The Giles Hole

Although the Padres are in the middle of a season-long 3 game skid, the team has been nothing short of a pleasant surprise 15 games into the season. Young players, like Chase Headley, and Nick Hundley are starting to look very comfortable at the plate while putting together solid at bats. The middle of the diamond has turned in solid play thanks to a tremendous platoon in center of Jody Gerut and Scotty Hairston. The new double play combination has been solid with the threesome of L Rod, injured Everth Cabrera and the epitome of a professional in David Eckstein. The catching duo of Henry Blanco and the before mentioned Hundley have been more productive than could have been predicted. The corners of the infield have been buoyed by a reversal of an early season Kouzmanoff slump and the pure beauty of Adrian Gonzalez with a bat in his hands. The only issue that FF has with any player at this point is the right fielder, Brian Giles (team stats).

Is it early in the season? Yes. Does he look like his old, consistent, self? No. Through the Pads 9-6 start the Friars highest paid position player has struggled to come up with his 10 base-knocks (just 2 extra base hits, both doubles). Maybe he has hit into bad luck, some hard outs ~ nope, a lot of pop outs and weak ground outs. Well, he is Brian Giles he must be drawing a ton of walks with a high on base percentage ~ no and no. Giles has drawn 4 base on balls while compiling 10 strike outs with an embarrassing OBP of .209.

FF has seen this scenario play out far too many times in the short season: Gerut (or Hairston) double to lead off an inning, David Eckstein lays down a beautiful bunt to sacrifice the runner to 3rd. With 1 out Giles either pops out or K's to leave Adrian to be pitched around with 2 outs. This is not something that the San Diego padres can afford to have happen, this team will be in a myriad of close games and will rely on fundamental baseball to stockpile W's. If Giles continues to "hit" in the 3 hole needs to shape up or sit (or hit) down.

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2 Out Hitting Paces Friars 4th Consective Win

The Padres continued their winning ways, grabbing their fourth consecutive game, this time from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Clutch hitting saved the day for the 8-5 victory, with all Padre runs being driven in with 2 outs. This included a home run by Khalil Greene to follow a two out walk and a monstrous bomb by rookie Nick Hundley, who's been scorching hot recently. The Blast looked like a super-powered nine-iron that ricocheted off of the second deck on the Western Metal Supply building (aka, the FriarForum.com building). Greg Maddux allowed 4 runs in 5 innings, with the pen mostly picking him up, including another Trevor Hoffman save. Hoffman has looked more like his old self recently. Bryan Corey continued to struggle, allowing a run in the 9th that set up Hoffy's save. FF looks forward to large-and-in-charge right hander Chris Young's return from serious injuries suffered on an Albert Pujols line drive earlier this season. While FF doesn't see the Padres making a run for the West, we are happy to watch some exciting baseball again - hoping fully ending the season on a positive note.

Stovetop On High

The latest team to express interest in Padres lefty Randy Wolf is the Houston Astros. Although the Astros are stuck behind the Cubs, Brewers and Cards in a tough NL Central, they are rumored to be in serious talks with San Diego. The Astros were forced to place staff ace, Roy Oswalt, on the 15 day DL and must feel they need to add to their rotation to keep pace in the Central.

Padres switch hitting catcher, Josh Bard, is due to come off the DL as early as this weekend and is said to be immediately placed on the trading block. The Friars brass finally seems feed up with Bard's inability to throw runners out. FF feels that the remainder of '08 should be used, in part, to evaluate younger players including Luke Carlin and Nick Hundley, who are both struggling at the plate while improving the defense at the position.

Extent of Barrett Injuries Still Unknown

The graphic scene of 95mph pitch glancing off Michael Barrett's bat into the bridge of his nose left many Friar fans gasping. Initial reports indicated a broken nose, but it is now known that he also has multiple face fractures as well. Until swelling subsides, doctors will not be able to fully judge the extent of his injuries, but early concerns regarding a concussion seems misplaced. Barrett suffered a concussion that kept him out for 19 games last August and there is always a concern at the potential of multiple concussions. Such an injury forced former Charger Stan Humphries into retirement. FF wishes Barrett well and hopes to see him back in uniform this season. One of the many unfortunate aspects of this freak accident was that Barrett had started to come alive at the plate, batting over .300 over his last 7 games.

Few could have foreseen a team with "two starting catchers", Josh Bard and Barrett, having to recall both catchers from their AAA club; but that will now be the case with heralded yet struggling Nick Hundley scheduled to join Luke Carlin on the big club (see previously linked Union Tribune article). Hundley had a big 2007 season at AA San Antonio, posting 20 bombs and 72 RBI in 373 at bats to match a .247 batting average. He's struggled moderately at AAA Portland in 2008, posting a .736 OPS that is about 8% lower than his 2007 performance. Much has been made of this drop off, but this seems relatively normal upon advancement to AAA. FF would like to see Bud Black lessen the pressure on the pair by taking a page out of Bruce Bochey's "How to Handle Catchers Handbook". As we've droned on about before, FF believes that catchers need frequent rest to excel. Hundley is supposed to be an offensive threat, so we'd love to see him get the more than half of the starts, with late inning defensive relief from Luke Carlin. That said, if history tells us anything, Bud Black will burn out both and end up with another pair of struggling backstops.