Peavy's Mechanics Broken Down
Hardball Times has done a nice job breaking down Jake Peavy's approach - complete with video clips isolating different stages of his pitching motion. Definitely worth a look.
Labels: pitching
Preaching Padre religion one post at time
Hardball Times has done a nice job breaking down Jake Peavy's approach - complete with video clips isolating different stages of his pitching motion. Definitely worth a look.
Labels: pitching
Padres rookie right hander, Jack Cassel, is toeing the rubber as a starter for the first time in his MLB career. If a rookie making his second career outing against the division rival Dodgers wasn't enough of a storyline for Friday nights contest, throw in the opponent' s starting pitcher, David Wells. Boomer made 22 starts for his home town team this year going 5-8 with an ERA over 5 before being designated for assignment and signed by the Dodgers. Cassel is the brother of New England Patriot backup QB Matt Cassel.
Labels: pitching
Chris Young looked sharp in the first inning Thursday night - unfortunately, his command seemed to wane a bit more each subsequent inning. All told, the tall right hander was touched up for 5 runs over 4 1/3 innings - doubling his home ERA for the season from 0.66 to 1.24 - as the Friars fell to DBacks 8-7. CY's 6 walks underscored his control issues.
Labels: notes
Greg Maddux led the Friars to a 3-1 win over the DBacks Wednesday night at Petco Park. Coming into the game with a streak of 35 innings without issuing walk (for a 1.2 walk/9 innings ratio), Maddux tacked on an additional 7 walk-less innings while also recording 5 punch outs on the way to his second career triumph over Arizona. Maddux appeared to talk Padres skipper Bud Black out of removing him from the game with 2 outs in the 7th; the Professor responded with an emphatic strikeout of AZ star Chris Young. Kevin Cameron pitched a 1-2-3 eight for his 34th scoreless inning in 39 attempts - not too shabby for someone the team was hiding in the bowels of the 'pen to start the season. Heath Bell pitched a perfect ninth for his second career save as Trevor Hoffman was on the shelf after appearing in 6 of the last 8 games.
Labels: notes
CBS Sportsline's Scott Miller reports that San Diego should enjoy Milton Bradley before he wears out his welcome. We all know about Bradley's reputation, but San Diego might just be the place for Milton to turn things around. There may not be a more laid back stop in the Big League circuit than America's Finest City. After his acquisition, Michael Barrett was supposed to be a clubhouse cancer too, but he's fit in perfectly to date. Given that Bradley is feeling accepted, hanging out with pitchers and playing like a super star, FF is going to keep the faith. How couldn't we - the guy has hit 4 bombs in his last 5 games to go with a .375 average and 22 RBI over his last 23 contests.
Labels: climb-the-ladder
That's why they play the games!
Labels: notes
The beginning of the four game showdown between the top two teams in the NL West did not disappoint. The Padres ace, and leading Cy Young candidate, Jake Peavy threw 7 solid innings allowing the Dbacks to score 1 run (solo shot by Eric Byrnes in the 6th) and fanning 11. Peavy moved his record to 15-5 in part thanks to a 2 out 2 run blast of the bat of Geoff Blum. An insurance run was provided in the 8th, again with 2 outs Milton Bradley found the Petco Porch to his liking as he drove a solo shot just over the yellow line, Bradley's tater delivered the last run of the 3-1 victory. Heath Bell was impressive in the 8th and Hoffman closed the door on Arizona after allowing the tying runs to reach base, it was Trevor's 34th save of the year.
Jake Peavy takes the mound for the Padres Monday night to kick off a 4 game series against the DBacks at Petco Park. With a single strikeout, Peavy will move past Andy Benes for the franchise record. More importantly, a sweep would put the Padres up a game in the NL West - might seem like a lot to ask, but clearly the DBacks are worried, which is why they are compensating. Bud Black's club currently holds a 3 game lead in the NL wild card race.
