Rotation Roundup 4: Starts 16-20

The fourth pass through the rotation wasn't pretty. A pair of quality starts (QS) in games 16 and 18 were squandered by the offense and turned into losses. In fact, game 16 went 22 innings, forcing Greg Maddux to save the bullpen despite being tagged for 9 runs early in the game 17. While this certainly increased the level of admiration the team and fans have for Maddux, it isn't exactly a situation anyone wants to see repeated. This 113 pitch outing marked the first time Maddux had eclipsed the 100 pitch barrier since July 19, 2006, with 102 tosses that day. To find and outing with a greater than or equal number of pitches for Maddux, one has to reach back into August of the 2005 season. Randy Wolf turned in a respectable outing for the only win in the rotation of the bullpen during this five game strech. The real story here is the Padres ability to capitalize only once in three very winnable performances turned out by their starters. We also have to show real concern for the position that Maddux was put into - hopefully he will rebound without additional wear and tear on his arm based on the extraordinary performance in game 17.

Key Indicators per Rotation Pass

5 Run 3rd Sinks Friars Again

San Deigo was felled for the fifth consecutive game and ninth time in ten contests Saturday night, this time by the division leading Diamondbacks. Arizona now boasts an 8.5 game lead over the Friars in the NL West with their 5-1 vistory. All the damage came against Randy Wolf in the third, with five runs on a single, sacrifice bunt, double, single, error, and home run. The home run had enough gusto to clear dead center at Petco Park, just over a leaping Scott Hairton. The Padres would later manage to plate just one run with bases loaded in fourth and one out, on a Callix Crabbe single with two out. All told, the Friar attack would manage just 3 hits, including their first extra base hit at Petco since April 17. They struck out one out every three of their 30 trips to the dish.

Bullpen Reborn?
On a positive note, the bullpen performed excellently when called upon to finish the final five innings of the game. Wil Ledezma went 3 innings, allowing a one hit while punching out five. Recent workhorse Kevin Cameron finished off the final pair of innings without incident.

Bard to get Rest
Josh Bard will get the night off Saturday. The U-T reports that he is batting just .193 since Michael Barrett's injury. This will mark Colt Morton's second start over that time.

Pop Gun Offense
The Friars have scored the second fewest runs in the Majors this season. Their 75 touches of home plate are just one more than the lowly Giants - who have allowed six fewer runs that Padres and are in second place in the NL West.

Young Strong, Hitters Not

Chris Young bounced back from recent outings with a very strong 7 inning, 121 pitch performance at Petco Park Thursday night. He fanned 10 while allowing a pair of hits, including a home run, the only blotch on his excellent line. Unfortunately, that single run represented more than the popless Friars could muster, tagging Young with a 1-0 loss. This despite the Padres finishing with 5 hits and 6 walks versus the Giants 3 and 3, respectively. Paul McAnulty once again started for Scott Hairston in the second spot in the batting order. Stalwart Adrian Gonzalez had a rough night in taking a trio or strikeouts, a microcosm of the over Friar offensive attack.

Barrett Still on the Shelf

Padres.com is reporting that Michael Barrett is still on about 10 days away from throwing and batting practice. In the meantime, Bud Black continues to rely heavily on Josh Bard. As we have recently noted, Bard's defense has recently improved, particularly in regard to throwing out base runners. Colt Morton has caught just over 14 innings (1 start) since joining the team in Barrett's stead. With the Friar lineup struggling to produce runs, it is understandable why Black pencils Bard into the lineup daily. Nonetheless, after years of having former catcher Bruce Bochy carry and play 3 catchers, it will intriguing to see how Bard holds up over the course of the season under the heavy workload.

Pen Blows Late Offensive Rallies

We feel like we've already written this recap a too many times this season. No lead is sacred anymore.

Reasonable Game Play Squeezed
It's great that the Friars got some extra base knocks and round trippers in Houston. But Minute Maid Park's left field porch is the antithesis of Petco Park - or it at least seems like it. We'd do the research, but at the moment would prefer to put recent events in the past. In the spirit of Alton Brown, we'll save that topic for another post.

The One That Got Away?
Doug Brocail's unique ability to give up a seemingly safe lead suggests that he'd fit perfectly in the Friar 'pen this year - he's got to be the free agent that got away. We're sure the team and specifically the bullpen will turn it around before long. Let's just hope it happens sooner than later. Beating up on former skipper Bruce Bochey seems like a the perfect opportunity to kick off a winning streak.

Germano Shelled

Justin Germano entered the evening as one of the top five pitchers in National League ERA. After allowing 4 runs on 9 pitches, and 10 in 3.1 innings, he took a big loss Monday night at Minute Maid Park with former President George Herbert Walker Bush and his wife Bar in attendance. Wil Ledezma pitched an out shy of 4 scoreless innings in relief before giving way to Kevin Cameron, who tossed a perfect 8th. Padre hitting was good - for the Padres. 6 of 8 knocks went for extra bases while both Jim Edmonds and Adrian Gonzalez reached the Minute Maid porch for bases empty, opposite field bombs. Unfortunately, the Friars seem to be making a habit of losing big or wining tight. The combination of Minute Maid's friendly conditions and Jake Peavy's pitching will hopefully bring positive results Tuesday night.

Iguchi Occupies Eight Hole
Tad Iguchi has been mired in a deep slump and was dropped by manager Bud Black into the eighth spot in the order Monday. He responded with a single and a walk in 4 trips to the plate.

Flashing Some Leather
Both Brian Giles and Gonzalez made nifty catches in right field. Gonzalez went Willie Mays on ball down the line that was looking like an extra base bloop before he reached out to snag the out. Giles made a nice sliding catch of a Geoff Blum liner as well.

