What every Padres fan should know, Part 1

Let me get some housekeeping items out of the way before I start. First, this is not a guide to viewing games at Petco. Truth be told I have never been to Petco Park, I currently live in DC and I haven't seen the Padres in San Diego since 1994. In fact, I think the last game I went to was the first game of the double header in which Tony Gwynn collected his 2,000th hit.

Second, this is not a guide to being a fan in San Diego but is rather the opposite. I have lived among high concentrations of Colorado Rockies fans, Washington Nationals fans and Baltimore Orioles fans since 1994 and as such, your perspective about your team changes when you understand how other fans view your team. That is what I will talk about in this first part so without further delay, here is what fans need to know.

1. The Adrian Gonzalez rule. The player may change but the general rule still applies, and it applies to most teams, most players are not as popular away from home. Take Gonzalez's case - he is the premier power hitter in the lineup, is a hometown boy and put up numbers comparable to a certain Crime Dog when he played in town. But outside of SD, Gonzalez doesn't compare to the league's other 1B's, or does he? Ducksnorts has a pretty good breakdown showing that Gonzalez has put up some top slugging numbers on the road. Which brings me to my second point:
   
2. You will probably never convince opposing fans how good our players are until they see them in person. If you ask people in DC who the next big 3B will be, any Nationals fan is ready to argue that Ryan Zimmerman is a superstar in the making. Ask the same thing on the opposite coast and Kevin Kouzmanoff's name will dominate the conversation. I have seen both play last year in DC and guess what, they both have potential ... and they both have some work to do before they are even in a superstar conversation.
3. Our pitching staff is overrated by us and underrated by almost everyone else. The knocks against our staff by others, Jake Peavy and Chris Young had career years and aren't that good, Greg Maddux hasn't been an ace in 10 years and Mark Prior and Randy Wolf couldn't stay healthy even if they pitched for a team made up of doctors. Well, Peavy is a perennial Cy Young contender, Young is becoming more consistent, Maddux isn't supposed to be a staff ace and Wolf and Prior don't have to carry the load so whatever innings they turn in are worth the (relatively) small investments we have made in them.
4. The fan base actually travels well to some places. Maybe the lack of a team in the area for more than 30 years had something to do with it but for the past two years when I have gone to Nationals games against the Padres, there are just as many (if not more) Padres fans in attendance than Nats fans. We are no Red Sox nation but I know you didn't see any Pirates fans a week later when Pittsburgh came to town (but then again that was the Pirates). I can't speak for many other places but I do remember a decent fan base at Rockies games a few years back as well.

Hopefully I haven't rambled too much but these were the first things that came to mind. So now I turn the floor over to you, what are some other things every Padres fan should know? After I get some responses I will add Part 2, and you can bet there will be some info on helping Dodgers fans face reality.

Spring Training Game 19 Preview: Padres at Rockies

At Hi Corbett Field, 1:05 p.m. PT
Starters: Jeff Francis (Col) vs. Shawn Estes (SD)

Padres are everywhere as Estes leads a split squad against the Rockies, Jake Peavy starts a minor league at the Peoria Sports Complex (also at 1:05 p.m. PT) and the China Team also took on the Dodgers sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning, with Cesar Ramos starting.

Peavy, Chris Young and Greg Maddux are all scheduled to stay behind as the Padres travel through Tucson, instead relying on minor leaguers to power what remains of the team. Apparently the China Team will get back Monday night but may not see action until Thursday so they can get over the jetlag from the long trip.

Of course even that may not be enough time as my in-laws recently went to Malaysia on a business trip/vacation and they've been back a couple of weeks and are still getting over the traveling. Let's just hope this doesn't ruin our opener.

Spring recap No. 14: Cubs 3, Padres 2

So far we've been able to avoid the injury bug, but Greg Maddux's start was cut short Thursday after taking a hit off his thigh. The injury isn't a big deal but it did cut the start short.

Offensively Callix Crabbe went 3-for-4, probably strengthening his case to remain with the team a little and Marshall McDougall hit his first HR of the spring.

Spring Training Game 14 Preview: Padres at Cubs

At Mesa, 1:05 p.m. PT
Starters: Jason Marquis (Chi) vs. Greg Maddux (SD)

The obvious storyline here is that Maddux faces his old team. And while I hate to go with the obvious, it works for the spring.

