Sad Sack San Diego Padres of 2011

Thursday May 5, 2011

When you lose two of three to the lowly Pittsburg Pirates and the player leading your team in RBI and hitting 3rd in the lineup is batting just .215, you know your team is not destined for great things.

Padres LF Ryan Ludwick on the season

When your team is getting .190/.285 from the leadoff spot you know you aren't scoring many runs, because, well, nobody is ever frickin' on base to be driven in.

When your 1st basemen are hitting a combined .165/.214 with a slugging percentage normally reserved for light hitting middle infielders, you know you are not knocking in many runs.

2011 Batting Average of Padres 1B

That would be the 2011 version of the San Diego Padres.

Right now the Padres are in competition for the #1 overall pick in the 2012 MLB Amateur Draft with only 12 wins against 19 losses. They are currently tied for last place in the NL. These Padres have the WORST home win percentage in baseball.

Not what fans expected after a 90 win season in 2010 and not what most people would expect today with a pitching staff with an ERA under THREE with 20 Quality Starts in 31 Games (tied for 3rd best in baseball).

MLB 2011 Team Pitching Stats

Its time for the Padres brass to either jettison the overpaid, under-performing veterans and simply play the kids that will be the future of the team or pay the price in prospects and dinero to pick up a couple of guys that can actually HIT the ball. If they don't act pretty quick, the 2011 season can be effectively considered over and May is only 5 days old.

What a sad state of affairs in Padredom.

Happy Cinco De Mayo.

9th game & its time for Padres to sit Hawpe

Monday April 11, 2011

On the day I paid $4.11 for gas, I came to the realization watching Hawpe fail miserably to get a hit in the 1st inning of the Padres vs Reds that even though its only the 9th game of the season, its time for the Padres to sit Brad Hawpe.

His herky jerky movements at the plate testify to a lack of confidence that is making it impossible for him to hit consistently. If you watch video from earlier in his career when he was hitting decently, he had much less movement of his bat and body at the plate. Now he looks like he is dancing up there never coming set before swinging the bat.

So its time he took a seat and Black brought in someone else to play. 1B. Cantu is not an improvement or he would already be manning 1B. Maybe its time to give Rizzo or Clark a shot. They can't do much worse than .174

Ludwick picking up where he left off in 2010

Sunday April 10, 2011

Well, Ludwick is who we thought he was at the end of last season - a terrible Padres hitter.

So far he is hitting just .120 as a Padre in 2011 with just 3 hits in 25 abs. Granted 1 of the 3 was a home run, but even if all 3 were home runs, 3 for 25 just will not cut it.

Worse yet, he is not even getting good wood on the ball. Most of his 9 FB were pop ups, 2 in the infield and 3 foul. All of his ground balls were for outs. The ONLY ball he has struck well was his home run today.

Don't get me wrong, Ludwick is not the only Padre starter we were counting on to hit the ball well that is sucking wind. Will Venable is hitting just .120 as well and looks completely lost at the plate. Bartlett is hitting under .150. Hawpe is hitting just .174 with 9 SO against just 1 BB in 23 AB.

Now the Good news in terms of Padres hitting:
Nick Hundley has come of age. After today he is hitting .445 with 2 home runs and 5 XBH in his 11 hits.
Orlando Hudson is his consistent self, hitting .286 after 8 games.
Chase Headley was hitting .280 going into today's game.
Cameron Maybin is hitting .276 and showing some power with 4 XBH in his 8 hits.

The REAL good news? Its only 8 games. So while I am bitchin' about Ludwick, Venable, Hawpe and Bartlett's production so far, I realize we have 154 games, 95% of the season, to go.