Friday June 19, 2009
This morning the San Diego Padres announced that they have called up their top hitting prospect, Kyle Blanks, from AAA Portland.
Blanks was hitting .283/.393/.485/.893 with 12 home runs in 223 ab so far this season while playing mostly at 1B. He has also had 15 starts in LF for the Beavers in preparation for a possible move to LF for the big league club. Blanks has been on fire recently, batting a ridiculous .424 over his last 10 games with a .500 obp. In June he is hitting .370/.478/.630/1.108
Blanks, a right handed batter, is expected to start in LF against left handed pitching and at DH during interleague games in Seattle and Texas. The Padres face 3 straight lefties against the series with the Oakland Athletics at Petco this weekend.
The left hand batting Floyd who was expected to provide a power hitting DH during interleague play and a big bat off the bench will likely be placed on the DL today.
The oft injured Floyd had spent most of the season so far on the DL already with shoulder and knee issues, having been recalled just 2 weeks ago. He has struggled in a pinch hitting role at the plate since his return hitting just .125 in 16 at bats over 10 games with 7 K's and just one BB.
If Blanks does well and Floyd hits the DL again, I don't expect to see Floyd back in a Padres uniform this season.
Although with just 39 players on the 40 man roster since Jose Lobaton was outrighted, there may be a trade coming. I certainly would not be averse to seeing the Padres make a trade that brings in a good starting pitcher or a big bat to protect Gonzalez in the batting order.
In other Padres news:
With the return of Everth Cabrera, Josh Wilson will likely be designated for assignment or released today.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Fish Or Cut Bait
Thursday June 18, 2009
Today the Detroit Tigers sat Magglio Ordonez indefinitely. Ordonez, who is making $18 million this season, was hitting .273 with 2 home runs prior to being benched.
Yes. I know that the Ordonez situation is as much about keeping him from getting the 135 starts or 540 plate appearances that would cause his $18 million 2010 option to vest.
So if the Tigers can sit Ordonez, what is keeping the Padres from sitting Giles who is making $9 million while only hitting .191 a little over a third into the season?
I don't know what is responsible for the falling off a cliff type decline in Giles performance, but after 200 at bats and 65 games, he should at least be showing signs of improvement. He is not. In his last 10 games he has went 7 for 38 (.184) with just 3 walks and 8 strike outs.
Its time for him to either fish or cut bait.
For that matter, why is a guy like Blanco getting any at bats at all while hitting .182? Yes I know he can throw out an occasional runner, but how many runs are the Padres giving up with his pathetic excuse for a bat? Is a little defense really worth it?
And when is Macias going to be called up to replace the .136 hitting Venable?
Today the Detroit Tigers sat Magglio Ordonez indefinitely. Ordonez, who is making $18 million this season, was hitting .273 with 2 home runs prior to being benched.
Yes. I know that the Ordonez situation is as much about keeping him from getting the 135 starts or 540 plate appearances that would cause his $18 million 2010 option to vest.
So if the Tigers can sit Ordonez, what is keeping the Padres from sitting Giles who is making $9 million while only hitting .191 a little over a third into the season?
I don't know what is responsible for the falling off a cliff type decline in Giles performance, but after 200 at bats and 65 games, he should at least be showing signs of improvement. He is not. In his last 10 games he has went 7 for 38 (.184) with just 3 walks and 8 strike outs.
Its time for him to either fish or cut bait.
For that matter, why is a guy like Blanco getting any at bats at all while hitting .182? Yes I know he can throw out an occasional runner, but how many runs are the Padres giving up with his pathetic excuse for a bat? Is a little defense really worth it?
And when is Macias going to be called up to replace the .136 hitting Venable?
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Do the draft experts really know what they are talking about?
Wednesday June 17, 2009
I keep hearing from so called experts at Baseball America, ESPN and other sources that the Padres don't have any athleticism in the minors.
I beg to differ.