Labels: notes
Tim Stauffer gave up 3 in each of the first 2 innings. With the Pads down 6-1 in the 4th they loaded the bases with nobody out, after a fly ball to shallow right where Agon didn't tag and a Laforest strikeout Bud Black opted to let Stauffer hit for himself, he grounded out to conclude the Friars frustrating inning. You figure Black wanted to preserve his bullpen for the upcoming 4 game series with the first place DBacks. Stauffer responded by surrendering another 5 in the 4th to extend the Phillies lead to 10 runs. All 11 runs are earned and Stauffer remained in the game through 4 with Wil Ledezma getting loose between innings.
Labels: notes
How does a guy with an ERA north of 17.00 have a hot streak to extend? Well, that kind of ERA doesn't keep one around in the Bigs too long, so Tim Stauffer has had the opportunity to take the positive of his last start and work on it at AAA Portland. Tuesday the former 1st round selection tossed 7 1/3 scoreless innings for the Beavers (help save the Beavers name now if you haven't already), extending his hot streak with only 1 run allowed over 21 innings. Stauffer has had mixed success at the big league level over the course of 3 seasons. He is generally believed to have the stuff to stay with the big club, but his confidence tends to swing like a yo-yo. The Union Tribune reports that Bud Black remarked that, "his confidence is high", hopefully a sign that tonight may be an opportunity to extend both Stauffer's and the Padres' hot streaks.
Labels: notes
After collecting a season high 22 hits last night, the Padres responded with just 9 hits in Saturday's contest. Luckily, 4 of those hits left the yard, powering the Friars to a 4-3 win over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mike Cameron, Milton Bradley, Kevin Kouzmanoff and Terrmel Sledge all hit solo shots while a combination of 6 pitchers held the Phillies to 3 runs. Bradley's homer was the most impressive, making a loud crack off the bat on landing about 8 rows deep into the second deck. Apparently, only Barry Bonds and Ryan Howard have reached that distance in the past. Starter Clay Hensley allowed 2 runs over 4 2/3 innings. Despite a dropped foul ball by Kouzmanoff and not being able to capitalize on a potential twin killing, Justin Hampson battled backed back with a pair of strikeouts after coming on with 1 out in the sixth. Heath Bell powered his way to an hold with an impressive inning. Most concerning was Trevor Hoffman getting touched up for another run on the way to his 33rd save. The win pulled the Padres within 1.5 games of the D-Backs in the West while opening up a 4 game lead in the Wildcard race.
Labels: notes
The Padres telecast has just reported that Marcus Giles has been placed on the 15-day DL as a result of injuries related to last night's bush league slide by Carlos Ruiz. Friar announcer Matty V reports that Giles had to obtain help from the Padres medical staff at about 4:30AM as his knee became swollen and made it difficult for him to move around. Diagnosed as a sprained knee, the new injury overshadows the hip pointer that forced Giles out of last night's game. Craig Stansberry was called up to fill Giles' spot on the Big Club and is uniform for tonight's game. Stansberry was recently mentioned by GM Kevin Towers as a likely candidate to join the Padres, partly due to his .820 OPS at AAA Portland this year.
Labels: climb-the-ladder, injuries
Greg Maddux pitched masterfully, earning his 10th win of the season while passing Cy Young for a MLB record 20th consecutive season with at least 10 wins, as the Friars rolled to a 14-3 victory Friday night. Maddux also surpassed his brother on the Padres all-time win list. Milton Bradley supplied the bulk of Maddux's run support with a pair of 3 run bombs, one from each side of the plate. Adrian Gonzalez made it 3 dingers in 2 nights, adding a pair of home runs himself. All told, the Padres gathered a whopping 22 hits.
Labels: notes
ESPN's Keith Law explained why Padres manager made a horrible mistake last night in opting for side winding Cla Meredith for starter Justin Germano in the 6th inning with the bases juiced and no outs. Law wanted to see Black go to a "killer lefty" to face Mets left handed struggling slugger Carlos Delgado, Mr. Law also points out that the Friars do not employ a pitcher who fits the description of a killer lefty. Law also states that Cla Meredith was the worst possible pitcher to face a left handed hitter due to the arm slot that he throws from. Let's see what FF feels about Law's thoughts.
