Peavy looked masterful. Giles and A Gon and E Gon are raking.
Query our boy Kouzmanoff?
He'll come around.
* * *
In other news, I noted on Pablo DePodesta's blog that highly touted 2007 Dominican signee Jonathan Galvez is still playing with the DSL Padres. This point is interesting because until this season Jonathan Galvez was named Jhonaton Spraud.
I have no problem with a player changing his name (though I liked the name Jhonaton) but I hope the name change didn't come with an extra few years of age, as has been known to happen with other Latin players.
But setting that point aside for the moment, looking over the Padres' minor league rosters on madfriars.com and firstinning.com I am enthused with all the starting outfields at every level of our system.
Here is who the Drinos started in the OF last night at each level:
DSL Padres: LF - Cesar Sosa, CF - Rymer Liriano, RF - Carlos Garcia
Fort Wayne: LF - Yefri Carvajal, CF - Robert Perry, RF - Shane Buschini
Lake Elsinore: LF - Javis Diaz, CF - Cedric Hunter, RF - Kellen Kulbacki
San Antonio: LF - Chad Huffman, CF - Drew Macias, RF - Michael Baxter
Portland: LF - Chase Headley, CF - Will Venable, RF - Vince Sinisi
San Diego: LF - Paul McAnulty, CF - Jody Gerut, RF - Brian Giles
First of all, what a pack of beasts.
And second, let's imagine some possibilities. You have Headley and Huffman who could probably hit for the big league team right now. Then one notch down you have Venable who came to baseball late and may still be mastering his skills. He's close as it is. Then you have a kind of pupu platter of guys who likely won't make it but all have talent: Sinisi is one of those AAA/AAAA guys who could come up and fill in spots in the bigs if needed; Baxter is a 23-year old out of Vandy, hitting about .280 right now; Drew Macias is a former 35th round pick who hit .280 in over 100 ABs in Portland last season; Javis Diaz is a 23-year old Dominican with good speed; Buschini is a big kid out of USD; Robert Perry is a left-handed bat out of Long Beach St.
But then you have four more potential beasts: Liriano, Carvajal, Hunter and Kulbacki. Imagine a starting outfield in 2012 of Carvajal, Hunter and Kulbacki. With Liriano raking in AAA. That probably won't happen but my point is that with all these bats the Drinos have improved their chances of stocking their outfield with a home grown beast or two in the near future.
And this doesn't even count the guys heading to Peoria and Eugene in the next few weeks. This includes the likes of Blake Tekotte and Jaff Decker. Not to mention the next crop of Dominicans and Venezuelans and Mexicans and Colombians the Drinos sign on international signing day.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Drino 4, Dadgers 1
Peavy is on the mound even as I write this and just got Russ Martin to fly out to CF for the third out of the top half of the first.
So I will keep this post brief.
I really just wanted to note how liberating last night's game was. Not so much because Randy Wolf dominated the Dadgers lineup and Khalil and E Gon hit bombs to deep areas of the ballpark, but more so because the game only lasted just over two hours. That's a big deal for someone watching the games on East Coast. Instead of ending at 1 AM, the game ended around 12:15 and I felt like I had the whole night ahead of me. I read, I caught up on e-mails, I had a conversation with my wife. It was like I was livin' on borrowed time.
I actually felt productive.
Ooh, ooh ... Gerut and E Gon just hit back-to-back singles to start the bottom of the first. Giles up with two on, no out.
And the pitch ...
So I will keep this post brief.
I really just wanted to note how liberating last night's game was. Not so much because Randy Wolf dominated the Dadgers lineup and Khalil and E Gon hit bombs to deep areas of the ballpark, but more so because the game only lasted just over two hours. That's a big deal for someone watching the games on East Coast. Instead of ending at 1 AM, the game ended around 12:15 and I felt like I had the whole night ahead of me. I read, I caught up on e-mails, I had a conversation with my wife. It was like I was livin' on borrowed time.
I actually felt productive.
Ooh, ooh ... Gerut and E Gon just hit back-to-back singles to start the bottom of the first. Giles up with two on, no out.
And the pitch ...
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Drinos 2, Metsies 1 (again!) (again!)
Great at bat by Scotty last night in the 10th. Facing Pete Feliciano here is the pitch-by-pitch breakdown:
1. Feliciano throws a slow slider that stays outside. Scotty offers a half-hearted bunt attempt at it (so devious, that Scotty, showing bunt when he is planning to hit a walk off bomb) and then pulls back and lets it pass. 1-0.