Spring recap No. 9: Padres 9, Rangers 5

It may be spring but there is no denying that Chase Headley is putting up numbers and Saturday's game was no exception as he went 2-for-3 with 2 runs scored, 3 RBI, a triple and his 2nd HR of the spring.

With Headley hitting like this, it makes me feel not quite as anxious about the possibility of him playing left while Scott Hairston mans center.

Greg Maddux also had a good game for the Pads, giving up only 1 run in the 3 IP while striking out 1.

Heath Bell, on the other hand, continues to look lost as his ERA raises to 15.00 after giving up 3 earned runs in 1 inning. How worried about his performance am I? He was the only Padre I drafted in my fantasy baseball league Saturday night.

Spring Training Game 9 Preview: Padres at Rangers

San Diego vs. Texas
at Surprise, Ariz., 12:05 p.m. PT

(Note: I apologize for the lateness of this post, Blogger has been down most of the morning).

Greg Maddux makes his second spring start, scheduled to throw 3 innings. Does anyone else remember when Maddux had trouble getting past 60 pitches last year at the beginning of the season? Maybe if we start getting him his regular starts now, he can avoid those issues this season. The Padres will face A.J. Murray, who in 28 IP last year went 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA, struck out 18 and walked 15.

Spring recap No. 5: Padres 9, Giants 6

Apparently Greg Maddux knows how to work efficiently, facing only 6 batters in 2 innings while pitching two scoreless innings. Other "standouts" (again, using the term loosely given the situation) include Tony Clark knocking in 2 runs and Paul McAnulty hitting his 2nd HR of the season.

I don't know if there were any "big" lowlights, other than most of our starters getting off to a slow start this spring. But if that is a big deal, then spring training would really matter.

Spring Training Game 5 Preview: Giants at Padres

San Francisco vs. San Diego
Peoria Sports Complex, 12:05 p.m. PT

Greg Maddux makes his spring training debut as we get our first look at the post-Barry Bonds Giants. Tim Lincecum takes the hill for SF. In Lincecum's first spring start he pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings so you know what that means - overvalue him now so you can be sure to get him in your fantasy baseball league. And then watch him go 7-5 again.

2008 Previews: Starting Pitching

It's no secret by now that the Padres have one of the best, if not the best, 1-2 combos in the majors when it comes to starters. Jake Peavy and Chris Young got off to an amazing start and if it wasn't for a pesky injury after the All Star break, Young may have been a stronger Cy Young candidate.

With Greg Maddux coming back we have a solid enough No. 3 starter that he should guarantee us at least 10 wins once again, despite the fact that Maddux is clearly not the pitcher he was. However, his years of experience have made it possible for him to remain effective.

Any fan worth his weight knows the biggest question for the Padres is who will fill the last two spots in the rotation. Low budget signings Randy Wolf and Mark Prior should be adequate to fill the roles if they can remain healthy, but that's the $64,000 question this season.

Both Wolf and Prior tend to be fly ball pitchers and their home run to fly ball ratios should see the most improvement because of their new surroundings. Should the need arise, both Justin Germano (last year's No. 5 starter) and Clay Hensley headline a list of youngsters who will be itching for another chance to earn a full-time rotation gig.

It remains to be seen how effective Germano really can be - is he more of the pitcher we saw in the first half (only 1 loss), or is he closer to the guy we saw struggle in the second half? A similar questions could be asked of Hensley, but he too is also trying to battle back from injury.

Regardless of who fills the last two spots, someone is going to have to step up in a big way.

Hunter signs ... with another Cali team

First things first - Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there. Now on to the real business.

The list of potential CF's shortened by one on turkey day as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (got to be PC around here) signed Torii Hunter to a 5 year $80 million dollar deal.

Most of us Pads fans were pretty sure Hunter was going to be out of our price range anyway but now the point is moot. Time to turn our attention elsewhere.

Speaking of FA signings, we will definitely have a new 2B next year now that Geoff Blum has signed a 1 year deal with Houston.

It's not time to panic but as teams are starting to fill their rosters now it would be nice to see more than just the re-signing of Greg Maddux and adding four minor leaguers.

