Padres Road Splits: A Study In Raking (More Or Less)

It's no secret that Petco Park is a place where hits rarely happen. It is a cavernous place where fly balls stop dead against the dense ocean air. It's a place where hitters go mad, and pitchers careers are saved. It's a place where even the game's best hitters - Adrian Gonzalez for one - beg and plead to leave. You have to feel sorry for hitters who have 81-games worth of at bats in a place like Petco Park. (At least as sorry as you can feel for someone who gets to play big league baseball and spend most of his time in the Diego.)

But what of those hitters when they are out on the road hitting in other, more friendly parks? Do they start raking uncontrollably, putting up monster numbers?

I'm gonna go ahead and say yes.

Here are the road splits for Padres "starters" as of today:

C - Rob Johnson: .247/.293/.365 .658 OPS

1B - Jesus Guzman: .296/.305/.457 .762 OPS (only guy hitting better at Petco)

2B - Orlando Hudson: .270/.391/.351 .743 OPS

SS - Jason Bartlett: .265/.324/.327 .651 OPS

3B - Chase Headley: .333/.404/.470 .874 OPS

LF - Kyle Blanks: .361/.425/.667 1.092 OPS

CF - Cameron Maybin: .320/.367/.485 .852 OPS

RF - Will Venable: .312/.364/.475 .839 OPS

Yes, Blanks is working on a small sample, but even after things even out, I'm certain his numbers will be better on the road than at Petco. (Incidentally, even Ryan Ludwick was almost marginally average on the road: .269/.314/.398 .712 OPS.)

So what I'm seeing is four guys with an OPS north of .800, and three guys with OBPs over .390. I'm particularly impressed by Orlando de la Noche's numbers. A .391 OBP? Who knew? Makes you wonder what kind of season he'd be putting together if he was on, say, the DBacks, Astros, or Brewers, all teams that play in hitters havens.

And how about Headley and Maybin? As my advisor Tam O'Flannell said today, Maybin is putting up near star-quality numbers, but you'd never know it because he plays half his games at Petco. I'd add that Headley also falls into that category. Maybe not "star" category, but certainly a player to be reckoned with.

And come to think of it that's a pretty good way to judge a team. How many guys do they put up there that need to be reckoned with? To put it another way, how many guys do they put up there that can't be ignored? I'd say on the road the Padres have 6-7 of those guys, arguably one or two more. That's a team that can be a winner.

If You Can't Score Runs At Minute Maid Park, Maybe You Can't Score Runs

The title of this post is negative, but the post itself will focus on the positive from yesterday's 1-0 loss to the Astros at Minute Maid Park in Houston.

Here's what I liked from yesterday's game:

- Orlando de la Noche's continued run of impressive at bats. Orlando walked twice and singled yesterday (and stole his 6th bag of the season) to raise his average to .326. He couldn't drive in the tying run with a runner on third and one out in the 8th, but you still have to like Orlando's approach so far this season.

- Ryan Ludwick's catch and throw to double up Brett Wallace at second base in the second. Ludwick had misplayed a Brett Wallace double on the play before, but he made up for it by catching Bill E. Hall's liner and firing a strike to second to double up Wallace. Doesn't quite make up for his 0-4, 3 K performance, but still, a nice play.

- Dustin Moseley's outing. Dustin pitched 6.2 innings and gave up 1 run. He only struckout 1 guy, but he limited walks and induced 18 ground balls (as opposed to 8 fly balls), a very important statistic at a place like Minute Maid. On the season Dustin is 0-3 with a 1.83 ERA and 1.27 WHIP. If he finishes the year 0-18 but with a sub-2.00 ERA, you have to give him a Cy Young vote, right?

Orlando "De La Noche" Gets Walk-Off Hit

I've always thought the best nickname you can give a guy is "de la Noche." In Spanish it means, literally, "of the night." If you append "de la Noche" to someone's name it connotes daring, adventure, fearlessness, guts, a wee bit of recklessness, and a cocksure attitude that, to use a tired but apt phrase, gets things done.

After Orlando Hudson's performance last night I'm now going to call him Orlando de la Noche. In the 8th, Orlando reached on a fielder's choice, stole a bag, and scored the tying run on a Jorge Cantu groundout. Then, in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, he singled in the winning run to complete the Padres 3-2 comeback victory.

I'd say those are acts worthy of the "de la Noche" name.

My Padres Lineup

I'm fully on board with the recent moves Jed Hoyer has made to prepare the Padres for the 2011 season. In particular I love the Brad Hawpe signing. I fully expect him to approximate his career average line of .279/.373/.490. If he doesn't I'll be shocked.

Here's the lineup I'd like to see for the Drinos on Opening Day 2011, an afternoon tilt in St. Louis on March 31:

1. Will Venable - RF

2. Orlando Hudson - 2B

3. Brad Hawpe - 1B

4. Ryan Ludwick - LF

5. Chase Headley - 3B

6. Nick Hundley - C

7. Jason Bartlett - SS

8. Cameron Maybin - CF

I've seen some suggest that Bartlett should bat #2 with O Dog in the three hole, but I'd like a bit more pop from the #3 spot. If you want to switch Hundley and Bartlett in the six and seven spots, I'm fine with that.

And the rotation:

LHP - Clayton Richard

RHP - Mat Latos

RHP - Aaron Harang

RHP - Tim Stauffer

RHP - Chris Young

It's doubtful the Padres will sign CY, but I'd like to see them give him a two-year deal with choice incentives. CY must know Petco is his best shot at putting up good numbers so he should accept such an offer. If CY goes elsewhere I'd like to see Cory Luebke in the #5 spot. I like how he throws with a downward plane from the left side.

Happy New Year.