2. Feliciano brings that side arm fastball of his down the pipe at 87 mph and Scotty fouls it straight back behind the plate. 1-1.
3. A slider that dips inside completely ties up Scotty and sends him to his right knee but, though close, Lance Diaz at 1B rules he doesn't swing. Crucial call to keep the count in Scotty's favor. 2-1.
4. An 86 mph fastball stays wide and Scotty just spits on it. 3-1.
5. On the 3-1 pitch, Feliciano throws another mid-80s "fastball" that starts on the outer half and then fades back middle-in and Scotty unleashes his compact swing and drives the ball out of the park.
What. A. Beast.
1. Feliciano throws a slow slider that stays outside. Scotty offers a half-hearted bunt attempt at it (so devious, that Scotty, showing bunt when he is planning to hit a walk off bomb) and then pulls back and lets it pass. 1-0.
2. Feliciano brings that side arm fastball of his down the pipe at 87 mph and Scotty fouls it straight back behind the plate. 1-1.
3. A slider that dips inside completely ties up Scotty and sends him to his right knee but, though close, Lance Diaz at 1B rules he doesn't swing. Crucial call to keep the count in Scotty's favor. 2-1.
4. An 86 mph fastball stays wide and Scotty just spits on it. 3-1.
5. On the 3-1 pitch, Feliciano throws another mid-80s "fastball" that starts on the outer half and then fades back middle-in and Scotty unleashes his compact swing and drives the ball out of the park.
What. A. Beast.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Drinos 2, Metsies 1 (again!)
Great game last night. A lot of action wrought by talent (Wright's bomb that Scotty Hairston snagged, the outings by Wolf, Bell and Hoffman, A Gon gunning down Endy at third on an attempted sacrifice), action wrought by ineptitude (E Gon's baserunning snafu), action wrought by randomness (Wolf's pitch smacking off Santana's shoulder on the attempted bunt) and action wrought by a little redemption (E Gon's diving snake to rob Beltran of a single in the top of the 8th).
Well played on both sides.
Looking forward to OP getting rocked tonight so his price tag will drop and KT can sign him for peanuts in the offseason.
Hi-oooooooooooo!
* * * * *
Now a brief word on our boy Antonelli. Like many of you I've been wondering what's wrong with the kid in this his first foray into the ranks of AAA. He is currently batting .169 with 3 bombs and only 15 ribeyes in 195 at bats. Compare that to his line at San Antonio late last year (.294 7 24 in 187 ABs) and at Lake Elly in the first half of last season (.312 14 54 in 346 ABs).
Certainly a drop off in production for the youngster.
I do have one note of hope, however, that I was hoping someone who has watched Antonelli's games this year might be able to corroborate. Comparing his line from Portland this season and from San Antonio late last season, in a similar number of at bats, Antonelli has a similar number of Ks. So far this season in 195 ABs he has 39 Ks; at San Antone in 187 ABs he had 36 Ks.
In short, even though he is getting a lot fewer hits, Antonelli is not striking out at a greater clip this season. What that tells me - and again I'd love to get some corroboration of this from someone who has seen some of Antonelli's at bats live - is that he hasn't forgotten how to make contact, but may be having some bad luck and not driving the ball yet with consistency.
In other words, he is not so outclassed by the AAA pitchers that he is whiffing and taking called third strikes. Rather, he is hitting the ball at people and hasn't found a groove yet to hit the ball with authority to the gaps.
My thought is Antonelli will come around shortly.
Well played on both sides.
Looking forward to OP getting rocked tonight so his price tag will drop and KT can sign him for peanuts in the offseason.
Hi-oooooooooooo!
* * * * *
Now a brief word on our boy Antonelli. Like many of you I've been wondering what's wrong with the kid in this his first foray into the ranks of AAA. He is currently batting .169 with 3 bombs and only 15 ribeyes in 195 at bats. Compare that to his line at San Antonio late last year (.294 7 24 in 187 ABs) and at Lake Elly in the first half of last season (.312 14 54 in 346 ABs).
Certainly a drop off in production for the youngster.
I do have one note of hope, however, that I was hoping someone who has watched Antonelli's games this year might be able to corroborate. Comparing his line from Portland this season and from San Antonio late last season, in a similar number of at bats, Antonelli has a similar number of Ks. So far this season in 195 ABs he has 39 Ks; at San Antone in 187 ABs he had 36 Ks.
In short, even though he is getting a lot fewer hits, Antonelli is not striking out at a greater clip this season. What that tells me - and again I'd love to get some corroboration of this from someone who has seen some of Antonelli's at bats live - is that he hasn't forgotten how to make contact, but may be having some bad luck and not driving the ball yet with consistency.
