San Diego Padres: Among the best in MLB?

Are the San Diego Padres really one of the best teams in MLB?

With a 6-2 start, you’d think so. With most “experts” picking them to finish last in the NL West (and possibly with the worst MLB record), you’d think not.

What makes this team go thus far in 2009?

Look no further than the bullpen.

Through eight games, it has been the best bullpen ERA in the majors. (Of course, San Diego started out the same way last year, only to implode on its way to a 63-99 record.)

Outside of Duaner Sanchez, Cla Meredith and Heath Bell, you’ve never heard of any of the guys in the bullpen. Bell won’t make people forget that Trevor Hoffman is the all-time saves leader; but he’s soon going to make people forget about Hoffman as the team’s closer (Bell is for real!)

The starting staff is solid at the top with Jake Peavy (until he gets traded) and Chris Young. When you consider No. 3 starter Walter Silva came to the U.S. on a tryout from Mexico last month, it tells you all that you need to know about the back end of the rotation.

Outside of cleanup-man Adrian Gonzalez, the lineup is either largely unproven or a couple of has-beens. Those has-beens, David Eckstein and Brian Giles, will make opposing pitchers rack up the pitch count … if nothing else.

Thus far, Eckstein is playing with the enthusiasm of a rookie. He can only hope that his enthusiasm spreads; along with his patience.

Nobody is petitioning yet for Bud Black to be the NL Manager of the Year.

But if he can keep this rag-tag bunch at or near .500 all year, he certainly needs to be considered.

Padres need to discover whether Heath Bell can close

Remember back in 1993 when the San Diego Padres brought in an unknown pitcher from the Florida Marlins during the team’s fire sale days who was often booed by San Diego fans?

Little did anyone know that 16 years later, Trevor Hoffman would be the all-time MLB saves leader with 554 (not to mention a member of the Milwaukee Brewers.)

The Padres may have botched their handling of the Hoffman situation after 2008, but there’s no question they need to find out whether Heath Bell is the closer of the future.

(And there’s no better year to do it than in 2009, when the team will likely finish last whether Hoffman or Bell is the closer.)

Bell may be 552 career saves short of Hoffman, but there’s no telling how good (or bad) he’ll be moving from an eighth- to ninth-inning role.

To be sure, the Padres may not get to Bell very often unless Jake Peavy or Chris Young is the starting pitcher. Plus, the set up duo of Cla Meredith and Duaner Sanchez isn’t likely to strike fear in the hearts of opposing batters.

Even so, the Padres need to discover whether Bell can succeed on those limited save opportunities.

As for Hoffman, he’ll start the season on the disabled list for only the second time in his career.

In retrospect, it’s too bad he and the Padres could not have agreed to go one more year together.

When all is said and done, don’t be surprised if Trevor Hoffman and the Milwaukee Brewers are this year’s version of the 2008 one-year marriage between Brett Favre and the New York Jets.

San Diego Padres: Pitching staff is a mess!

Imagine this: Opening Day is less than two weeks away, and the San Diego Padres still have five openings on their pitching staff.

That’s not good news, especially if you are a San Diego sports enthusiast.

There are seven spots filled on the staff … with even some of those being less than what you would expect at this level.

For starters, Jake Peavy and Chris Young are solid. After them are presumably (No. 3) Cha Seung Baek and (No. 4) Kevin Correia, both of whom would be long relievers at best on most teams.

And it gets even worse in the bullpen.

Heath Bell will be a closer for the first time.

Cla Meredith, who was sent to the minors for a time in 2008 for being ineffective, will be one of the two main set-up men.

The other – Duaner Sanchez – was already cut by the New York Mets this year and hasn’t been the same since suffering a serious shoulder injury in a 2006 taxi cab accident.

After those seven, the final five spots are up for grabs. Even General Manager Kevin Towers says the Padres will be looking for pitchers cut by other teams.

So there you have it: The best the Padres can do is hope for people on the scrap heap elsewhere to suddenly become successful Padres in 2009.

Put it this way. If you are the opposition, you have to like your chances unless Peavy or Young pitch at least eight innings vs. you!

There's no power in the Padres

The Padres are going to need to win a lot more games like Sunday’s 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Why?

There is simply no power in the Padres in 2008.

