Lincecum Rides Padres Hard, Puts Them Away Wet

My Dad sent me the above photo this morning and said simply this: "Lincecum - 13 Ks - wow."

Hard to argue with that assessment.

In more positive news, the minor leagues start tonight! The Padres four affiliates are throwing Wade LeBlanc (Tucson), Anthony Bass (San Antonio), Matt Lollis (Lake Elsinore), and Keyvius Sampson (Fort Wayne) as Opening Day starters.

I sense four victories and many firework displays.

Keyvius Sampson .... Getting It Dun In Eugene

Of the three marquee draft picks the Padres inked last Summer - Donavan Tate, Everett Williams and Keyvius Sampson - only Keyvius is having a sparkling start to his professional career.

Nagging injuries have limited Tate and Everett and kept them from building on flashes of potential.

Keyvius, on the other hand, is rolling along at a steady clip. Through 7 starts in the Northwest League, Keyvius is 7-0 and leads the league with a 1.87 ERA. He also leads the league with 46Ks and is second to teammate Matthew Lollis with a .98 WHIP. He even threw a 5-inning no no on July 14.

I don't profess to know the Padres' plans regarding Keyvius, but I think he's ready for Fort Wayne.

More On The 2009 Padres

A couple more things I'm going to remember about the 2009 Padres:

- the new ownership group shelled out a good amount of cash in the June draft to sign Donavan Tate, Everett Williams, Gerry Sullivan, Keyvius Sampson, James Needy and Jorge Reyes; and

- the new ownership group stabbed KT in the back and fired him as General Manager with two days remaining in the season.

My decision to renew my season tickets is now being reviewed.

Oh Day Of Days Indeed

Quite a competition yesterday for "Best Moment of the Day":

1. Was it when I read Keyvius Sampson signed just before 1 PM eastern standard time?

2. Was it when Tam O'Flannell e-mailed me that Everett Williams, in my opinion the odd man out in terms of signability, was in the fold?

3. Was it when I heard Donavan Tate was trolling around Petco Park practicing his signature and - as we see in the photo above - getting fitted for a choice outfit?

4. Was it when Chase Headley tied the ballgame in the bottom of the 9th with a rope RBI double?

5. Was it when Kyle Blanks hit a monster 3-run walk off bomb to left center that left Mark Neely speechless?

6. Was it when I found out that my favorite Greek restaurant has take out and my wife kindly volunteered to walk the 12 blocks to pick up our order of lamb shanks, selection of Greek spreads, and a shrimp, orzo, spinach, tomato and feta salad?

7. Was it when I convinced myself, "Bevormo, you don't need to work out today"?

8. Or was it when I took a choice pre-dinner nap from 7:30 - 9 PM?

Man, this one might be too close to call.

The redemption of Cesar Carrillo begins in a few hours.

Oh Day Of Days

Well, here we are. With minor exceptions, the last day for Major League baseball teams to sign players selected in the June draft.

On the table for the Padres taking are three players - Donavan Tate, Everett Williams and Keyvius Sampson - that have high high upside and could all become Major League stars. Or they could all flame out and never make the big leagues. Nobody knows what will happen at this point.

All we do know is that by the end of today the Padres will have either put all their chips in the pot and signed these three guys, or they will have sat back, shoved their money back in their pocket, and let potential greatness slip away once again.

I for one hope Moorad and the front office boys go all in.

Keyvius Sampson ... And A Few Other Padres Draftees

Keyvius,

That's a solid photo of you above. You look like a nice kid. Congrats on being the Padres 4th Round draft pick in the 2009 MLB Draft. I hear you're a young righthander from Florida who currently holds a full ride scholly offer from Florida St. I also see you want to put Ocala, Florida on the map. I hope you do so by way of the Diego.

Anyway, let me introduce you to a few of your fellow Day 2 draftees, guys I hope you'll be playing with on a Drino team coming soon.

First, there's James Needy. The Drinos drafted James in the 6th Round. He's a local Diego kid from Santana High School. Besides being a 6'5" hard throwing RHP and three-sport athlete at Santana High, Needy in his spare time likes to, um, design jewelry. Maybe he'll make you a nice piece.

A few rounds later in the 9th, the Drinos took Michigan righthander Chris Fetter. I think you'll like Chris. He is 6'8" and throws about 94 MPH. He also has the distinction of putting up 11 points on Greg Oden during his high school basketball days, back when Oden was good.

That's all I got for now. Welcome to the fold.

Best,
Bevormo