But in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I will leave with one final thought - at least we aren't feeding the A-Rod beast. Good luck with that New York, we saw how that worked before.

Padres start offseason with key move

The Padres got things off on the right foot this winter by re-signing Greg Maddux to a one year deal.

While Maddux is not the staff ace he once was, this move was key for the Pads and not for the 10 or so games he will win next year. With Maddux back on staff, we should see Jake Peavy, Chris Young and the rest of the staff continue to improve and be the best staff in the NL once again.

There were many things Kevin Towers needed to accomplish this offseason and he has apparently made strengthening the rotation a priority, now he needs to find fourth and fifth starters - either in the minors or on the market.

The move all but guarantees the Padres will see at least one milestone next season as Maddux has 347 career wins. Now that this first piece is in place, let's see what other moves Towers has in store - hopefully a CF perhaps?

2007 recaps: Starting pitching

Alright, so it's been almost another week between posts so I guess it's time to get to my thoughts on the starting pitching in 2007.

What started out as one of the team's strongest parts became somewhat of a problem as things wore on. If Jake Peavy doesn't win the Cy Young, it will be a tragedy as he was clearly the best NL pitcher this year. Not only was he the only starting pitcher in the majors with an ERA under 3.00 ( he finished with 2.54), he also led the NL in wins and strikeouts - the pitcher's triple crown. But behind him was one roller coaster of a staff.

Competing with Peavy for the Cy Young through the All Star break was teammate Chris Young, however he tailed off after an oblique injury early in the second half of the season. Once the injury hit, you never knew how good Young would be for how long and it showed in his stats. On July 24, Young was 9-3. Then after the injury he went 0-5 (to finish with a 9-8 record) and the Pads went 2-8 during that span.

Greg Maddux had a similar situation happen to him where he had five consecutive losses but he followed that up with five wins in his next six starts and finished with a 14-11 record. Maddux clearly wasn't the Maddux of old and for a long time it seemed that he needed to be pulled by either the sixth inning or 65 pitches, whichever came first. But he picked it up in the second half and threw less than 65 pitches only once.

After Maddux the rotation was a complete mess. Clay Hensley battled early season injuries and was never able get going once he was healthy. David Wells was like Maddux but compounded, needing to be pulled by around 50 pitches before he imploded. He was so ineffective that he was eventually released. And while Justin Germano came up huge at the start of the season he eventually wore down and was no better or worse than any of the other pitchers the Pads were trying to get quality starts out of every now and then.

All of this inconsistency eventually wore down the pen and contributed to SD missing the playoffs, but that is more of a discussion for the breakdown of the pen. With Peavy and Young back healthy, the top spots of the rotation are obviously taken care of but after that its anyone's guess as to who will fill out the spots in '08. Maddux has a player option and would again be a good back-of-the-rotation guy, but it is obvious the Nos. 4 and 5 spots will need to be addressed.

Hensley is probably not an option and Germano may be better suited for long relief. And from what the guys the Pads were trying out at the end of the season, none of them really seized the opportunity provided to them in a time of need. There is clearly some need here, no matter how strong it was thought to be at the beginning of 2007.

Bonus baseball ... but not the playoffs yet

So Brett Tomko couldn't get the job done and now the Pads are subjected to trying to win a tie breaker match against the Rockies at Coors Field. I lived in Colorado for almost 7 years and they never had a team this good, even with the "Blake Street Bombers" so this will be a big scene.

Apparently Bud Black's plan to "save" Jake Peavy for Monday will come off as paying off but I am still confused about the decision. Shouldn't the plan have been to win Sunday? I realize Tomko has been decent for us and had never lost at Miller Park until Sunday, but wouldn't you rather put your chips on Peavy with three days rest than any form of Tomko?

And now it sounds like Peavy may have to wait until Game 3 of the NLDS to pitch, assuming we beat Colorado. Is anyone else as nervous about this situation as I am? I am usually a fan that always gives my team way more credit than it deserves, but - to quote Star Wars - "I've got a bad feeling about this." Especially since Peavy and Greg Maddux have been the only stable starters we have had since the All-Star break.

