-beyond-my-parents-bed-time. The closest in the division is the Giants with 4 extended games (one of those being a damn win last night), while everyone else comes in at 2 a piece.
I know that these are professional, for the most part, athletes but extra frames add additional wear to the arms. As consequential is that aspect is over the course of a season, when the team is struggling as a whole the constant extra inning caused by leaving 11hundred runners on base makes it rougher all around on the mind as much as the body.
Which brings me to this: May.
I couldn't find any news articles to back me up but am I wrong in saying that May is our month? Like, we're notorious in that regard right? Well I'm hopping on that party bus right now. Men left on base, obscene amount of extra-inning games, general atrociousness, it's all getting left behind. So go f-yourself April, do you worst, I'm waiting until my month May. In May, 8 out of the 10 series we play are against teams at or below .500 currently. I'm Applebees feeling good in the neighborhood about May.
But we should sweep the Dodgers this weekend for good measure anyway.
GO PADS C'mon Latos let's take this series.
May jocking by matt
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
"It's times like these you learn to love again" Dave Grohl
This song came to mind after Ludwick's walk off jack tonight. After what has been up until now a frustrating year for the Pads offense, one at bat changed everything, at least for tonight. This is the great thing about baseball, even though our Pads have dropped to the cellar of the NL West and have possibly been swinging wiffle ball bats for the last couple weeks, tonight they made us all happy. Ryan Ludwick goes from a huge disappointment to a hero with one swing. Maybe it's what he needed to get it going this season, or maybe he will go back to disappointing us, but at least now we have one good memory of the guy that was supposed to put us into the playoffs last year.
There was actually more good news from this game than Ludwick's performance, even though his shot was the most memorable. How about Brad Hawpe? In most ballparks he hit two bombs tonight, of course in Petco he hit a double and an f7, but could he finally be busting out of his slump? Can we even call what he has been in a slump? There must be a better word for a guy that has been going as bad as Hawpe has this season. There is always talk about a hitter hovering around the "Mendoza line" when he is struggling to keep his average over .200. Hawpe hasn't been able to keep his average over .100 until tonight. At least tonight he broke the "Hawpe line," and he better keep hitting because that's a name that's likely to stick. Just to put into perspective how bad he has been, not one player with more than 5 at bats on the 2010 Padres hit under .125, and that includes the pitching staff. So here we go Brad, keep hitting like you did tonight and you'll get things going.
Of course the pitching was stellar again tonight. Only 4 baserunners allowed by Mosely, and the bullpen didn't allow a single run.
Something about tonight's game makes me feel like opening day again. Just yesterday I was sitting at Petco frustrated, and today things are looking up again. Like I said, that's baseball, and that's why I love it. Of course if the Pads get shut out again tomorrow I'll probably hate it once again.
KK
There was actually more good news from this game than Ludwick's performance, even though his shot was the most memorable. How about Brad Hawpe? In most ballparks he hit two bombs tonight, of course in Petco he hit a double and an f7, but could he finally be busting out of his slump? Can we even call what he has been in a slump? There must be a better word for a guy that has been going as bad as Hawpe has this season. There is always talk about a hitter hovering around the "Mendoza line" when he is struggling to keep his average over .200. Hawpe hasn't been able to keep his average over .100 until tonight. At least tonight he broke the "Hawpe line," and he better keep hitting because that's a name that's likely to stick. Just to put into perspective how bad he has been, not one player with more than 5 at bats on the 2010 Padres hit under .125, and that includes the pitching staff. So here we go Brad, keep hitting like you did tonight and you'll get things going.
Of course the pitching was stellar again tonight. Only 4 baserunners allowed by Mosely, and the bullpen didn't allow a single run.
Something about tonight's game makes me feel like opening day again. Just yesterday I was sitting at Petco frustrated, and today things are looking up again. Like I said, that's baseball, and that's why I love it. Of course if the Pads get shut out again tomorrow I'll probably hate it once again.
KK
Monday, April 25, 2011
Hawpe on out of here brad...
Wouldn't it be nice to log in to padres.com tomorrow to see a headline of Hawpe retires saving padres 6 million dollars. I have watched almost every game this season and came to the realization that I haven't seen Hawpe hit a single line drive. Between the weak grounders and called strikes, he manged to hit a few cue shots that somehow landed in the outfield.
