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 recap No. 6: A's 15, Padres 4

So it seems the OF may not be as undermanned as we thought huh? Invitee Jody Gerut is now hitting a robust .455 and it seems most of the guys spending time out there are hitting over. 300 this spring.

Randy Wolf had another rough outing, giving up 4 runs in 2 innings while Shawn Estes and Justin Germano felt the need to keep the competition for those last starting spots close by giving up 3 and 4 runs, respectively. But hey, even Heath Bell had an off day as he gave up 2 runs.

This is a little early and the sample is a little small (even for spring training) but here is the breakdown of the competition for the final starting spots:

Wolf - 1.2 IP, 6 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 1 K
Estes - 1.2 IP, 9 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 1 K
Germano - 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 3 K
Glendon Rusch - 1.2 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 K

Until Wednesday's game, Germano had not given up a hit or a run. He still has the most innings pitched of the 4 likely candidates and could possibly command a spot in the rotation if he can avoid another game like this.

As this competition continues and more innings are pitched, I will continue to update this chart.

2008 Previews: Closer

Trevor Hoffman is and always will be the closer until he retires. With that said, how much longer can the aging saves leader keep hitters off-balance with an 85 mph fastball and a changeup as his only pitches?

The key to the changeup is obviously making the pitch look like a fastball in relation to release point and arm speed, but when the velocity drops on your fastball as you get older (and don't use PEDs) how much are the two pitches really different.

Hoffman has always been one of my favorites and to me, signifies the post-Tony Gwynn era Padres but sometimes time just runs out. However I am predicting that will not be this year.

Saves are about as easy to predict as wins with a lot of the actual results dependent on others but I am going to say Hoffman posts another 40+ save season, blows less than 5 and keeps his ERA in the 2.50 range.

However, if the last week of last season really was indicitive of how much longer Hoffman can hold on, I am still confident we will get those numbers out of our closer. The only difference may be that Heath Bell would be the one posting the numbers.

The 'pen will again be the strength of this team and us making the playoffs will once again come down to how much work it can conceivably do without running down.

2008 Previews: Bullpen

Note: This section will not cover closer Trevor Hoffman, that will be covered in tomorrow's final preview post.

If there is one thing the Padres have an abundance of, it's arms in the bullpen. Both Kevin Cameron and Justin Hampson proved to be pleasant surprises and with another strong showing by Cla Meredith, I am confident middle relief will be covered, no matter who else fills out the pen.

The setup role should be pretty well set too as Heath Bell had an outstanding year last year and seemed to fill in well once Scott Linebrink was traded. Bell should be the closer of the future, but unless he develops Hoffman-like consistency, his effectiveness may run out before he gets a chance.

If the starters can get deep into games with leads, the pen will hold onto most of them. If there is one thing I am not worried heading into this season, it's the pen.

2007 recaps: Relief pitching

Alright, back to our (somewhat) regularly scheduled programming and on with the recap of 2007.

Along with the starting pitching, the pen was considered a strong point coming into the season and it started out as such. But as the season wore on, it was apparent Bud Black favored certain pitchers in certain situations and sometimes that came back to bite the Padres.

With the exceptions of Trevor Hoffman, Doug Brocail and Scott Linebrink (who finished the season in Milwaukee), the pen was a relatively young group that still had plenty to prove. During the first two months of the season most of those guys came off as unhittable but they couldn't keep the torrid pace up all season.

There are definitely some good parts in the pen. Heath Bell proved to be a steal of a deal, Cla Meredith is a solid situational guy that induces ground balls and new guys and Justin Hampson and Kevin Cameron showed a lot of promise. It will be interesting to see what, if any, pieces are added here in 2008. With all of the guys acquired late in the season, including the Linebrink deal, this could just be a maturation process we are waiting for instead of adding any other pieces.

Heading into the 2008 it appears SD has plenty of pieces in place to make another run at the playoffs but it will take a couple of key additions all around the board to make it a success instead of the near miss it was in '07.

What players/pieces are we in need of? That's what we have the entire offseason to discuss.

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.

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.

