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    Saturday, September 26, 2009

    Complete Game Shutout for Correia, Padres win 4-0

    Friday September 25, 2009

    Kevin Correia threw a complete game shutout and the San Diego Padres defeated the last place Arizona Diamondbacks 4-0 tonight at Chase Field.

    Correia allowed just 6 hits and 1 walk while striking out 7 on 109 pitches for his first career shutout and the first for a Padres pitcher since 2006. It was an awesome performance by a guy I have pegged as a mediocre pitcher on occasion.

    Correia has been outstanding the last 2 months going 5-2 with a 2.54 ERA in his last 11 starts and has lowered his era from 4.75 at the end of July to 3.89 after tonight's game. In fact he has not given up a run since the 2nd inning of a Padres loss to these same Diamondbacks on September 14th, a stretch of 20 innings.

    Folks I love being wrong about things like that.

    Padres are now 15-7 in September.

    Friday, September 25, 2009

    Padres continue to take it to division foes

    Thursday September 24, 2009

    The San Diego Padres came back from an early 3 run deficit to defeat the Colorado Rockies 5-4 tonight at Coors Field in Denver. The victory gave the Padres their 4th series win in the last five against division foes.

    Padres starter Clayton Richard was shaky in the 1st inning allowing a 3 run home run to Tulowitzki after and Everth Cabrera throwing error and a Todd Helton single put men on 1st and 2nd.

    Richard settled down after that to throw 5 scoreless innings, but did not get the decision. His line on the night: 6 innings, 7 hits, 3 runs, 2 earned, 2 walks, and 2 strike outs.

    Luke Gregerson rebounded from giving up his first runs in the last 2 months in his last outing to throw 1 2/3 innings and record his first ML save. Adam Russell got the win for recording a single out in the 7th.

    Cabrera's error was his 19th of the season. It sure seems that Cabrera only commits errors when the play is totally routine and the play tonight was about as routine as they come.

    The Padres 6-7-8 hitters went 7 for 12 with 3 rbi and 4 runs scored to pace the Padres offense. Actually, Salazar (2-4 including a triple), Hundley (2-4 with his 8th HR of the year and a stolen base in the 8th inning), and Gwynn (3-4 with the game winning rbi in the 8th) pretty much WERE the Padres offense. Eckstein was his usual pesky self going 2-4 with a sac fly and Headley hit a single in the 8th, advanced to 2nd on a Venable sac bunt and scored on a Hundley single.

    The sac bunt by Will Venable was a thing of beauty and I expressed on twitter at the time that I hoped he would teach Gwynn how to follow suit.

    The Padres should give an assist to Rockies center fielder Dexter Fowler for a total lack of hustle on a shallow hit to center in the 8th that allowed Chase Headley to score the tying run. Fowler jogged in on the ball hit in front of him and then made a lackluster toss to second base instead of trying to gun down Headley at the plate. Even if he hustled the play would have been close with Headley running from 2nd, but to not make any attempt was inexcusable.

    Rockies starter Jason Hammel went 6 1/3 innings giving up 2 runs on 6 hits with no walks and 6 k's. Reliever Joe Beimel took the loss.

    The Padres have now taken 2 series against the Rockies and one against the Dodgers and Giants in the month of September. All three are playoff contenders.

    In fact the only team to take a series from the Padres this month are the last place Diamondbacks.

    I really like what I have seen from the Padres in the 2nd half of this season. With 8 games to play the Padres are now 71-83 on the season. 8 games better than 2008. Playing .500 ball the rest of the way will the Padres 75 wins, an even dozen games better than 2008.

    That has GOT to make you feel good about the prospects of a winning season in 2010 if the Padres go out and get a decent bat and one innings eating pitcher in FA or in trade.

    Saturday, September 19, 2009

    Should Padres trade Kevin Kouzmanoff to make room for Chase Headley?

    Is Headley Capable of Playing Third Full time?

    Saturday September 19, 2009

    There has been quite a bit of debate on the message boards and amongst fans and media about whether the Padres should keep both Kevin Kouzmanoff and Chase Headley.