Labels: climb-the-ladder
2 of the more recent ex-major leaguers to sign with the Padres organization played major roles in the Beavers win on Wednesday night. Brady Clark contributed 3 hits as Casey Fossum, whose signing went under the radar threw 4 1/3 of 1 run ball.
Labels: notes
The San Diego Padres and New York Metropolitans finished up a ridiculous series with the Padres winning Thursday 9-8 and taking two of three from the Mets at home. After taking a commanding 6-1 lead to the 6th, the Padres third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff's error opened the flood gates to a 6 run inning. The Friars had a chance to even the score in the 7th after David Wright's 2nd error of the night; with runners on the corners and 1 out Brian Giles hit into an inning ending twin killing. The Pads entered the 9th trailing by one against hard throwing lefty closer Billy Wagner. Khalil Greene continued his strong series by leading off with a hustle double to left. Many failed bunt attempts and hits that found holes came off the bats of Marcus Giles, Sledge, and Josh Bard lead to a 2 run inning setting up Trevor Hoffman to protect a 1 run lead. Hoffman who took the loss with his blown save on Tuesday night came right back and earned a save in Wednesday's game. After retiring the first batter Hoffman gave up consecutive singles by Jose Reyes and Luis Castillo; with 1 out and David Wright at the plate the Mets pulled off a double steal (which were the 10 & 11 stolen bases off of catcher Josh Bard in the series) to put runners at 2nd and 3rd. A fly ball to center tied the game at 8 before Hoffman loaded the bases and got Alou to ground out to second. Adrian Gonzalez hit a 1 out solo shot to right center to set former Met Heath Bell up for his first major league save, which he earned to push the Padres to 2 games over the Phillies (who they play in a 3 game weekend series beginning Friday) and just 3 games back of the idle Diamondbacks.
Labels: notes
MetsBlog.com reports that David Wells is close to signing with the NY Mets. The Point Loma High School grad was designated for assignment by the Padres on August 10th. Part of me just wants him to hang it up at this point as he couldn't seem to last 5 innings for the most part this season. That said, he handled the situation like a real professional and FF wishes him the best of luck, regardless of what happens and that it doesn't happen at the expense of the Friars.
Labels: rumor
The Portland Beavers are trying to change their team name - cast your vote to keep the Beavers name alive!
Labels: random
FF would like to pass on a big thank you to Shane for pinch hitting over the last week! While he stated that the FF pay is great, he really deserves more.
Labels: pinch-hits
Tuesday night's biggest story wasn't the last minute loss to the Mets - it was the loss of Chris Young's next start to a balky back. It appears that Young will held out at least one start, with more information pending an exam by the Padres medical staff back in San Diego. It's not currently known who will fill Sunday's open slot in the rotation, but the Wil Ledezma or Tim Stauffer, who's been hot in AAA Portland, are the leading candidates.
Labels: injuries
Jake Peavy was once again dominant, piling up 11 strikeouts to tie Andy Benes for the all time franchise record. Tossing 100 pitches over 6 innings, Peavy left the game with a 7-2 lead. The Padres bullpen again tried to make it interesting; the tying run came to plate in Carlos Delgado, but Trevor Hoffman flabbergasted him with a classic change up to sniff out the treat, giving the Friars a 7-5 win over the Metropolitans. Things got so dicey in the bottom of the ninth that Geoff Blum staggered after a pop fly to second, eventually dropping it, thereby allowing a run. Blum did recover enough to record an out on the play with a force at second base. Overall, the Padres look like the are playing tight - maybe even scared. A few more strong nights by the middle of the order might help to relax the team enough to realize that ever run allowed doesn't have a multiplier attached to it. Adrian Gonzalez and Khalil Greene both collected 3 hits, with Mike Cameron and Kevin Kouzmanoff adding on 2 hits a piece. All told, the 4-7 hitters combined for 7 RBI on the night.