Bard is Back
Josh Bard threw out another runner, pushing his season rate for retiring would-be base thieves to 21%. This is significantly better the 8% mark he posted in 2007 and is especially impressive given the amount of work he's been receiving of late, which is bound to take its toll as the games add up.

Wolf Wows Again

Randy Wolf had another fine outing, pacing the Padres to break out of their slump and post a 9-4 triumph over the Diamondbacks Sunday afternoon at Chase Field. During his 6 plus innings, Wold went toe-to-tow with Randy Johnson and struck out 7. Cla Meredith, Heath Bell and Glendon Rusch each posted scoreless outings in relief. The Friar offense was on fire with 4 doubles and a home run. Justin Huber got the nod in left with Scott Hairston sliding over to center and Callix Crabbe making his third consecutive start, this time in right. All three drove in runs, with Hairston picking a pair and Huber netting three on bomb off Johnson that went all the way to his hometown or Melborne, Australia. Khalil Greene had three hits, two of which were doubles. He also atoned from his error on Saturday with a couple slick plays, but none more so than a fantastic pickup behind second, 270 degree turn and laser to first to end the game. The replay clearly showed the runner was safe, but that didn't take away from the fabulous play.

Bell's velocity ticking up
We recently discussed that Bell's velocity had been down, but not affecting his results. Over his last couple of outings, more pitches have reached the 93 to 94 MPH range, moving back into the low end of his 2007 fastball range.

Crabbe to Start Four Straight?
Bud Black may opt to have Crabbe spell Kevin Kouzmanoff at third on Monday, which would also allow Crabbe a number of games to settle into MLB play. He's coming off a solid game, so now might be the best time.

On the Minute Maid
The Padres head to Houston for a quick 2 game series against the Astros, before heading back home to host San Fransisco and Arizona. Their next off day is Monday, April 28.

Rotation Roundup 3: Starts 11-15

The third pass through the rotation finally saw Padre starters come down to earth a bit. Start 12 marked the first non-quality start of the season for the quintet (Chris Young) and game 15 saw the first quality start where the starter was tagged with the loss (Justin Germano). In all, the rotation was pedestrian with a 3.86 ERA and 1.41 WHIP, though these numbers a largely skewed by Chris Young's disastrous outing. Randy Wolf tossed a 1 hitter through 7 innings in his turn and Greg Maddux turned in 5 fantastic innings in 95 degree heat. In summary, the starters still provided the Padres 4 quality opportunities to win, of which 3 were converted. This group continues to the be lone bright spot in the '08 campaign. While round 3 might not have been hyper productive, FF and any other club in baseball would certainly take it as their average pass through the starting 5. Kudos to PYMW&G once again.

Key Indicators per Rotation Pass

Debacle Againt Diamondbacks

The Padres struggles continued Saturday night at Chase Field, as they parlayed a 3-1 lead and quality start by Chris Young into a stinging 3-10 defeat. The bullpen once again faltered, partially on the back of an uncharacteristic error by Khalil Greene, who had just entered the game as part of a double switch before watching one pass through the wickets. Kevin Cameron would eventually allow 5 unearned runs on the error, as well as 3 hits and 3 walks to pair with one run of the earned variety. Prior to the game spiraling completely out of control - a common occurrence for the Friars lately - Joe Thatcher allowed the DBacks to take a 3-4 lead in the 7th with the help of defensive miscues by Callix Crabbe and Paul McAnulty. Thatcher would eventually be tagged for the loss.

The offense made a decent run of it (relatively speaking). On the plus side, 60% of their knocks were extra base hits and 40% were round-trippers (a 2B and HR by McAnanulty and a HR by Brian Giles). On the flip side, they only had 5 total hits to have their team batting average settle at .238, trending towards the Mendoza line. Just one week ago they were leading the National League in batting average. They are still struggling with extra base hits and have maintained their dismal rate of 1.8 extra base knocks per game over that time period. These are tough times for the Friar Fans - try to keep the faith.

Help Wanted

FF is officially disgusted by the way that the Padres are swinging the bat. It has been over 90 innings and more than a week since the Friars have hit a homer, and extra base hits are so rare that when they do occur the base runner gets confused and keeps running (sorry, PMac). The fact is that when this team hits, they are moving 90 feet at a time. If you are going to play small ball, please acquire some speed to go first to third on the back end of two singles.

Something needs to happen with this team, and fast. Rumor has it that the Padres have some sort of offensive stud playing in Portland. The time has come for Chase Headley to be up with the big boys. Though Scott Hairston maybe more comfortable in left field, his one handed haymaker swings seem to be the reason that he has never been an everyday player in this league.

Kevin Towers should have a ridiculously high phone bill right now, and a move for the Matt Murton's of the world is not going to cut it. I know the franchise philosophy is to build around young players and fill the gaps with average and declining veterans, but something has to be done to reduce this drowning offense. With the outstanding pitching the Padres possess, it would be a shame not to field a quality lineup behind them to make a mark this season. The farm system is built up a bit ~ put some chips in play in hopes to push some runs across the plate.

Diamondbacks Crush Padres; They Only Needed 1 Inning To Do It

Perhaps suffering from a 22 inning hangover the Padres never had a chance in their Friday night contest in the Arizona desert, falling to the DBacks 9-0. Greg Maddux entered the game searching for his 350th victory and was greeted with a 34 pitch, 6 hit, 6 run inning. The sure fire HOFer seemed to miss on location through the rough first as every ball was scolded by the home team. In the inning, Jim Edmonds missed a cut off man and took questionable angles on 2 balls in the gap. FF has seen it through the early part of the season and Diamondback color man (SDSU Alum) Mark Grace stated very matter of factly that Edmonds makes those plays 5 years ago...this is not 5 years ago. The way the Friars are swinging thus far in 2008, 2 run leads seem insurmountable ~ a 6 run deficit seems like they should pack it in for the night.