    Headley is a defensive liability in LF and many have argued that because he is younger, he should be moved to third base and Kouzmanoff traded.

    The rationale is that because Headley was once an average fielder at third base, that he can adequately replace Kouzmanoff's defense at third base and Kouzmanoff's offense.

    Kouzmanoff has played nearly flawless defense this season, with just 3 errors and a .990 Fielding percentage. Both would rank as MLB records for the position if the season ended today.

    Headley committed his 5th error at the position today in his 16th start of the season. Since Kouzmanoff went down with an injury on September 8th, Headley has committed 2 errors in 9 games.

    5 Errors in 16 starts is a 50 error pace for a season and simply unacceptable. 2 errors in 9 starts is a better rate, a 36 error per season pace, but it is still not good. If Headley were somehow able to cut that in half by playing daily, it is still 18 errors per season. Many too many for a player with Headley's limited range.

    In fact, cutting his error rate of the past 9 games in half would still leave Headley as nearly the worst full time 3B in the league defensively over a season.

    Headley is nearly three years younger than Kouzmanoff and has 1 1/2 less seasons at the major league level, so in fairness that does have to be taken into account.

    So that leads to the question, will Headley improve enough over the next 1 1/2 seasons to overcome the difference in defense? Will Headley's home run totals nearly double over the next year and a half? Can he drive in 50% more runs?

    Headley demonstrated better power numbers in his first season than in 2009. The sub .400 slugging percentage and lack of home run power (he is hitting just 1 hr every 42 abs) does not bode well for a player at a Corner Infield (or Outfield) position that is expected to be a run producer.

    Headley is still only 25 and may develop more power, but I think over the past two months we have been seeing pretty much the best we can expect from him in the future.

    He has hit .296/.367/.400 with 11 doubles and 2 home runs in 159 at bats.

    Is that enough?

    Saturday, September 12, 2009

    Bell blows first save at home

    Saturday September 12, 2009

    The San Diego Padres led every inning going into the 9th.

    Closer Heath Bell came in and it looked like the Padres would continue to be hot and take the 1st game of the series with Colorado.

    And then the unthinkable happened. Heath Bell couldn't find the plate and walked two of the first 4 batter and gave up 4 runs for his first blown save of the season at Petco Park.

    Game over. Padres lose 4-1 to the Colorado Rockies.

    A bevy of Padres relievers had pitched 8 scoreless innings prior to Bell's appearance. Led by Mujica who threw 4 scoreless innings and two effective appearances by Sean Gallagher and Adam Russell.

    Then Joe "Becky" Thatcher was brought in to face the lefties in the 7th and nearly gave the game away. Thatcher hit Helton, struck out Hawpe, and then gave up a double to Hawpe. How he got a "hold" for that one I don't know. For Thatcher's second straight appearance and third in his last 5, Gregerson had to come in and pull his fat out of the fire.

    Regardless of the hype from Corey Brock at mlb.com, Thatcher has just not been effective in pressure situations. In 21 opportunities he has just 4 holds.

    Sometimes stats like ERA just don't tell the real story. Thatcher has a great ERA. Mostly because he only allows other pitchers runs to score and he is taken out of the game after he fails to get out his batters out like last night, but without giving up a run. Others are left to clean up his messes and luckily for the Padres, Gregerson and others have been able to on a consistent basis.

    When Gregerson or other relievers come in and pick him up, Thatcher's ERA doesn't go up even though he was totally ineffective, like his last 3 of his last 5 appearances.

    Even holds can be a deceiving stat. 2 of Thatchers 4 holds have been in situations where he came in for a single batter. Last night he was totally ineffective, hitting a batter and giving up a double before being pulled, but he still got a hold.

    Since being called up on July 20th he has 3 appearances in which he failed to even record an out and another 6 in which he was pulled mid-inning. In other words in 25 appearances since he was recalled from the minors, he has failed to get the job done 36% of the time including 3 of his last 5 appearances, but did it without giving up an earned run. So Thatcher's stats look good, but he still failed at his job. Someone else, namely Luke Gregerson lately, had to come in and saved his worthless behind.