Labels: notes
The San Diego Chicken is clearly the best mascot in sports history. He even edges out Bolt Man. Mr. Met, rumored to be a cousin of Jack of Jack in the Box fame, tries hard and FF gives him an A for effort, but he's still no SD Chicken.
Labels: random
In the bottom of the 7th, Khalil Greene made a fantastic play to rob Lastings Milledge of a base hit, just a few innings after Mets commentator and former big league pitcher Rob Darling asserted that Greene doesn't have the fielding skills of Kevin Elster. A quick comparison of stats shows that Greene and Elster actually have nearly identical range factors (per game - not inning, the preferred stat, because these stats are not available for Elster) and fielding percentages. Meanwhile, the Mets broadcast team touted Jose Reyes' fielding prowess. A look at his stats show that they are nearly identical to Greene and Elster... And who says there isn't an East Coast sports bias?
Labels: notes
With a San Diego-like drizzle and unseasonably cool weather in New York, Chris Young had trouble finding his groove early Tuesday night. He gave up a 2 out, 2 run opposite field bomb to Carlos Beltran in the 1st, giving Beltran homers in 3 consecutive at bats and staking the Mets to an early lead. Making his first start since August 3, Milton Bradley plated the Friar's first run with an RBI single to drive in CY in top of the 3rd, bringing the Padres within a run. Beltran stung Young again in the bottom of the 3rd, this time with a 2 run, 2 out double. Mike Cameron ignited a 2 run Padre 6th with a monster home run to left field. Marcus Giles then drove in Geoff Blum with a 2 out pinch hit triple, pulling the Padres back to within a run. Justin Hampson and Cla Meredith relieved CY in the 6th, holding the Mets at bay. Young allowed 4 earned runs, pushing his ERA over 2.00.
Labels: notes
The Padres find themselves in the later portion of August for the third time in three seasons with something to play for. Heading into Shea to square up against the NL East leading Mets the Friars find themselves 3.5 games behind the Diamondbacks in the west and leading the Phillies (who they play this road trip after the 3 game set with NY) by a game for the wildcard. The Padres have kept themselves in striking distance of the rattlers all without their most exciting offensive player, Milton Bradley, for close to 2 weeks. Rookie skipper Buddy Black has Bradley penciled into left tomorrow night at Shea Stadium and I'm sure he had to fight back a smile as his left hand sketched out the name.
...first there's news of last night's 3-2 loss to Houston, which dropped the Pads to 5 back in the NL West race. And then there's an article describing how Jake Peavy doesn't expect to be on the team over the long term.
Padres ace Jake Peavy threw very well surrendering only one run through 7 innings. The only problem was that the Padres were facing a starting pitcher with a high ERA...that is an equation that has proved deadly to the Friars offense. Ex Padre Woody Williams came into his former home at Petco with an ERA of almost 5.50 ~ he left after giving up 1 run through 7 to match Peavy. Houston got to Heath Bell for 2 runs propelling the Astros to a 3-1 victory. The Friars face an up hill battle on Saturday as they start Justin Germano (who surely would give his own team fits) opposite the Astros Roy Oswalt.
...actually I'm Shane, a born-and-raised San Diegan, died-in-the-wool Padres fan, and longtime FOR&S (Friend of Ryan and Scott) who has been given the green light to chime in with a few posts. The Friar Forum is a top-tier operation, and between you and me, the pay is terrific, so I'm honored to contribute. To get caught up in the proper Padres spirit, I thought I'd conjure some of my most poignant Padres memories from my 25 years of humble fanhood.
In the second highest scoring game in Petco Park history the Padres come out on top of the wild 11-9 game. The 20 combined runs is second only to a 27 runs affair between San Diego and Atlanta last July (a Pads 15-12 victory). After the Padres pulled even at 2 runs apiece the Rockies scored 4 runs in the 5th against Friars starter Clay Hensley to take a 6-2 lead. With 2 on and 2 out in the bottom half Mike Cameron smashed a 1-1 fastball over the center field wall to start an unprecedented 9 run 2 out rally that saw Pete Laforest hit a frozen rope out to right for a 2 run bomb in part of the 12 batters to step in against 3 Colorado pitchers.