As of Sunday, the Padres have gone 55 innings without hitting a home run. Over the longer haul, they have just one home run in their last 76 innings.

The meaning: Padres pitchers will have to be on their game every day.

Starters Jake Peavy, Chris Young, Greg Maddux, Randy Wolf and Justin Germano have very little room for error. (Thus far, all but Young have been on their game in 2008.)

Cla Meredith and Heath Bell must keep being successful in the seventh and eighth innings; and Trevor Hoffman needs to get back on his horse in the ninth inning.

The Padres are supposedly a powerless team because of the vast dimensions of Petco Park. But that can’t explain why they only hit one homer in six games on their first trip through San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Unless the Padres start hitting the long ball, it could be a long season ahead.

Padres pitchers are hurting

The Padres have done quite well taking players off other teams’ scrap heaps the past couple of years, but can it happen again in 2008?

Take a look at the pitching staff after you get past the top three starters: Jake Peavy, Chris Young and Greg Maddux.

What you have waiting in the wings could potentially be dangerous to opponents … or dangerous to the Padres for counting on so many pitchers coming off injuries.

Consider:

Randy Wolf hasn’t pitched since last July 3 because of a shoulder ailment.
Mark Prior hardly pitched at all in 2007 due to shoulder and oblique injuries.
Shawn Estes hasn’t worked since April 2006 due to Tommy John surgery.
Glendon Rusch hasn’t pitched since 2006 because of a blood clot in his lung, a bad back and a strained elbow.

If any two of these four recover and have a successful 2008, the Padres should be sitting pretty. If not, they’re going to be sitting back and wondering why they signed so many hurting pitchers.

The Padres have done well the past two seasons by picking up other teams’ leftovers such as Heath Bell, Josh Bard and Cla Meredith.

But all three came to San Diego in good health … which is more than you can say about the candidates vying for the final two jobs in this year’s starting rotation.

Will Padres' bullpen collapse?

Heath Bell and Doug Brocail are pretty much having career seasons.

Cla Meredith and Scott Linebrink have both hit low points this year, but each is doing well overall.

Royce Ring and Justin Hampson have been adequate in their turns filling the left-hander’s role in the bullpen. Kevin Cameron must be writing a book titled “How I Spent My Summer Vacation Sitting in the Padres Bullpen.”

Trevor Hoffman is still Trevor Hoffman.

However, the Padres bullpen did implode twice this weekend. It cost them a loss Saturday at Arizona, one night after taking away any chance of winning with a poor performance Friday.

The ultimate question: Can the Padres hold up in the bullpen for the duration of 2007?

Judging on the weekend, the answer is negative. But going by the first half of the season, the answer is positive.

The next 2 ½ months will tell whether this bullpen is for real or was just masquerading during the first half of 2007.

Black is managing quite well

Bud Black is doing a masterful job of managing the Padres thus far.

The rookie skipper has made almost all of the right moves and can be praised for two things in particular: his patience and handling of the pitching staff.

Patience was a virtue when Black stuck by rookie third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff while most others wanted him sent to the minors early in the season.

And being a former pitcher and pitching coach, Black has shown he knows how to manage a pitching staff. He certainly deserves much credit for the Padres having the lowest ERA in the major leagues.

Sure, he’s not perfect. He wasted reliever Cla Meredith on an intentional walk Tuesday night because Royce Ring did not have enough time to get warmed up while Greg Maddux was getting battered around in the seventh inning.

But that was an exception.

Black could definitely be considered a frontrunner for Manager of the Year at the halfway point of 2007.

Red Sox Nation invades San Diego

Becky Beckhard's Guest Blog
Red Sox – Padres Series

Padres fans may be anticipating this weekend’s series against the Boston Red Sox with some trepidation. After all, the Red Sox have baseball’s best record and like most American League teams, have been dominating their NL opponents. Last year the Red Sox tuned up their friends in the Senior Circuit by a 16-2 advantage, and this year they are 10-5 in interleague competition coming into San Diego.