    Do you get the idea I don't like Joe "Becky" Thatcher? Well you would be correct. What I don't like even more is the media campaign by Brock and others to push this loser on the fans of San Diego.

    Ok enough of my influenza influenced tirade.

    Wednesday, September 9, 2009

    Don't Look Now

    Wednesday September 9, 2009

    Don't look now, but the Padres could very well finish the 2009 season with a better record than the Mets.

    As it stands tonight the surging Padres have a 63-78 record (.447) and the slumping Mets have a 62-77 record (.446).

    While the Padres went 15-14 in August and have won 6 of their last 8 games, the Mets went 12-17 in August (1-3 against the Padres) and have lost 5 of their last 8 games.

    Ouch. Do you think Omar Minaya should keep his job if that happens? After all the Mets were widely picked to win the NL East over the World Champion Phillies before the season started.

    Yes, the Mets have been struck by a Padre-like run of injuries this season, but with a payroll north of $130 million, is there any excuse for having a worse record than the Padres and their $36.7 million payroll?

    2nd straight good outing from LeBlanc in Pads win

    Wednesday Sept 9, 2009

    Happy 9/9/9!

    Looks like Wade LeBlanc was celebrating the day as he collected his 2nd straight victory in the San Diego Padres 4-2 win over the San Francisco Giants at Alphabet Soup Park.

    LeBlanc pitched a heck of a good game too allowing just 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks. 2 of those walks came to start the 8th inning, but Luke Gregerson came in with 2 on and no outs and shut the Giants down.

    Adrian Gonzalez provided all the offense the Padres would need driving in 3 runs on a single in the first with Everth Cabrera on 3rb base and a booming home run to left field, his 37th of the season, in the 3rd inning.

    Oscar Salazar added an insurance run in the 6th with a solo shot of his own.

    Cabrera stole his 22nd and 23rd bases of the season to move him into 4th place on the Padres list for rookies behind Ozzie Smith, Alan Wiggins and Roberto Alomar. 1 more SB and he will tie Alomar's total amassed over 143 games in 1988.

    The Padres have now won FIVE straight series including 4 on the road and put up double digit hits for the 4th time in 8 games this month.

    Barry Zito took the loss for the Giants going 5 innings and giving up 3 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks with 2 k's.

    Wednesday, September 2, 2009

    Correia has great outing

    Wednesday September 2, 2009

    San Diego Padres starting pitcher Kevin Correia pitched into the 8th inning for just the second time this season throwing 7 2/3 shutout innings to improve his ERA to 4.29 on the season.

    After two straight mediocre outings in which he gave up double digit hits in each, Correia rebounded strongly to shut out the struggling Nationals on just 3 hits and 2 walks for the win over the worst team in baseball. It was Correia's 10th win of the season in 28 starts.

    The Padres offense looked anemic to start the game,before busting out for 5 runs in the 6th inning against Nationals starter John Lannan.

    Nationals pitchers walked 9 Padres with Lannan walking 5 and reliever Jorge Sosa walking 3 more.

    Adrian Gonzalez led the charge with a double that drove in Everth Cabrera and David Eckstein with 2 outs in the 5th. After Kevin Kouzmanoff was intentionally walked, Chase Headley drove in Gonzalez and Kouzmanoff with a double to the gap in RF. Will Venable continued to be hot at the plate, going 2 for 4 with an RBI single in the 5th. He raised his batting average to a team high .275

    Kouzmanoff on pace for record season

    Kouzmanoff on pace for record season

    Wednesday September 2, 2009

    San Diego Padres third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff is currently on pace for an NL record for fielding percentage at his position.

    His .989 fielding percentage leads all of baseball in 2009. Vinny Castilla owns the current mark for fielding percentage by a third baseman at .984 set in 2004.

    Kouzmanoff also has just 3 errors in 283 chances going into last night's game.

    According to Elias Sports Bureau, no third baseman has had fewer than 6 errors in a season in which they had 300 total chances.

    With 27 games left on the schedule, Kouzmanoff will certainly get to 300 total chances.

    We could be watching history Padres fans.