After the Rockies silenced the Padres bats to even the series at one a piece on Wednesday night the Padres will look to take 2 out of 3 to win the home series. With Friar Forum successfully picking Chris Young as the Friar On Fire yesterday, we look to the offense to provide the first consecutive FOF choices in the history of this site.
Wally Joyner might be happy with where the Friars hitters are; however the fan base has seen poor performances like Wednesday's 3-0 loss to the Rockies far too often. San Diego wasted another brilliant start by Chris Young as they fall to 3 games back of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who won in Florida earlier in the day.
The Friar On Fire for Wednesday's game versus the Colorado Rockies will be starting pitcher Chris Young. Not only has the All Star, Young, been outstanding this year on the bump he is taking time to help those less fortunate than himself as the San Diego UT details. Normally Friar Forum would not take such an easy way out to pick the FOF, but the Rockies have been a dangerous offensive team in '07 and it will take an outstanding performance to notch the win. Friar Forum will update the FOF tally after the game Wednesday.
The Padres had a big night behind Greg Maddux Tuesday, scoring 8 runs and picking up a game on the rest of the NL West while blanking the Rockies. Jeff Francis had won 8 consecutive starts prior to being chased with one on in the forth; all Friar runs were charged to Francis. Manager Bud Black went with a heavy right handed lineup, starting Morgan Ensberg at first with Marcus Giles getting the nod at second and Geoff Blum shifting to left field. Kevin Kouzmanoff had 3 hits to go with 3 RBI. Both Kouz and Ensberg hit bombs. Maddux collected his first win since June, getting assists from Cla Merdith, Joe Thatcher and Doug Brocail, who was activate from bereavement leave prior to game. Mike Thompson was optioned to AAA Portland to make room for Brocail.
The Padres and Kevin Towers will have to continue to search for another starting pitcher within their organization as the Kei Igawa talks have broken off between the Pads and Yanks. With the amount of interest that the Frairs have shown for Igawa ($10 million + negotiating fee to Japanese club, trade talks before and after July 31 deadline) I would not be surprised to hear his name come up in the off season. It will be interesting to see if any additional names start to float around Petco Park.
In the first installment of Friar On Fire, we aim to choose the Padre who will be the difference maker in that day's game. The most obvious choice here would be the white hot (and tan) Brian Giles who is coming off a career series in Cincinnati that saw him raise his homerun total from 2 to 7 in the three game set. While the Padres right fielder should have earned this first spot as FOF, he has not. The FOF for Tuesday night is Khalil Greene. The shortstop has been hitting the ball well and heavily contributed to San Diego's record breaking performance on Sunday (9 doubles, 12 extra base hits) with a career high 3 two baggers. I like Khalil's chances against the Rockies left handed starter this evening and I am feeling like he's got a "hang a star on that" type play up his 3 quarter blue sleeve!
Labels: friar_on_fire
Just when Matt Bush's stock began to rise, its tumbled again. Drafted first overall by the Padres in the 2004 draft class as a shortstop, as much for his sign-ability as his potential, Bush struggled through parts of 4 seasons at the plate and in the field. His .570 OPS and career best .940 fielding percentage tempted the front office into trying him out as a pitcher. Stranger things have happened - Trevor Hoffman himself is a converted minor league shortstop. The early returns were nothing short of breathtaking: a 8-1 strikeout to walk ratio (a statistic known to make the front office swoon), 0.95 WHIP and a strikeout per 9 innings pitched rate of nearly 20 in the Arizona Rookie League. All of this for a guy that hadn't pitched since high school. Did I mention that he was nearly hitting 100 on the gun? Well, it now looks like he's facing Tommy John surgery.