THIS WEEK IN HATE: ESPN
The Eastern Sports Propaganda Network is currently jocking Doc Halladay's performance against the newly-crowned-'JV' Padres pretty hard. Doc was outstanding, he was def throwing that Cy Young stuff, giving up one run over 8 2/3 and striking out 14. But cereal, is it really headline news when you dominate the worst of the worst? NOPE.
This is also a duel Week in Hate post for the JVPads 'offense'. So considering both, lets talk stats. San Diego's best career hitter in the lineup was Wade LeBlanc, the starting pitcher. LeBlanc was also NOT coincidentally the only batter not to strikeout against Roy in the contest (the player to pinch hit for Wade in the 8th, Cantu, took care of those duties). In addition 9 of Roy's 14 Ks came against batters hitting below .185, or with fewer than 20 ABs this year.
(ESPN freeze frame after the jump)
This is also a duel Week in Hate post for the JVPads 'offense'. So considering both, lets talk stats. San Diego's best career hitter in the lineup was Wade LeBlanc, the starting pitcher. LeBlanc was also NOT coincidentally the only batter not to strikeout against Roy in the contest (the player to pinch hit for Wade in the 8th, Cantu, took care of those duties). In addition 9 of Roy's 14 Ks came against batters hitting below .185, or with fewer than 20 ABs this year.
(ESPN freeze frame after the jump)
Sunday, April 24, 2011
JV
JV thats what the padres have been this series against the Phillies. JV as in junior varsity! Seriously the padres looked like a bunch of high schoolers who were out there to just have fun, not really caring if they win or lose but at the end of the game they will get their snack bar ticket and go home. The only thing varsity about this team right now is the pitching which has been superb supporting the NL league leading era of 2.95. And that is without much help from Latos (which will hopefully change soon) and starting Yankee/Angel castoff Dustin Moseley.
Junior varsity (my new nickname for the padres anemic offense) is continuing a yearly trend of drinking too many 40oz. bottles of preseason hype and stumbling to the finish as the worst of the bat swingers. The JV currently holds the rank for 16th out of 16 teams in the NL in terms of offense and is the lowest in almost all categories except stolen bases.
Now granted the Phillies are no chumps and are probably one of the best teams in the league, the friars offense still had a chance to win every single game of the series. The varsity did a hell of a job holding the phillies sluggers to no more than 4 runs in any game. And it would have been less if it weren't for some blooperesque defensive plays.
For now though lets focus on the JV and dissect two of my main reasons for the collapse of offense in the sunny san diego. And no I am not like most people right now blaming the hitting coach, petco park effect (though that heavy sea air does create one), or lack of fan support. Instead my two main reasons for the fall of the offense are this:
1. Lack of leadership and accountability
2. Payroll
Though both of these are almost interchangeable lets start off with number 1. Even if you have the most talented team in the league, you will never win without leadership!!! All great teams have great leaders, think Kobe and the lakers, Pujols and the cardinals, and all the other great leaders who have defined their teams throughout the years. And its not always the big star money makers who are the team leaders. Last year adrian might have been our best hitter and overall best player but personally I don't think he was our team leader. The 2010 team could be defined by Eckstien, Jerry hairston Jr. and the BK "big kid" Heath Bell. Yes adrian led almost all offensive stats and was definitely a leader, the three aforementioned players truly led the padres to an almost cinderella story.
One word defined those three players mentioned and that would be CLUTCH! I can't remember how many times Jerry Hairston Jr. came through with a huge double play or big hit to drive in a winning run, but that guy was the shit! Right now the padres have NO offensive leadership. No one they can truely count on to be consistent. No one to drive in that run when it counts. No one to get a team fired up. Who ever once quoted that "hits are contagious" was a total genius. We need someone on the team to step up and be that spark to start some hitting flurries. IF one of Ludwick, Cantu, Headley, Hawpe, or Hudson can't get some leadership qualities soon we are done. All of them have the potential and experience, someone needs to step up!
The second cause of a woeful offense is the payroll. The UT in February quoted the padres as having a payroll of close to 40 million (it could be less). That gives us a ranking of close to 27-29th (depending on what payroll we take on or get rid of in the coming months). Sorry to say but trying to find lightening in a bottle only happens every once in a while. There is only so many times upper management can put out a meager amount of money and hope to get maximum value. Kevin Towers was a master at pulling this off with the bullpen which is always a possibility but offense is a different beast. The padres got lucky last year that they had an anchor and leader in Adrian and clutch leaders in Hairston Jr. and Eckstien, this year they have neither.
