Monday: More Moves

The San Diego Padres are performing a face lift on a team that was in drastic need of a new identity. Prior to taking the field against the Chicago Cubs and their ace Carlos Zambrano the Padres will announce their 4th roster move in as many days. San Diego will call up Edgar Gonzalez to take the place of Rule V draftee Callix Crabbe. Typically, Rule V picks must be offered back to their original team (Brewers). However, the Padres still like what Crabbe brings to the table and will try to work out a trade to keep the speedy, versatile player. This transaction will reunite brothers Adrain and Edgar Gonzalez, who were inseparable during Spring Training. Older brother Edgar will assume the utility infielder role and brings a .293 average and 4 bombs to the Friars. San Diego has had many brother tandems in the past that include:
Tony and Chris Gwynn; Roberto and Sandy Alomar; The Brothers Giles; and Trevor and Glenn Hoffman.

Bard Hurting

Catcher Josh Bard is expected to return to the starting lineup on Monday in Chicago after receiving a cortisone injection in his surgically repaired throwing wrist. Newcomer Luke Carlin is scheduled to make at least 3 of the next 7 starts behind the dish for the Friars.

Peavy Paces Padre Victory

Jake Peavy was the stopper for San Diego, despite allowing a two run homer in the first to put the Padres down by 1. In recent weeks, this would have been enough to sink the Friars, but Peavy buckled down and the offensive showed signs of life on the way to defeating the Fish Saturday evening at Dolphin Stadium 7-2. The 2, 3, 4 and 5 hitters, Tadihito Iguchi, Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Kouzmanoff and Jim Edmonds, respectively, all managed at least two hits to lead the barrage. To cap off the scoring, Gonzalez notched his third hit with an opposite field bomb (putting him on pace for 35 on the season). Every position player had a hit on the evening; this includes Callix Crabbe, who came in for Khalil Greene in the 7th to play shortstop. Greene's injury has is reported by Padres.com to be an irritated left eye, with no word on when he is likely to return to the lineup.

Peavy went 5 2/3 innings with 8 punchouts, but should have completed 6 if not for a missed strike three call by the home plate umpire on a back door slider. Cla Meredith and Heath Bell were brought and performed inline with traditional bullpen expectations. Bud Black finally found an comfortable inning for Joe Thatcher to work out the kinks in the ninth. After appearing a bit erratic, the now cut-fastball avoiding sidewinding southpaw, induced a double play and slick play from Kouz to end the game.

Crabbe Slick at Short
Crabbe did his best Khalil impression in the ninth with a nifty turn to complete a double play on the a feed from Iguchi. Earlier, Edmonds was easily tossed a second base on an apparent missed run and hit with Crabbe at the plate.

Marlins Announcing Crew
These guys don't call the best game in the league, but FF gives them credit for being one of the few opposing duos that call it fair enough that we don't have to break out the mute button.

Friars Claim MLB Basement

The Padres lost yet again, staking the claim to Major League Baseball's worst record at 11-19. Such a statement isn't exactly the way I had hoped to welcome my son to world and world of Friar fan-hood. Then again, this is perhaps the proper introduction to San Diego sports, as we have all had to learn how expect the worst to stay sane. But I digress - back to more of the same for this season of discontent. Justin Germano continued his streak of poor outings, allowing 5 earned runs in 5 2/3 innings of work. Most of the damage came by way of the long ball. The Marlins managed 3 bombs, accounting for 5 of the 6 overall runs the plated. Kevin Cameron (3.72 ERA in 8 outings) and Wil Ledezma (1.08 ERA in 16+ innings) both posted perfect relief outings and should be considered by Bud Black for promotions in the bullpen's world order. Offensively, the Padres collected just 7 hits across 4 batters; Kevin Kouzmanoff did his best T. Gwynn impression with a 4-4 nights, including one double. Khalil Greene finally belted his first home run to give the Friars half of their runs in the 6-4 loss at Dolphin Stadium on Friday night. Colt Morton spelled Josh Bard, but has yet to claim his first knock of the season.

Mendoza Line Watch
The following players are currently at or approaching the infamous Mendoza Line, with nearly 1/5 of the season gone:

• Paul McAnulty - .222


• Khalil Greene - .217


• Josh Bard - .209


• Tony Clark - .208


• Justin Huber - .200


• Scott Hairston - .198


• Callix Crabbe - .160


• Jim Edmonds - .160


• Colt Morton - .000

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.