In the bottom of the 6th inning Edmonds strikes again playing a ball hit to the track off his glove into a triple for Connor Jackson ~ Jackson who was just a double shy of the cycle bypassed the double for his second triple of the night. FF's patience with Edmonds bad routes and lack of speed is running very thin.

First:
Callix Crabbe and Colt Morton each made their first MLB starts on Friday.

Tip My Cap:
Although Maddux got shelled in the first inning, he tossed 7 innings of gutty baseball. Maddux knew that the Padres bullpen was paper thin, and his professionalism in a lost cause game was nothing short of admirable.

Getting Old, Really Old:
The Friars managed just 3 hits a night after scoring 1 run in 22 innings ~ exciting team to watch right now, thrilling really.

Ryno Calls It Quits

Former Padres All Star, Ryan Klesko, officially retires after a solid 16 year career. Klesko spent the first 8 years of his powerful career with the Atlanta Braves and had a very productive 7 seasons with the Friars before he followed Bruce Bochy to SF last season. Klesko enjoyed his only All Star season as a member of the Padres in 2001 when he smashed 30 bombs with over 100 RBI.

Ryno ended with 278 home runs and just 13 RBI shy of 1000.

Errors In 22nd Help Rox Outlast San Diego

Khalil Greene's two out error lead to the Rockies run in the top of the 22nd. Colorado capitizes on Greene and Bard's throwing errors before a game winning double off Troy Tulowitzki's bat. The longest game in either Padres or Rockies franchise history ended more than 6 hours after it started with the Colorado Rockies outlasting the Friars 2-1 in 22. Greene led off the bottom of the 22nd inning being hit with a 2 strike pitch before Josh Bard's tired legs bounced into a double play. The bottom line is that the offense needs to help its pitching staff that allowed 1 run every 11 innings and only 1 earned through 22. This team needs to find its spark, and fast.

After 13 scoreless innings between the Padres and Rockies each team pushed a run across in the 14th. Both team also left the bases loaded in the 14th inning. The Colorado run was scored via a base on balls, and a missed call on a 2-2 pitch that would have ended the inning.

Jake Peavy looked like the ridiculous Cy Young winning talent that he is while tossing 8 scoreless frames of 4 hit (all singles) 11 strikeout ball. On the other side Jeff Francis made the Padres look like, well, the Padres. San Diego had a few chances throughout the contest, mainly in the first 2 innings where multiple Friars were on base together...it took until the 10th inning for the next Friar to find himself on base. The most glaring of Padres miscues came when Paul McAnulty tried to stretch a lead off double into a triple (whether Glenn Hoffman was waving him, is unknown at this point) and got thrown out by at least 10 feet. The Friars were a few inches from walking off with a victory in the 14th when Colt Morton took a 3-1 pitch for a questionable strike that lead to an inning ending ground out.

Extra Extra

FF is certain that catcher Josh Bard (whose single in the 14th tied the game at 1) has earned a night off after catching every inning in the Thursday night marathon. If Bard sits Friday against the DBacks, it would pave the way for Colt Morton to make his first major league start.

Of the Padres first 8 hits 7 were singles and four were off the bats of Kouzmanoff and two pitchers; Peavy and a pinch hit for Randy Wolf.

Trevor Hoffman tossed a "perfect" 9th, although Todd Helton and Matt Holliday each missed clearing the Petco Park wall by a combined 18 inches. FF's Style Dept noticed that Hoffman's long hair has been trimmed back to what we are all used to seeing from the closer.

A Clint Barmes double ( just the second extra base hit of the game) in front of a sacrifice bunt gave the Rockies a great chance to take the lead in the 17th. With the infield playing in, Tad Iguchi made a nice play to hold the runner at third and record the second out. With the threat still in full tilt; Wil Ledezma forced Willy Taveras to weakly fly out to Brian Giles.

The 18th inning started with another blown strike call that directly lead to a walk. Helton followed with a single to left, and Ledezma was watching Matt Holliday stride to the plate. Ledezma reached deep into his bag of tricks (yes, apparently Ledezma has a bag loaded with tricks) and induced a huge double play ball before striking out the next Rockie.

In the 19th inning the Padres broadcasters learned that the 1am curfew that the American League uses does not apply in the NL.

Ledezma sparkled in his 5 scoreless innings from the 15-19th, he earned respect from FF and I'm sure his teammates.

With 2 outs and 2 strikes in the top of the 20th, home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez missed yet another strike three call that led to a 2-out hit before San Diego's Glendon Rusch got Helton to line out to center. As stated before, Mr. Marquez has had an inconsistent game calling balls and strikes.

In his 21st inning of catching duties, Josh Bard pounced on a bunt with cat like quickness to nail the lead runner at second. Rusch struck Brad Hawpe out on a nasty curve for the second out before Barmes popped up to Iguchi to give the Padres their 13th opportunity to walk off with a victory. The middle of the 21st innings will give the fans at Petco their 3rd chance to stretch to "Take Me Out To The Ballgame"...

