Giles Rests, Friar Bats Follow Suit

Harry "Bud" Black finally gave Brian Giles most of the night off (who did earn a walk in the 8th, staying the game after pinch hitting), giving a nod to rarely utilized reserve Edgar Gonzalez. Reminiscent of the 2008 campaign, Edgar made the most of his opportunity, swatting a bomb off former Padre Randy Wolf, staking the Padres to a 1 run lead in the top of the first. Unfortunately, the Padre bats were otherwise quiet, and Chris Young, who allowed one run in 7 innings vice 5 punch outs, was just short of the perfect pitcher he had to be in order to capitalize on the offense his club would contribute for the night. After giving way to Edwin Moreno and Cla Meredith, who both posted zeros on the board, Luke Gregerson allowed 3 hits and run without recording an out, giving the Dodgers their second walk off win in as many nights.

Run Bud Run?
After reaching first on a fielding error in the 4th, Edgar Gonzalez (leading off the inning while batting second) was erased attempting to swipe second base. Scott Hairston, hitting third, then fouled out for the second out, bringing up cleanup hitter Adrian Gonzelez with nobody on base. FF understands that a struggling team needs to shake things up at times to score a few runs, but we'd also love to see a station-to-station approach with the Adrian, who is the only hitter on the team that strikes consistent fear in opposing pitchers. It may very well be that this was a calculated approach with Adrian facing a lefty in Wolf, but he is still the club's finest, most consistent batting threat.

G-Men for GM?

The Union-Tribune's Bill Center reports that the brothers Gonzalez (a.k.a, the G-Men) were behind the Padres interest in rotation candidate Walter Silva. The enigmatic 32 year old has spent his career in the Mexico, where he has put together a solid career, first as an outfielder, then as a pitcher, posting an sub-4.00 ERA and winning record over the his last troika of seasons. Center quotes the youngest Gonzalez:

He makes pitches, and (he) pitches down. And he has great poise. He doesn't panic or rattle.

While he has been slowed by a sprained ankle this Spring (his first with a Major League club), Silva notched a solid outing Friday night, allowing a run on a couple hits over 4 innings. FF thanks the G-Men for taking an interest in making the club better. A pro from the south can't be any worse than course of the season.

Baek, Bombs Provide Win At Shea

A solid outing by Cha Seung Baek gave the Padres a chance to make 3 solo shots and a gift wrapped unearned run stand up in a 4-2 road win. The Pads got 1st inning homers by Gerut and Giles and an insurance blast by Chase Headley in the 9th frame. The Friars will have to earn the series win by beating the Mets ace Johan Santana Thursday morning.

2nd Glance


Edgar Gonzalez misplayed two balls Wednesday and was lifted in favor of Tadihito Iguchi. FF feels that Gonzalez has earned the right to be the starter at second and is pressing due to the uncertainty of playing time. Edgar may not be a Gold Glove caliber infielder, but his presence in the 2 hole is much more formidable than Black's lineup with Iguchi. It will be interesting to see what happens with the second base position through the remainder of the season, there is always the (seemingly logical) possibility of a waiver wire deal shipping Tadihito to a contender in need of a veteran who is masterful in the field and streaky with the stick.

Friars Top Nevin Look-alikes

The Friars scratched their way to a rare victory, toping the Bucs 6-5 in a game full of oddities. For starters, former Padre super-prospect Xavier Nady, ostensibly exiled by former Padre manager Bruce Bochy for not being a veteran, was traded from the Nevins to the hated Yankees after one at-bat, vacating the 5-hole in the process. Additionally, despite a horrible tag by rusty Josh Bard,who collected a pair of hits, a Brian Giles to Edgar Gonzalez to Bard combination erased a runner at the plate. This out proved to be crucial as Heath Bell would eventually have a bad outing, continuing his recent streak. The Friars also collected a double play at third and second, taking advantage of overly aggressive Pirate baserunners. To extend the oddities, Trevor Hoffman looked like his old self. FF has to say that this is the first game in some time that has kept our attention. Let's all hope for a few more like this one.

Friar Factoids:

• With just 2 more wins, the Padres will ensure that win at least 25% of their games this season.
• Scott Hairston's hot streak is very officially over - he earned the golden sombrero batting leadoff. That said, his hard baserunning prevented a double play, so we still give Scotty a thumbs up for the evening. He also made a good catch in the eighth to save Heath Bell from accumulating addtional earned runs.
  