I guess if there is at least one thing to take solice in, it's that at least we get to see the Pads play at least one more game than the non-playoff teams.

Rocked in Colorado

It's a good thing the Friars had an off day because their performance in Colorado is not what you want to see out of a team fighting for the playoffs. And if it wasn't for Greg Maddux the Pads would really be hurting.

If these guys expect to make it further than the first round in the playoffs (or even make the playoffs at the rate they are going), they need to win games, especially against teams that are trying to get ahead of them in the Wild Card race. It's hard to believe that earlier in the week a NL West title was still a possibility. Now I am just hoping we aren't witnessing a monumental collapse. It's hard to believe that it was only June when SD had the best record in baseball.

We should be relieved that Jake Peavy will take the hill to open a 3-game set in LA (especially since he is pitching on normal rest), but with the way this season has been going, nothing surprises me anymore. This LA series is just as important as the last two (Arizona and Colorado) so let's hope our boys don't choke.

If you squint hard enough, the playoffs are still in sight.

Padres take another from D-backs, Maddux on way to 400 wins?

Winning 2 of 3 from the Dodgers and picking up another win from Arizona is just how I want to see this team head into the playoffs.

All of the worrying we did in July seems to be going away now and despite the fact we have no permanent fixture in the No. 5 starter hole doesn't seem to be stopping the Pads, who have finally woken up this season offensively. Did they really hit 5 home runs against the Diamondbacks Monday? And where did Brian Giles get all that power from? I thought his power hitting days were over.

Even though we got another great performance from Greg Maddux, I saw this article on the Padres official Web site and thought it was a tad premature. I mean, does picking up win No. 344 at age 41 really warrant a story on going for 400 wins?

I would love to see Maddux hit this milestone but with the way he has tired around the sixth inning in about half of his starts this season, I think it is unrealistic to think Maddux will pitch more than two more years, picking up 56 wins in the process.

As a working member of the media, I am embarrassed when stuff like this happens but I guess it always seems to happen. At this point in the season, whether Maddux will make it to 400 wins is irrelevant, but his pitching of late has been anything but.

Let's hope this battle for the NL West continues to go well and that the Padres can keep picking up these key wins. And if Maddux - or anyone else - reaches a milestone in the process, that will make these wins that much more exciting.

100 down, hopefully many more to go

It's amazing to think that I have hit the 100 post mark here at FriarBall, and it couldn't have come at a better time.

For those of you who missed Tuesday's game, Justin Germano may not have been the best pitcher out on the mound but he was good enough to give the Padres a 2nd straight victory over Arizona despite the fact he went against D-backs ace and Cy Young candidate Brandon Webb.

The offense seems to be coming around now that SD has cut AZ's division lead to 1 game and if these guys can play similarly to how they did at the beginning of the season then the Pads should be a feared opponent as the playoffs approach.

The series is what baseball and the run to the playoffs is all about - this series may not decide the NL West champs but it will go a VERY long way in determining the final outcome of the division.

It's good to hear that Chris Young (ours, not there's) will start Thursday to close out the series and Greg Maddux has been decent enough lately to give fans the hope of a sweep. But lets not get ahead of ourselves, we know what happens when we start thinking too positively.

30 runs and more struggles for the pen

I don't make it a point to often talk about non-Padres affiliated news but I had one thing to say about Texas beating Baltimore 30-3 Wednesday. I think the thing I am most surprised about is that Texas reliever Wes Littleton actually picked up a save in the process by entering it when the score was 14-3 and pitching the last three innings in which the Rangers scored 16 runs. Needless to say the game was already out of hand but I guess save rules are save rules. This type of outing only strengthens the argument for those who think saves are a worthless stat. As far as the Orioles are concerned, too bad there isn't a 10-run rule like in little league.

In Padres news, Trevor Hoffman has officially hit a slump after blowing another save and the pen seems to be in almost a full tailspin. Heath Bell eventually picked up the save after Adrian Gonzalez homered in the top of the 10th but these kinds of outings are not good. Granted we got to Billy Wagner before the Mets got to Hoffman and both closers have struggled in this series but it seems that if the Padres continue to ball like this heading into the playoffs they could have another first round exit.