Colo Commentary Complaints

While watching the Colorado telecast over the last three games, FF is ready for a new crew in the booth to spell the tired routine of play-by-play guy Drew Goodman and color commentator George Frazier. We're the first to admit that it's tough to find an opposing crew tolerable. But some of the nonsense that has been sent over the airwaves is baffling. In game 1 of the series, the pair were discussing Randy Wolf's high pitch count and its impact on the no hitter he had in tact. Frazier tried to argue that Wolf's pitch count of around 80 was effectively double that because of warm ups before the game and between innings. There has also been the incessant whining about "cavernous" Petco Park. Everyone knows that the field is ginormous and clearly the pitchers park in the big leagues. It's just hard to listen to any criticism from a team that plays in Coors Field, which once made Dante Bichette seems like a world beater. Sure, it's better now with the assistance of a humidor, but the broken bat home runs it once surrendered should be a permanent barrier to anyone in the Colorado organization complaining about the play of another park. We won't even start on the positive accolades for FF's least favorite NL umpire, Bob Davidson. All told, the crew is still 1000% more tolerable than Tony Kornheiser.

Padres Implode In Eighth

The Padres played it close Wednesday night, but a 7 run eighth frame put the Rockies ahead for good. Cla Meredith and Glendon Rusch were victimized for for four and three runs, respectively, for an eighth frame whose score San Diego fans more generally associate with an Antonio Cromartie interception return. This, and the Padres lacking offense, spoiled another strong Justin Germano quality start (7 innings of 3 runs ball) and hung him with a loss. Brian Giles was a one man wrecking crew with an RBI double and triple, the first a ground rule variety to left center and latter off Petco Park's scoreboard in right (for the second consecutive evening). Only Scott Hairston scratched out an additional Padre hit. The Friars will look to bounce back tomorrow behind the dominating Jake Peavy.

Randy Rocks Rox

San Diego southpaw starter, Randy Wolf, was brilliant in his 3rd start as a Friar. Wolf dominated a struggling Colorado lineup for 7 innings of one hit 9 strike out ball en route to his first Padres victory. The Friars bats were making double time in the 5th as Brian Giles, Kevin Kouzmanoff, and Jim Edmonds all delivered 2 run two baggers in the 6 run frame that accounted for all the games runs. Newly reinstated Kevin Cameron recorded the final six outs surrendering a harmless single in the 9th.

San Diego Short Hops:

The Padres 6-0 victory Tuesday night at Petco Park comes on the heals of a 1-0 shutout on Sunday, proving that its hard to lose when your pitching is ridiculously sharp.

Scott Hairston seems due a day off as his average is dropping while his poor at bats are accumulating, with back to back lefties to close out the Colorado series FF expects to see Justin Huber get at least 1 start in place of the Pads starting LF.

Josh Bard seemed to switch the bat he had been using (a light Ash to a darker stick) after he broke enough bats over the weekend in LA to raise a red flag in Boulder or Berkley

Through 14 games not a single starting infielder has received a day off, with Callix Crabbe the only reserve at second, short, and third FF expects to see Crabbe get a couple of spot starts for Tad Iguhci and Khalil Greene over the next 10 or so ballgames.

Speaking of Callix Crabbe, he joined teammates Scott Hairston and Tony Clark in wearing #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson breaking MLB's color barrier on this date in 1947.

Kouz Interview

ESPN has an interesting interview of Kevin Kouzmanoff. FF's favorite quote:

I can improve in every aspect of my game. I can be faster on the bases, I can get better reads, I can make more of the routine plays. It goes that way for everybody. We're out there every day working hard, busting our tails, trying to get better and better every day.

Cameron Bolsters Bullpen

Kevin Tower's most successful Rule 5 pick since Will Cunnane has returned to the big club. Last year, Bud Black treated Kevin Cameron with kid gloves for the first half of the season. While Cameron seemed to excel before the break, a quick glance at his statistical line revealed a dangerous number of walks allowed (18 in a hair under 30 innings pitched with a 0.31 ERA). Before imploding in September, Cameron found his control and was rewarded with more high profile duty out of the pen. Down with flu during Spring Training, Cameron has been brought up from Portland with Enrique Gonzalez being outrighted to the Beavers to create roster space. The move will shore up a traditionally sturdy pen that has struggled thus far in 2008, a welcomed positive story for Frair fans everywhere.

Padres Pick Up Series By One

The Friars squeezed by the Dodgers 1-0 on a hot but smog-less Sunday afternoon game at Chavez Ravine to win the weekend series two games to one. Greg Maddux left the 95 degree heat after tossing 67 pitches over 5 innings of two hit ball, striking out a pair against a single walk. The heart of bullpen performed as you'd expect on paper, tossing four zeros on the board across Joe Thatcher, Cla Meredith, Heath Bell and Trevor Hoffman, respectively. The Padres lone run came on a moderately deep fly ball on a high change piece in the forth to Paul McAnulty, who again spelled Brian Giles. For the second consecutive game the Friars lone run was the result of a rare extra base hit. After Jim Edmonds walked to lead off the inning, shortstop Khalil Greene doubled Edmonds to third, where McAnulty would later convert him. This was the lone extra base knock for Bud Black's club.

Bell's Velocity Remains a Concern
As has been mentioned over the course of the season, Bell is regularly around 90 mph this in 2008 after typically hitting mid-to-high 90s in 2007. So far Bell is getting the job done with his less electric stuff, posting a 1.04 ERA over 8.2 innings, but he's notched just two strikeouts in the young season. FF is a big fan of Bell's, but we are concerned about how the decreased velocity bodes for his future health. We've many times noted the front office's love affair with relievers that post high strikeout to walk ratios. Last year, Bell put up nearly 10 K/BB while logging an out short of 94 innings over 81 outing, so it is unclear how the dichotomy between his reduced stuff and results will settle with the club in the long run.