In other words, he is not so outclassed by the AAA pitchers that he is whiffing and taking called third strikes. Rather, he is hitting the ball at people and hasn't found a groove yet to hit the ball with authority to the gaps.
My thought is Antonelli will come around shortly.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Drinos 2, Metsies 1
I will wholeheartedly take that victory. Giles summed it up best in a post-game interview on SNY. He said that the team has lost every close game like that this season so it was nice to finally come out on top in one and get the victory.
In other words he didn't care how the team did it, he was just happy they won.
Could not agree more.
If there wasn't enough evidence already, the recent Estes and Iguchi injuries prove that this Drinos season is pure tragicomedy. The Edmonds signing and immediate calf injury (and resultant suck), Barrett throwing his arm out (revealing how much effort he puts in to never throw guys out), the 22 inning game and the 18 inning game, the CY-Pujols-Bard "menage a injury," Prior's diagnosis with a shoulder so injured the doctors operating on it had never before seen the injury in a pitcher, Peavy's creaky elbow and now, Estes falling down some stairs to fracture a digit on his pitching hand and Iguchi doing a Baryshnikov-gone-bad to avoid a ground ball and in the process separating his shoulder.
What a season.
And despite all that the Drinos are only 8 games back.
Three straight if they beat Santana tonight.
To quote the immortal Coach Bobby Finstock, "Let's play some ball here."
In other words he didn't care how the team did it, he was just happy they won.
Could not agree more.
If there wasn't enough evidence already, the recent Estes and Iguchi injuries prove that this Drinos season is pure tragicomedy. The Edmonds signing and immediate calf injury (and resultant suck), Barrett throwing his arm out (revealing how much effort he puts in to never throw guys out), the 22 inning game and the 18 inning game, the CY-Pujols-Bard "menage a injury," Prior's diagnosis with a shoulder so injured the doctors operating on it had never before seen the injury in a pitcher, Peavy's creaky elbow and now, Estes falling down some stairs to fracture a digit on his pitching hand and Iguchi doing a Baryshnikov-gone-bad to avoid a ground ball and in the process separating his shoulder.
What a season.
And despite all that the Drinos are only 8 games back.
Three straight if they beat Santana tonight.
To quote the immortal Coach Bobby Finstock, "Let's play some ball here."
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Scubbies 9, Drinos 6
Lately I've been noticing all the bombs Adrian Gonzalez has been hitting and it seemed to me he was hitting all the bombs in clutch, late-inning situations. To verify that observation I took a look at the game log of Adrian's 2008 bombs on the indispensable baseball-reference.com.
And what did I find?
Confirmation of course that Adrian is a beast.
To wit ...
Of Adrian's 18 bombs so far this season, only 5 were hit in the 7th inning or later, but his last 4 bombs all came in the 7th inning or later (so that explains why it seemed to me he was hitting so many late inning bombs).
The five bombs after the 7th inning include the bottom of the 18th walk-off game winner against Edinson Volquez on May 25, the bottom of the 7th bomb off the Nats' Charlie Manning on May 27, the top of the 10th bomb off the Gints' Alex Hinshaw on June 1, and the bottom of the 9th 3-run jack off the venerable Carlos Marmol that brought the Drinos to within 1 run of the Scubbies with only 1 out (of course Tony Clark and Michael Barrett quickly made game-ending outs).
All of these bombs either gave the Drinos a win, a critical late inning lead or gave them a chance to win in just the past 8 or so days.
And if even only 5 of Adrian's 18 bombs have come in the 7th inning or later, all of his bombs this season (with the exception of one blowout loss to Houston) have come when the Drinos were either tied or losing the game. True, some of that is a function of the fact the Drinos have not had many leads this year, but, when you look closer, you realize that every one of Adrian's bombs (with the exception of the bomb off Marmol that brought the Drinos to within 1) have come when the Drinos were only 1 or 2 runs down.
In other words, Adrian is a total clutch monster beast.
Just to give a few examples to illustrate the point:
April 2: down 3-2 and facing Wandy Rodriguez, Adrian hits a 2-run, go-ahead bomb;
April 22: down 2-0 and facing Brandon Backe, Adrian hits a 3-run, go-ahead jizzack;
May 10: tied 0-0 and facing Ubaldo Jimenez, Adrian hits a 3-run, go-ahead bomb; and
May 22: down 2-1 and facing Aaron Harang, Adrian hits a 2-run, go-ahead bomb.