Hopefully leaving the glitz and glamor of the Big Apple for Philly will turn things back to normal for pen. It will be a matchup of ancient ones as Greg Maddux takes on Jamie Moyer. Fire up the time machine.

With August here, still some tinkering left to do

The Padres are in the home stretch, in second place in the NL West and while we would like to think that SD has to be one of the favorites to win NL, there are still a couple of things that need to be corrected for a postseason run.

The David Wells horse has been beat to death and it seems there is a possibility he could be released. The only problem is, Greg Maddux has no stamina and can't get past the sixth, Justin Germano has been struggling after a hot start and Clay Hensley never got things together after suffering through some early season injuries. And with Chris Young still hurting, there is not much starting pitching to rely on at this point. It also appears that any future starters that are laboring in the minors are not quite ready to make the jump up to the majors (Tim Stauffer anyone).

I think one thing we thought the Padres had an abundance of this year was pitching but it seems like the starters have hit a wall, and with Bud Black still trying to find a consistent starting lineup it seems like the wheels could be coming off this thing in a hurry.

The Padres seem to be stuck between a rock and a hard place right now with Wells struggling so much but if a couple of guys could get hot as the season winds down, they may be able to get things going in the right direction and have enough momentum entering the playoffs that a deep postseason run may still be possible, even if the offense still doesn't come around completely.

Hopefully a solution will present itself soon but if it doesn't, I fear the Padres will be at home watching the playoffs like the rest of us.

Adding to the W column

I never thought that in a season in which the Padres are one of the top teams in the NL, that a single win would be such a relief. But after all of the struggles of late it was nice to see Jake Peavy finally pick up win No. 10 in a 9-4 romp over the Astros on Friday.

This game actually had no business being this close though as SD was actually up 9-1 in the bottom of the ninth before Houston tried to mount a come back. I give the front office credit for trying to see exactly what they have acquired for Scott Linebrink but does anyone else find it odd that a pitcher can save his ERA by just committing an error and only allowing those runners to score.

Anyone who just looks at the box score will notice that the newly acquired Joe Thatcher still has an ERA of 0.00 but his 1/3 of an inning resulted in 3 runs, 1 hit and 1 walk - and the need for Heath Bell to come in and get the last two outs before giving up the game.

Obviously this one game doesn't make or break a career but it is a reminder that sometimes stats don't tell the entire story. Let's hope the Padres can make it 2 in a row tomorrow (it seems like it has been such a long time since that has happened). Greg Maddux takes the hill so let's hope Bud Black can remember the number 65.

Slumping no more?

So right after I write about guys being in slumps and needing to get out of them soon, Adrian Gonzalez hits his first home run in a long time and Greg Maddux goes out and gets the job done (even if the pen almost gave the game away). And we even had a heroic Geoff Blum citing to boot.

Watching the game on MLB's Gameday, I was shocked when I logged on in the top of the second and saw Maddux struck out the side to open the game. Having Maddux on one of my fantasy teams, I know firsthand that his strikeouts have been few and far between. But to watch him strike out 6 was great and would have been better if I had actually started him last night. Oh well, the Padres winning that game is good enough for me.

But the biggest question after last night's game now has to be what to do with Scott Linebrink. I have previously gone on record to advocate that he should be given the time and opportunity to get himself out of this funk but letting two guys get on and then giving up a 3-run HR when all you have to do is get three guys out is not a good sign.

While Linebrink looked like he was turning things around at one point, he has struggled off and on since June 1, giving up 9 earned runs in 18 2/3 innings. He has also given up 21 hits in that span and 4 of his 5 blown saves have come during that span. But luckily for him, SD has come back to win 2 of those 4 games.

If you look at his home/road splits, that appears to be part of the problem as hitters are batting .303 with an .880 OPS against him on the road and .163/.528 at home. But then again, last night's fiasco was at home, so numbers only tell part of the story.

As I look at my ramblings I really have no idea what to do other than to suggest that Heath Bell should take over at the 8th inning specialist if Bud Black is going to insist on having one. I think Linebrink has had enough time to straighten things out and it isn't happening so now a move has to be made.

Of course, with SD eventually winning last night and maintaining its place as one of the top teams in the NL, I guess I shouldn't be too picky. I mean, the Padres actually could have lost last night.