Young Quality Start Streak Ends

Yesterday, FF blogged about how the Padres were struggling to hit anything but singles. Facing Padre nemesis Derek Lowe, we didn't have real high expectation that Saturday would be provide the breakthrough the team needed. But Scotty Hairston, batting lead off in place of a resting Brian Giles, started the game on in style with a triple down the right field line at Dodger Stadium. Adrian Gonzalez followed up with a double that he, Vin Scully, Andre Ethier, and FF thought was gone. At the bottom of the first, the Friars looked nstrong and had already accounted from more extra base hits than they had average per game for the season (2 versus 1.8). With Chris Young taking the hill, the euphoria of fast start quickly faded with Young command noticeably off. He was raked for just two runs in the first inning, but the hit hard along the way. From that poit on, Lowe settled into his normal role as Padre punisher and the Dodgers warmed up their bat to force Young out of the game in the top of the 4th with nobody out and 7 runs on his line in the box score (6 earned as Young booted a come backer). The Padre offense would scratch out just two more hits, both singles, on the way to an 11-1 drubbing. Wil Ledezma and Glendon Rusch were tagged with 3 and 1 runs in as many innings, respectively.

PMac in Right Field
After grumblings about his shotty fielding skills in left last spring, Paul McAnulty got the start in right field. Both he and center fielder Jim Edmonds were burned on balls over their heads. Giles will be out of action on Sunday, as he gets extra rest in front of Monday's day off.

Barrett At Least Two Weeks Away
Vin Scully announced that Michael Barrett is at least two weeks away from being back from the DL, giving Colt Morton extra time with the big club. Morton spelled Josh Bard after the game got away from the Friars.

Quality Start Streak Ends
Effectively spanning the first 11 games of the season, the Friars' quality start steak ended with the loss against the Dodgers. It was also marked the first time this season that a starter was hung with a loss.

Extra Bases Wanted

Vin Scully described the Padres attack on Friday night as that of a "angry moth". Give the legend credit for avoiding such obvious terms as "lacking", "anemic", or "Punch and Judy". The story has its upsides. The Friars lead the National League (NL) in batting average and overall hits by a wide margin of 15 (15% more than the next closest team, the Marlins). Over their 112 hits through Friday night's game, the Padres have just 20 extra base hits (EBHs). This is despite placing third in the NL with 427 plate appearances. In fact, the average NL team has hit 19 doubles and 31 EBHs in 2008 and Florida has as many bombs as the Friars do EBHs. For fans, this translates to less than two (1.8) EBHs per game so far this season. Nothing explains the team's early season struggles more than their punchless hitting. The good news is that they are hitting well and FF expects those doubles, triples and home runs to become more common. Let's just hope the starting pitching can continue its torrid pace in the mean time.

Peavy Off, But Singles Lead the Way

Jake Peavy clearly didn't have his best pitches Friday night, but his mindset pushed him through his third quality start - and win - of the season. The offense picked up Peavy with a barrage of singles and a lone double to plate seven runs. Six Friars amassed multiple hit games with Kevin Kouzmanoff leading the way with a trio out of the cleanup spot. Callix Crabbe showed his impact in the eighth innings while pinch running for the ever-reliable Tony Clark. He easily stole second, then scored on Tad Iguchi's dribbler through the 3.5 hole. Given the continued struggles of future hall of famer Trevor Hoffman, who was again touched up for a run, despite earning a save, these kinds of insurance runs cannot be understated. The bullpen's other slow starter, Joe Thatcher also coughed up another run.

Tossed
Scotty Hairston threw a strike to Josh Bard to erase Dodger Russell Martin, who came into the plate with a half-hearted shoulder. Bard and Martin exchanged pats on their midsection and butt, respectively, to show no ill will.

Coach Hill Would Be Proud
Iguchi continues to impress FF by playing ball the right way (for you PLHS alumni out there, that means Coach Hill's way). On a run-and-hit, Iguchi practically threw his bat to protect flat-of-foot Brian Giles at second.

The Ghost of Bruce Bochey
Bud Black was momentarily possessed by Bruce Bochey at Dodger Stadium, instructing Jake Peavy to forgo a sacrifice bunt attempt to instead ground into an inning ending double play in the second.

Friar Rotation Round Up 2: Starts 6-10

The starting rotation continued their torrid pace during the second pass though the quintet, posting an astonishing 1.50 ERA, 0.75 WHIP and 5 quality starts. Tough to complain about that kind of production from the pitchers that shoulder the load for the entire staff. That said, while the winning percentage in quality starts from 1984 to 1991 was .674, the Friars posted a .400 over their last five games and just .500 for the 10 quality starts in 2008 (effectively). A starter has yet to produce a non-quality start, yet the team has just 5 wins to show for it. Nobody should get their underwear in a bunch at this juncture, but it certainly isn't encouraging.

While many expected the team to struggle at bat, not too many could have foreseen the perennially solid bullpen's swoon. Expected to the heart of the relief corps, Trevor Hoffman, Heath Bell, Cla Meredith and Joe Thatcher have taken all 5 team losses to go with a 5.59 ERA. In fact, both Thatcher and Hoffman has allowed more earned runs in 4 and 3 2/3 innings, respectively, than Greg Maddux has in 13. FF expects the pen to right its ship and the rotation to fall a little bit from its near perfect performance. The real question will be if the offense can provide enough run support to make the stellar staff's stuff stick.

No Extra Bases In Extra Innings

Benji Molina's walk off homer (second of the game) in the bottom of the 11th capped a frustrating night by the bay for the Friars, the Giants even the series with the 3-2 win. San Diego's offense produced 13 hits, for just 13 total bases. Without the stellar pitching by the Padres, this team's lack of punch would be even more glaring. Cla Meredith took the loss while working in his second inning of relief and watched a down and in slider pulled over the left field wall by the Giants slugging catcher.