And Adrian is doing all this at the age of 26 and in only his third full season. It makes you wonder what Adrian will do once he gets into his late 20s and acquires his man-strength.
And what did I find?
Confirmation of course that Adrian is a beast.
To wit ...
Of Adrian's 18 bombs so far this season, only 5 were hit in the 7th inning or later, but his last 4 bombs all came in the 7th inning or later (so that explains why it seemed to me he was hitting so many late inning bombs).
The five bombs after the 7th inning include the bottom of the 18th walk-off game winner against Edinson Volquez on May 25, the bottom of the 7th bomb off the Nats' Charlie Manning on May 27, the top of the 10th bomb off the Gints' Alex Hinshaw on June 1, and the bottom of the 9th 3-run jack off the venerable Carlos Marmol that brought the Drinos to within 1 run of the Scubbies with only 1 out (of course Tony Clark and Michael Barrett quickly made game-ending outs).
All of these bombs either gave the Drinos a win, a critical late inning lead or gave them a chance to win in just the past 8 or so days.
And if even only 5 of Adrian's 18 bombs have come in the 7th inning or later, all of his bombs this season (with the exception of one blowout loss to Houston) have come when the Drinos were either tied or losing the game. True, some of that is a function of the fact the Drinos have not had many leads this year, but, when you look closer, you realize that every one of Adrian's bombs (with the exception of the bomb off Marmol that brought the Drinos to within 1) have come when the Drinos were only 1 or 2 runs down.
In other words, Adrian is a total clutch monster beast.
Just to give a few examples to illustrate the point:
April 2: down 3-2 and facing Wandy Rodriguez, Adrian hits a 2-run, go-ahead bomb;
April 22: down 2-0 and facing Brandon Backe, Adrian hits a 3-run, go-ahead jizzack;
May 10: tied 0-0 and facing Ubaldo Jimenez, Adrian hits a 3-run, go-ahead bomb; and
May 22: down 2-1 and facing Aaron Harang, Adrian hits a 2-run, go-ahead bomb.
And Adrian is doing all this at the age of 26 and in only his third full season. It makes you wonder what Adrian will do once he gets into his late 20s and acquires his man-strength.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Scubs 7, Drinos 6
After Kouzmanoff's triple last night I wrote an e-mail to a friend of mine who owns Zambrano in a fantasy league that said, "Los must bow to the Kouz." I was referring of course to Zambrano's nickname "Crazy Los."
A few minutes later he wrote back with this question: "query who has better numbers per ab this year - big z or kouz."
I laughed the statement off and then proceeded to watch Zambrano reach out his bat and send a 2-strike offering from Cha Seung Baek into the gap between Gerut and Giles for an RBI triple of his own.
What a monster.
So it got me wondering, if Zambrano had the same number of at bats as Kouzmanoff this season, what would his numbers look like. (Keeping in mind of course that Zambrano's numbers almost certainly wouldn't project out the same way if he played everyday.) Here is the breakdown:
Zambrano's current line: 41 ABs, 15 hits, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 bomb, 5 ribeyes, .366 AVG
Kouzmanoff's current line: 242 ABs, 66 hits, 8 2B, 2 3B, 8 bombs, 25 ribeyes, .273 AVG
Zambrano's 242 AB projection: 242 ABs, 88 hits, 12 2B, 6 3B, 6 bombs, 30 ribeyes, .364 AVG
Based on these numbers Crazy Los profiles to a nice 3 hole hitter.
Sign him up.
A few minutes later he wrote back with this question: "query who has better numbers per ab this year - big z or kouz."
I laughed the statement off and then proceeded to watch Zambrano reach out his bat and send a 2-strike offering from Cha Seung Baek into the gap between Gerut and Giles for an RBI triple of his own.
What a monster.
So it got me wondering, if Zambrano had the same number of at bats as Kouzmanoff this season, what would his numbers look like. (Keeping in mind of course that Zambrano's numbers almost certainly wouldn't project out the same way if he played everyday.) Here is the breakdown:
Zambrano's current line: 41 ABs, 15 hits, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 bomb, 5 ribeyes, .366 AVG
Kouzmanoff's current line: 242 ABs, 66 hits, 8 2B, 2 3B, 8 bombs, 25 ribeyes, .273 AVG
Zambrano's 242 AB projection: 242 ABs, 88 hits, 12 2B, 6 3B, 6 bombs, 30 ribeyes, .364 AVG
Based on these numbers Crazy Los profiles to a nice 3 hole hitter.
Sign him up.
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