Kouz Error, Typical Play Sink Friars

The Padres, who have now won only 6 of their last 28 contests, lost again Saturday night. The 6-5 downfall came as Randy Wolf hit the wall and then was pushed off the wall by a Kevin Kouzmanoff error that eventually accounted for a pair of runs, representing the margin of victory for the Cardinals. The major offensive highlight of the night was a three run bomb by the continuously hot Edgar Gonzalez. Six other Padres had one hit each, with Kouzmanoff and Adrian Gonzalez each adding an RBI of their own. Randy Wolf allowed 6 runs (4 earned) over 5.2 innings, not exactly helping out his trade value. We at FF look forward to the July 31 trade deadline. Who should go? FF will be posting on the topic shortly...

Atrocious; What's Next?

Even Jake Peavy can't cure the Padres' current ills. The staff ace allowed three runs over six innings with six punch outs to take a 9-2 loss against the Mariners. The club has not won a game in over a week (6/20) and one has to go back more than two weeks to find a second win (6/14). If everyone is being honest with themselves, there is no reason to continue on in their current incarnation. Even if they hit a major hot streak and win the horrid NL West, they would be trounced in the playoffs. After reportedly still standing on the fence 10 days ago, the likelihood of front office mailing in a veteran-lead comeback is increasing. For instance, the Union-Tribune yesterday suggested that there is too much financial benefit to dump contracts, such as Randy Wolf's:

The Padres stand to save $1.6 million in salary, plus an additional $175,000 per start if they deal Wolf in late July. With the club preparing to spend several million dollars on foreign amateurs by Wednesday, future savings might be welcomed.

FF would welcome this change of pace. In fact, we see as much or more upside to the strategy - both in terms of current and future success. Outside of one or two guys, it's quite possible that lessor known players will provide as much or more upside compared to current Padre regulars. For instance, we don't see Tad Iguchi unseating Edgar Gonzalez anytime soon. Little-big brother Gonzalez is providing better returns than Iguchi this season, and would seem to be a cheap, effective alternative to pushing Matt Antonelli for 2009. Expect Kevin Towers to to wait until the trading deadline draws near to maximize his leverage. In the meantime, any chance we can find more Gonzalez brothers?

Padres KO Kuroda

The Padres had to be worried this offseason with the Dodger's acquisition of Japanese phenom Hiroki Kuroda. After a decent start, Kuroda's shutto has gotten the Tom Selleck treatment, this time with a back-to-back bombs from Brian Giles (to right center at Petco) and Adrian Gonzales (another opposite field shot), kicking off a 9-0 ass-whoopin'. Giles' shot gave Jake Peavy, making his first start since straining his forearm in mid-May, a 3 run lead, with A. Gone adding his 59th RBI of the season (he would eventaually add number 60). Gonzales' little big brother remained hot, with 3 more hits to boost his average to .322. The only Padre not to get in on the action was Kevin Kouzmanoff, who is in the midst of a major slump that has drawn his average down to .254. Bud Black had Peavy on a pitch count of about 90, but Jake would only require 72 to beat LA in 6 innings (4 punch outs, 3 hits allowed, 0 walks).

Notes:

• Luke Carlin managed RBI number one for this career with a first inning fielder's choice. He would then force in a run via a walk in the third.
  
• The Padres are now 8 games under .500.
• Joe Thatcher was optioned back to AAA Portland to make room for Peavy's return.
  

Wolf, Friars Beat L.A.

Randy Wolf paced the Padres with an excellent outing to a 4-1 win - holding the hated Dodgers to just one run over seven innings against nine punch outs. Heath Bell and Trevor Hoffman each tossed scoreless innings, earning a hold and save, respectively. Each of the hermanos Gonzales notched an RBI, with the older, slimmer version (Edgar) knocking a first inning bomb out to deep left center. Khalil Greene added a bomb into the Petco sandbox, with Jody Gerut knocking in an always important insurance run in the bottom of the eighth, while facing a lefty with a 0-2 count. All together, things have begun to look up to for the Friars, who regain staff ace, Jake Peavy, in Thursday afternoon's contest. FF is mildly optimistic - but still questions Chase Headley's absence from left field. Of course, in a couple of years his lessor amount of MLB service time will play in the club's favor (and we can only assume that this is the reason for his extended stay in AAA Portland).

Iguchi Separates Shoulder

Padres second baseman, Tadihito Iguchi, will be placed on the DL after separating his shoulder attempting to dodge a Kevin Kouzmanoff grounder in Thursday night's 2-1 victory over the Mets. Iguchi will be out 4 - 6 weeks which leaves the Padres without a consistent defender (zero errors this season) and the 2 hole hitter in their lineup. The most likely replacement will create an all Gonzalez right side of the infield as FF expects Edgar Gonzalez to see the bulk of the playing time with a promotion in line for Craig Stansberry, who was a PCL All Star last year.

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.