Randy Wolf threw well for the second time in two San Diego outings, however the southpaw didn't factor into the decision in either game. The pen kept the station to station Friars in the game until the 9th when a lead off walk issued to Josh Bard hurt San Francisco after a line drive down the left field line by pinch hitter Tony Clark and a sacrifice fly scored the Padres catcher. Besides the lack of extra base knocks the Padres ran into another out on the bases that cost them a chance at a huge inning. With the bases juiced and no outs Khalil Greene, put a charge into a ball to left that hit off the fielders glove; what seemed like a break for San Diego ended up costing them when the runner on 2nd (Kouzmanoff) thought the ball was caught and returned to second only to be forced out at 3rd.

You Can Hang Star...
In one of the best defensive plays you will ever see by a first baseman, Adrian Gonzalez snared a ground ball on his way to tapping the first base bag before throwing a strike across the diamond to force the runner at 3rd. Making that double play more impressive was that it came with no outs in the bottom of the 10th to help Cla Meredith side step a lead off single and stolen base. Kouzmanoff deserves credit as well by blocking the bag to assist in the twin killing.

Firsts
Callix Crabbe collect his first big league knock, a line drive single with 2 outs in the top of the 10th at AT&T Park.

Scott Hairston became the first Padre to be ejected this season, the home plate umpire gave the left fielder a quick thumb while arguing a check swing strike three.

Padres used all of their position players and even dipped into their starting staff when they used Jake Peavy as a pinch runner in the 9th inning.

Four!
A night after Adrian Gonzalez picked up 4 base hits, Brian Giles added 4 singles to his stat sheet

Backstop Backup Brainstorm

The U-T's Tom Krasovic reports that Padres General Manager Kevin Towers may be looking at veteran receiver Damien Miller should Michael Barrett be sidelined for an extended period of time. Also discussed is the extent of Barrett's injury, which is thankfully less severe than originally anticipated. We've discussed ulnar collateral ligament injuries in regard to former first round picks Ceasar Carillo and Nick Schmidt, who both required Tommy John surgery. This invasive procedure doesn't appear to be in the cards for Barrett, but the timetable for his return is likely around 2 months.

Miller has spent the bulk of his 11 season career in the National League with Arizona, Chicago and Milwaukee. A career .262 hitter, Miller is solid backstop that has tossed an impressive 37% of would-be base theifs in his career. This plainly addresses a need on the club, which has been victimized by opposing teams on the basepaths an epic manner of the last two seasons (setting and then breaking a Major League record for stolen bases allowed).

Barrett Tossed On The DL

Michael Barrett has landed on the disabled list for at least 15 days after injuring his elbow in Monday afternoon's 8-4 victory over the dismal San Francisco Giants. Barrett felt a tingling sensation and muscle spasms in his throwing arm before bouncing a throw back to the mound where Greg Maddux stood just 60 feet away. Michael Barrett finished that inning and an at bat before being replaced by Josh Bard. Young Colt Morton will be called up from San Antonio where he stars in AA ball.

Friar Findings

FF has noticed that Adrian Gonzalez (who had 4 hits in a game for the 8th time in his young career on Monday) has been using a tan mitt during day games and a black version under the lights. (Only catchers and first basemen use "mitts", all other players use gloves).

Tadihito Iguchi is making a solid impression on FF, he has quality bat control and doesn't try to do too much with pitches. His offense out of the two hole has been more than expected, while playing as solid as advertised in the field.

Scott Hairston has come back down to earth a little, but FF really likes how aggressively he swings the bat. Hairston is batting in the 7th spot after getting AB's in the 5th and leadoff spots earlier in the season (well, the week). Hairston's powerful swings have FF drawing comparisons to former Padres left fielder, Greg Vaughn.

Josh Bard entered the game in the 6th inning and promptly notched another multi hit game.

Dirty Hand Raises Rediculous Rumor

A blog has noticed what appears to be a dirty Jake Peavy hand, insinuating that he may be doing untoward. Bud Black has come to Peavy's defense, saying it just the combination of rosen and plain old dirt. Peavy himself has welcomed a "hand check" anytime. FF thinks there is absolutely nothing to this.

Friar Rotation Round Up 1: Starts 1-5

Conventional wisdom for the 2008 season predicts that the Friars will only go as far as their pitching staff takes them. More to the point, the team's strength is supposed to be in its starting pitching staff. As such, we at FF thought it would be interesting to track each pass through the rotation to see how their performance is affecting the bottom line. This will be the first installment of 32.4 passes through the fab five.

It's hard to imagine the starters putting the club in a better position to win than it did during the initial pass through the rotation. Technically, 4 of 5 times the group toed the rubber they posted quality starts (QS). In reality, Chris Young was just one out shy of a QS himself, so FF will go ahead and round that up to a perfect five-for-five. A sub 1.50 ERA to go with an excellent WHIP of 1.08 and nearly two of three pitches finding the strike zone seems to support conventional wisdom. In fact, the Friars only posted three wins in these five games. If this doesn't correspond to FF's projections that the rotation would be compromised by a weak lineup, we aren't sure what does. Still, this pace would put the Friars in for a 97 win season, so we can't complain too much. Nice job fab five - let's hope to see these trends continue. We'd ask for a higher strikeout-to-walk ratio, but with the rotation averaging just short of 6 innings a start, that may be too much.