One for the record books

In case you have been under a rock or nowhere within the distance of a TV with ESPN, Trevor Hoffman finally got save No. 500 last night.

What was more impressive to me though was what happened before Hoffman's bells rang. I was amazed to see how efficient Greg Maddux was, even though he left in a jam in the seventh inning, throwing only 71 pitches. And even though he left in the seventh with one out, Luis Gonzalez on base and a home run having been given up to Jeff Kent, Heath Bell was even more efficient than Maddux, throwing two pitches and getting Russell Martin to ground into a double play. The rest was gravy, even though Hoffman gave us our usual heart attack by letting Nomar Garciaparra double to lead off the inning.

What has me even more stoked than Wednesday's win, though, is the fact that Jake Peavy is on the mound tonight for the rubber match and the series sweep. San Diego was tied with the Dodgers heading into the series, now let's see if they can get some more distance from them in the NL West race.

Do the Peavy

Chris Young tried his hardest to do a good Jake Peavy impersonation last night and for the first three innings it was spot on. Of Young's 10 K's last night, six of them came in the first three innings as he kept the Cubs off the base paths.

Unfortunately, in a 1-1 game, Bud Black left reliever Cla Meredith in a little too long and the Cubs scored two more runs in the 9th to win 3-1. I know that as a former pitcher Black knows what it feels like to be pulled when you feel like you can get out of jam, but for two consecutive nights, he left his pitchers in a little long in tight situations. He got lucky with David Wells Wednesday, but no so much with Meredith on Thursday.

One of the great things about the Padres playing the Cubs, Braves, Nationals and every few years the Orioles is that living in the DC area, I can actually watch those games when those teams televise the games. On Wednesday, the Cubs announcers were talking about why most managers seem to be former catchers and how a lot of former pitchers have a tough time as a manager and this series proved why.

The most difficult decision has to be when do you pull a pitcher and if you have been in the situation yourself, you are more likely to let him work out of his own jam. Now I'm not criticizing Black or his managing - he does have us at 25-21 despite an inconsistent offense and a terrific pen - but not everyone comes through in tense situations and in a tight game you have to have a quick hook. Meredith was great in the eighth, Heath Bell probably should have pitched the entire ninth.

But hopefully Meredith learned something from this and will not get rattled so easily next time. Our pen, no matter how great it is, will not come through every time but if it can learn as the season goes, we should be able to avoid losses like Thursday's.

Consistency, anyone?

Why is it that every time the Padres seem to be headed in the right direction they have a game like Tuesday's? They had the lead before the reliable - at least this season - Heath Bell gave up not one, but two runs and the lead in the eighth and the Braves won 3-2.

The saddest thing about the loss? Mike Cameron actually hit a ball. And not only did he hit it, but he hit it out for his first home run this season. The Friars also got a solid performance from Triple A call-up Justin Germano, which could have easily been a disaster.

I still think the Padres will put this thing together and really get on a role but these one run losses are tough to swallow AND tough to figure out.

Young, pen handle Braves

Chris Young had another strong outing on Monday, giving up two run in six innings. But the bigger point has to be the fact that Scott Linebrink actually kept everything inside the park and quiet.

I have seen it written many times among the many blogs, but Heath Bell has been a great addition and the fact the Mets said they didn't have a spot for him is just ludicrous - and I'm not talking about the rapper. Bell has been lights out and anyone who can't use him must be playing something other than baseball.

Trevor Hoffman continues to close in on save 500, now only nine away. But what impresses me the most is how Hoffman has not flamed out like more than 2/3 of the guys who have ever been a closer in this league. I was reading the Washington Post on Sunday and they actually had some pretty interesting stats on closers and guys who have saved more than 30 games more than two years in a row - there aren't many. In fact, if Hoffman hadn't gotten injured a couple of years ago, he would have an active streak of 12 straight seasons dating back to 1995.

Now that I have rambled long enough, I will wrap up by saying the Padres have a strong pen and it should be the key to the season. It is already helping them win games they need to - like Monday's win against Atlanta - and except for the occasional struggle, the case could be made the best collection of relievers are assembled in sunny San Diego.