The padres spent little money on high risk high reward guys which right now is paying off very poorly. Getting high value players on the cheap is an extremely important value to have when running a small/mid market team but don't count on that model paying off very often. Very few teams with payrolls under 50 million tend to every win world series. It is just too hard to put a good product on the field with such low input and thus the Junior Varsity was born. But seriously common Morad, is 50 million really that much to ask for??? Even with 50 million we could have spent the money on a decent hitting outfielder or first basemen.
Without a change in either of these the padres could be doomed to be the bottom dwellers of the NL West. I am still holding the hope since I will never turn my back on the padres but it is serisouly getting sad, boring and hard to watch. And don't believe todays stat line of 0 errors. I saw at least 3 padres errors in the game, a grounder to Hawpe that lead to a run, a ball in and out of the glove of diving venable that allowed an inside the parker, and a diving ball missed by ludWIG.
This is your Friar faithful padres blogger Patrick McQuinn, over and out.
Junior varsity (my new nickname for the padres anemic offense) is continuing a yearly trend of drinking too many 40oz. bottles of preseason hype and stumbling to the finish as the worst of the bat swingers. The JV currently holds the rank for 16th out of 16 teams in the NL in terms of offense and is the lowest in almost all categories except stolen bases.
Now granted the Phillies are no chumps and are probably one of the best teams in the league, the friars offense still had a chance to win every single game of the series. The varsity did a hell of a job holding the phillies sluggers to no more than 4 runs in any game. And it would have been less if it weren't for some blooperesque defensive plays.
For now though lets focus on the JV and dissect two of my main reasons for the collapse of offense in the sunny san diego. And no I am not like most people right now blaming the hitting coach, petco park effect (though that heavy sea air does create one), or lack of fan support. Instead my two main reasons for the fall of the offense are this:
1. Lack of leadership and accountability
2. Payroll
Though both of these are almost interchangeable lets start off with number 1. Even if you have the most talented team in the league, you will never win without leadership!!! All great teams have great leaders, think Kobe and the lakers, Pujols and the cardinals, and all the other great leaders who have defined their teams throughout the years. And its not always the big star money makers who are the team leaders. Last year adrian might have been our best hitter and overall best player but personally I don't think he was our team leader. The 2010 team could be defined by Eckstien, Jerry hairston Jr. and the BK "big kid" Heath Bell. Yes adrian led almost all offensive stats and was definitely a leader, the three aforementioned players truly led the padres to an almost cinderella story.
One word defined those three players mentioned and that would be CLUTCH! I can't remember how many times Jerry Hairston Jr. came through with a huge double play or big hit to drive in a winning run, but that guy was the shit! Right now the padres have NO offensive leadership. No one they can truely count on to be consistent. No one to drive in that run when it counts. No one to get a team fired up. Who ever once quoted that "hits are contagious" was a total genius. We need someone on the team to step up and be that spark to start some hitting flurries. IF one of Ludwick, Cantu, Headley, Hawpe, or Hudson can't get some leadership qualities soon we are done. All of them have the potential and experience, someone needs to step up!
The second cause of a woeful offense is the payroll. The UT in February quoted the padres as having a payroll of close to 40 million (it could be less). That gives us a ranking of close to 27-29th (depending on what payroll we take on or get rid of in the coming months). Sorry to say but trying to find lightening in a bottle only happens every once in a while. There is only so many times upper management can put out a meager amount of money and hope to get maximum value. Kevin Towers was a master at pulling this off with the bullpen which is always a possibility but offense is a different beast. The padres got lucky last year that they had an anchor and leader in Adrian and clutch leaders in Hairston Jr. and Eckstien, this year they have neither.
The padres spent little money on high risk high reward guys which right now is paying off very poorly. Getting high value players on the cheap is an extremely important value to have when running a small/mid market team but don't count on that model paying off very often. Very few teams with payrolls under 50 million tend to every win world series. It is just too hard to put a good product on the field with such low input and thus the Junior Varsity was born. But seriously common Morad, is 50 million really that much to ask for??? Even with 50 million we could have spent the money on a decent hitting outfielder or first basemen.
Without a change in either of these the padres could be doomed to be the bottom dwellers of the NL West. I am still holding the hope since I will never turn my back on the padres but it is serisouly getting sad, boring and hard to watch. And don't believe todays stat line of 0 errors. I saw at least 3 padres errors in the game, a grounder to Hawpe that lead to a run, a ball in and out of the glove of diving venable that allowed an inside the parker, and a diving ball missed by ludWIG.
This is your Friar faithful padres blogger Patrick McQuinn, over and out.
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