Peavy Domination Tour Hits Stride - Completely

Jake Peavy did what Padres fans like best - totally, utterly and unapologetically beat LA to a pulp, 4-1. The 2007 Cy Young Award winner lead the Friars over the hated Dodgers with a complete game performance. He fanned eight against just two hits and a single walk. The free pass came in the 9th inning, but was quickly erased with a tailor made double play. The game was decided early when the Friars jumped on Dodger starter Brad Penny for 4 runs on 5 singles in the bottom of the first. The dominant story of the game is quite completely told by the following FanGraph:

Graph from FanGraphs.com

Jim Edmonds returned the to lineup and looked a little out of practice on a couple of plays to left center resulting in a triple and double, respectively. To make room on the roster, Jody Gerut was sent to Portland, as expected given that he is optionable and Paul McAnulty is not.

Major League Broadcast Improvement

In prior years, a nationwide broadcast of a Friar game on big Fox was horrible for fans at large. Fox always seems to simulcast an East coast and West coast game, meaning that East coasters like myself were simply out of luck. Pouring salt into this wound was the mlb.tv blackout that accompanied that game. Well, Major League Baseball has finally gotten it right - mlb.tv now carries Fox games, assuring that a determined Friar fan can watch any game. This solution is what economists call "Pareto efficient" - everyone is better off and nobody is worse off. In prior years, the fans got screwed so Fox could have exclusive rights. FF thanks MLB for doing right by the fans in 2008!

Lefties, Walks Sink Padres

A trio of lefties took a strong start by Justin Germano (1 unearned run allowed over 6 innings) and turned it into a laugher. Step one in the three step path to defeat was lefty Joe Thatcher, who was clearly off his A-game after getting a ground out to kick off the seventh inning. He was allowed walk the bases loaded in a 1-1 game, with fellow lefty Bud Black standing by him to allow a 2 run single to 0-for-2008 Russell Martin. Black finally found his hook, bringing southpaw Glendon Rusch on to surrender a run scoring hit and collaborate with backstop Michael Barrett for a passed ball to plate another. A subsequent base knock by Padre nemesis Andrew Jones added the inning's umpteenth run. All told, Black under-managed the situation into a 6 run Dodger inning on just three hits. All of this following Brian Giles' game-tying jack over the Petco porch against a very sharp Hiroki Kuroda. FF generally thinks highly of Black, but is already flustered this season by his affinity for specific relievers (as we were in 2007). This is particularly unacceptable if the team is going to continue carrying 7 arms in the 'pen.

Shuuto Showdown

Tonight, the Friars will face the Dodgers in Hiroki Kuroda's Major League debut. Kuroda, from Japan's Kansai penensula, is known for his "shuuto" - a pitch that was heavily featured in the film Mr. Baseball, starring Tom Selleck. The pitch is most commonly translated as a running two seamer or a cut fastball. The transplant of Kuroda to MLB baseball is a big enough deal that it is being telecast live on NHK - the primary Japanese television station (think of it as Japan's CBS without ABC or NBC as competition). A massive number of Japanese reporters will likely be in attendance to find out if the Friars and Justin Germano can tame the shuuto. FF's take? Hai!

Friars Take 3 Of 4 From Houston

The San Diego Padres opened the season winning their first series taking 3 of 4 from the Astros. Randy Wolf made his Padres debut and showed well, tossing 6 innings allowing just 1 run on 4 hits while striking out 5. Wolf left with a 2-1 lead courtesy of a first inning, 2 run blast off the bat of Kevin Kouzmanoff. Enrique Gonzalez surrendered the tying run in the 7th, but the Padres' Scott Hairston started a rally with his third hit of the game, a triple past Astros center fielder Jose Cruz. He was immediately picked up by Tad Iguchi for the go ahead and winning run. Trevor Hoffman was aggressive in retiring the Astros in order on just 8 pitches, coaxing 3 groundouts.

Pads Points:

The Pads welcome in the LA Dodgers for a weekend series beginning tomorrow with Justin Germano taking the hill on Friday.

The premier matchup this weekend will be a Saturday afternoon tilt featuring staff aces Jake Peavy and Brad Penny.

Scott Hairston hit out of the leadoff spot Thursday and responded by getting on base all 4 plate appearances by walking and falling a homer shy of the Padres first ever cycle.

Keving Kouzmanoff added 2 hits as he was slotted in the cleanup spot for the first time this season with Gonzalez flip-flipping with him.

Callix Crabbe made his MLB debut flying out to left in the 8th.

Jody Gerut started in RF giving Brian Giles an extended rest for his surgically repaired right knee.

Tadihito Iguchi and Heath Bell teamed up for a nice play to end the 8th; with Adrian Gonzalez diving after the ball, Iguchi calmly fielded the ball on the outfield grass and delivered a strike to Bell who was covering the bag.

Hoffman Clutches Defeat Out Of The Jaws Of Victory

In an all too familiar scene Trevor Hoffman and the Padres were one pitch away from taking the first 3 games of the season against the Astros. With a 6-5 lead and two quick outs, the future Hall Of Fame closer walked Jose Cruz, Jr in front of consecutive singles, the later tying the contest, and a 3 run homer by Lance Berkman. Enrique Gonzalez made his Padre debut in recording the final out of the 9th, but the damage had already been done. The Astros picked up their first win of the season defeating San Diego 9-6.

The Friars battled back after falling into an early 3-0 hole thanks in large part to homers by Scott Hairston (falling in love with Scotty) and Adrian Gonzalez. Brian Giles had a huge game with 3 hits and the go ahead sac fly in the 8th. Michael Barrett earned some FF ink with both his bat and his aggressive base running.

With the NL West expected to be such a tight race, it is tough to lose any game late. Wednesday night's lose just stings a lot more due to the way Hoffman struggled down the stretch last season. Padre fans and FF need to cut Hoffman some slack, as at years end he will (most likely) have compiled his 40 saves with just a handful of outcomes like tonight. The great thing about baseball is that playing tomorrow allows players, fans, and even bloggers the right to have a short memory ~ just like the one of a great relief pitcher.