The Padres have the fastest player in the minors in Luis Durango, who has Olympic caliber sprinter type speed. A 6.22 in the 60 yard dash is extremely fast.
Luis Durango, Cedric Hunter, Brad Chalk, Andrew Cumberland, Jaff Decker, Blake Tekotte, Lance Zawadski, and James Darnell are all the toolsy or athletic types that BA and the other so called experts praise in other systems, but seem to overlook in the Padres system.
And those are just the position players. Mat Latos, Wynn Pelzer, Simon Castro, Jeremy Hefner, Corey Kluber and Cory Luebke and several others are the hard throwing, TOOLS type pitchers these "experts" are screaming about in other organizations.
Then there are the young kids in the DSL like Adis Portillo, Alvaro Aristy and Jonathan Galvez that certainly should fit the bill, but are all but totally ignored.
I also keep hearing that the Padres changed their philosophy in drafting 4 high school players in their first 6 picks of the draft.
To my way of thinking, in the 2009 draft the Padres continued a trend that goes back many years in picking just 7 HS players in this draft while taking 43 college players.
Just because they took such an outstanding athlete at #3 does not mean that their philosophy changed. It just means the Padres have not had an opportunity to pick a player with that much upside recently. They have been picking in the bottom half of the 1st round, not the top 3.
And the so called experts seem to forget that last season the Padres took high school player Jaff Decker with a 1st round pick (#42). The year before they took high school player Drew Cumberland (#46) in the 1st Round. And in 2006 they took high school player Tyler Burke (#35) in the 1st round.
In the ten drafts prior to 2009 the Padres have taken 8 HS players in the 1st round. That is 8 HS players in 10 years.
I have not done the research, but I would be willing to bet sight unseen that 80% is a pretty high ratio of high school players taken in the 1st round for any team.
So either the so called experts have an agenda they are pushing or they should pay a little more attention to what is really happening.
I keep hearing from so called experts at Baseball America, ESPN and other sources that the Padres don't have any athleticism in the minors.
I beg to differ.
The Padres have the fastest player in the minors in Luis Durango, who has Olympic caliber sprinter type speed. A 6.22 in the 60 yard dash is extremely fast.
Luis Durango, Cedric Hunter, Brad Chalk, Andrew Cumberland, Jaff Decker, Blake Tekotte, Lance Zawadski, and James Darnell are all the toolsy or athletic types that BA and the other so called experts praise in other systems, but seem to overlook in the Padres system.
And those are just the position players. Mat Latos, Wynn Pelzer, Simon Castro, Jeremy Hefner, Corey Kluber and Cory Luebke and several others are the hard throwing, TOOLS type pitchers these "experts" are screaming about in other organizations.
Then there are the young kids in the DSL like Adis Portillo, Alvaro Aristy and Jonathan Galvez that certainly should fit the bill, but are all but totally ignored.
I also keep hearing that the Padres changed their philosophy in drafting 4 high school players in their first 6 picks of the draft.
To my way of thinking, in the 2009 draft the Padres continued a trend that goes back many years in picking just 7 HS players in this draft while taking 43 college players.
Just because they took such an outstanding athlete at #3 does not mean that their philosophy changed. It just means the Padres have not had an opportunity to pick a player with that much upside recently. They have been picking in the bottom half of the 1st round, not the top 3.
And the so called experts seem to forget that last season the Padres took high school player Jaff Decker with a 1st round pick (#42). The year before they took high school player Drew Cumberland (#46) in the 1st Round. And in 2006 they took high school player Tyler Burke (#35) in the 1st round.
In the ten drafts prior to 2009 the Padres have taken 8 HS players in the 1st round. That is 8 HS players in 10 years.
I have not done the research, but I would be willing to bet sight unseen that 80% is a pretty high ratio of high school players taken in the 1st round for any team.
So either the so called experts have an agenda they are pushing or they should pay a little more attention to what is really happening.
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