FF Facts:

The Thursday afternoon affair will highlight the Padre debut of southpaw starter Randy Wolf.

The Padres first error of the season was costly as a low throw across the diamond by Kouzmanoff allowed the first Houston run to cross the plate.

The Padres continue to get great production out of the left field position and catcher. Justin Huber had a knock in his first Padres at bat and made a terrific running catch near the wall in left center. His mid game replacement, P Mac, contributed with a sharp single in his first AB as a pinch hitter. As noted above, Michael Barrett picked up where Josh Bard left off and the Friars have 3 multiple hit games out of their backstops.

Second Guessing:

Well, first guessing really ~ I called for this prior to the outcome of the at bat by Tony Clark. In the bottom half of the 6th inning after Barrett and Paul McAnulty reached base with no outs, manager Bud Black elected to stay with Tony Clark to pinch for the pitchers spot. FF wondered why (in a tie game) Black wouldn't opt for Callix Crabbe to lay down a sacrifice bunt to move 2 runners into scoring position with the top of the lineup right behind him (this would also keep Clark available for the later innings). Unfortunately Clark sharply wrapped into a twin killing. Giles and Iguchi each singled and the Friars came away with just 1 run.

FF has also noticed too strong a reliance on too few pitchers in the bullpen, we were surprised to see Joe Thatcher come out to start the 7th, especially with the right hand hitting Mark Loretta lurking in the Houston dugout to pinch hit for the Astros...Loretta struck out, so maybe we at FF don't know everything! However, there is a major concern of tiring out the Padres bullpen at some point with these constant outings.

Bud Black is a Fricking Genius

Just before Scott Hairston's two run blast Tuesday night, we at FF were pondering why Hairston is batting in the 5 hole ahead of Khalil Greene (27 HR, 97 RBI in '07). Then Hairston put the Friars up with a single swing, so we have now embraced it whole heartedly. After tonight's bomb, we have officially declared Harry Ralston "Bud" Black a fricking genius - again.

Hairston Launch Humbles Houston

The Padres have begun the 2008 season with two straight victories over the Houston Astros. The offense wasn't clicking on all cylinders as it was on opening night, but the Friars found Scott Hairston's 2 run blast enough to hold off Houston 2-1. The Padres had 2007 All Star, Chris Young, toeing the rubber on Tuesday and he battled through some control problems (5 walks in 5 2/3) to earn his first victory of the year. Young loaded the bases full of 'Stros after a base hit and 2 walks in the 6th. Skipper Bud Black turned the ball over to Joe Thatcher who got out of the jam after walking in the only Astro run of the game (and season). The lefty Thatcher retired the first batter of the 7th inning before giving way to side-winder Cla Meredith who cruised through the 2 batters he faced. Heath Bell worked a perfect 8th inning to set up baseball's all time saves leader in the top half of the 9th. Trevor Hoffman took his first steps into game action this year to the familiar sound of AC/DC's "Hells Bells". The Padres closer struck out the first and last batter he faced while working around a two out infield single.

Padres Points:

The Padres hand the ball to future Hall Of Fame hurler Greg Maddux on Wednesday night, the crafty right hander will attempt to keep pace with the top 2 pitchers in the Friar rotation.

Khalil Greene and Josh Bard each had multiple hit games with the Friar shortstop collecting 3, while the Padre backstop had 2. Brian Giles remains the only Padres regular without a hit through 2 games.

The Padres team ERA jumped all the way to 0.50 to kickoff the new year, Tuesday's 2-1 victory will be one of many close, low scoring affairs in 2008.

The Padres had a chance to extend their lead in the bottom half of the 8th (against former Friar Doug Brocail) after a 2 out Bard single sent Scott Hairston to second, an infield single by Paul McAnulty would have loaded the bases for a pinch hitter (presumably Tony Clark). Unfortunately, Scott Hairston got caught venturing too far off third after appearing to assume that P Mac would be called out at 1st.

Padres figure to start newly acquired Justin Huber in left tomorrow as the Astros will start a southpaw on the hill. Pads fans also figure to get their first view of the year of catcher Michael Barrett.

All time saves leader Trevor Hoffman is fashioning a longer hair style than in years past, reports out of spring training were that Mrs. Hoffman likes the longer locks.

Forbes Ranks Friars 19th In '08 Value

Forbes Magazine's 2008 edition of SportsMoney Baseball has ranked John Moores' Padres as the 19th most valuable club in Major League Baseball at $385M (out of 30). This represents an 11% increase over last year's valuation and has the Friars increasing in value 22% more than average club during that period. That puts Moores ahead nearly threefold on paper in real dollars, as he paid $94M for the club in 1994 ($131.5M in 2008 dollars). The magazine supports the frequent Friar explanation that stadium debt service is handcuffing the team while also noting an increase in money for signing draftees and building the new complex in the Dominican Republic. The Padres reportedly posted $23.6M in operating profit (before taxes, interest, depreciation, and amortization) against $167M in revenue. Positively, Forbes has slotted the Padres in a respectable 7th place in their "Payroll vs. Performance" ranking. Other NL West teams scored as follows (team: value, payroll v. performance):

• Arizona: 20th, 9th


• Colorado: 21st, 2nd


• Los Angeles: 4th, 28th


• San Fransisco: 8th, 27th

We'll likely hear this debt service argument come up again this season as the trade deadline approaches (or if one of the club's aging outfielders goes down). In an interesting note, Forbes didn't mention the club's TV revenues as a problem, though this has been sited in the past by the front office. It's a good thing that Kevin Tower's status as a "sludge merchant" has been upheld by the magazine's ranking of the Padres as the 7th best at payroll vs. performance.