But Boston’s dirty little secret is that the lineup has major holes and can be shut down by good starting pitching like San Diego’s – especially pitchers who throw strikes and stay out of deep counts. Two high-priced free agents, J.D. Drew and Julio Lugo, have been absolutely atrocious this year, and centerfielder Coco Crisp (best name in the majors) is no Johnny Damon. Third baseman Mike Lowell has a bad hand and has stopped hitting, and backstop Jason Varitek can no longer catch up to the high heat. Jake Peavy will punch him out at least three times. Losing the DH in a National League park means one of the big hitters will have to sit (Red Sox fans hope it’s Lowell). And of course the Red Sox pitchers never get to bat in AL games, so they will be automatic outs.

The Red Sox are a colorful group, resembling beer league softballers more than professional athletes. Kevin Youkilis has a barrel chest, the ugliest beard in America, and a shaved head; he looks like a motorcycle tough guy. David Ortiz is generous of girth and mirth. (Friendly advice: Do NOT pitch to Ortiz close and late. Just don’t do it.) Manny Ramirez looks like a Rastaman with dreadlocks almost to his shoulders, and wears his uniform so loose it is amazing he doesn’t trip over it. Dustin Pedroia is the obnoxious runt always looking for trouble.

Boston’s starting pitchers this weekend will be Matsuzaka, Wakefield and Beckett. Dice-K’s weakness has been a mysterious loss of command for one inning per game. By the way, there is no such thing as a gyroball. (If it spins like a slider, it’s a slider.) Wakefield is alternately good or awful. Any single or walk is an automatic double because it’s so easy to run on the knuckleball. Watch for Padres alumnus Doug “Beerabelli” Mirabelli, brought back from SD last year to catch Wakes in a panic move when Josh Bard let a few knucklers bounce away. Dougie has become a painfully easy out. Sox fans are deeply chagrined over losing Cla Meredith in that deal. (Cla? What kind of name is Cla?) Josh Beckett is the staff ace.

If the Sox have a lead late in the game, you will see Hideki Okajima in the eighth, Papelbon in the ninth. Okajima has been mysteriously untouchable so far but in my opinion he has been increasingly lucky and is overdue to get clobbered. Papelbon is just filthy.

It will be interesting to see how many Red Sox fans show up at the games this weekend. The Sox get more loud fans at road games than anyone, even the Yankees. In Atlanta this week the crowds (three sellouts) were 50% Boston fans. Growing up in San Diego in the 1960s and 1970s, it was lonely being a Red Sox fan, but my guess is they’ll be out in large numbers this weekend. Padres fans: If the Bosox rooters get loud and obnoxious, just say “so, are the Red Sox going to blow another 14 game lead like in 1978?” That will shut them up.

Padres do it in threes (or less)

The Padres have won nine games this year while scoring three runs or less.

That’s nine out of 24, as in 37.5 percent of their wins.

Can they keep this up? Time will tell.

They do lead Major League Baseball in team ERA at 3.11. They do have the best bullpen ERA in the majors at 2.19.

The bullpen is back at it again, working 12 1/3 consecutive innings without allowing a run.

The Padres are getting great late-inning relief from Trevor Hoffman, Scott Linebrink, Heath Bell and Cla Meredith. Doug Brocail and Kevin Cameron are doing just fine in the middle, and Justin Hampson keeps eating up the innings while allowing very few runs as the long reliever.

It’s a long summer. The Padres pitchers will likely have to keep it up to overcome an offense that can best be described as "popgun."

There's still a long way to go!

There are still 160 games to go. You hear that all the time when a baseball team starts 2-0. But why not enjoy the Padres so far?
Jake Peavy was spectacular on opening day. Chris Young didn't have his good stuff in Game 2, but so what? The team won without an above average outing from its starter.
And what do you think Bruce Bochy is thinking about in the Giants dugout? He has left Cla Meredith, Scott Linebrink and Trevor Hoffman behind in the bullpen. Now he has Brad Hennessey, Jack Taschner and Armando Benitez in their place. Ouch! If you think the Padres are a potential sinking ship, just look at the Giants. Their bullpen has about as much spark as Chargers' General Manager A.J. Smith has personality.
Tonight will be interesting with Clay Hensley facing Matt Morris of the Giants. Morris has turned into an average pitcher, at best. Hensley is up-and-coming, but he needs to get over that blister problem on his pitching hand.
Are you all looking forward to the Padres' home opener Friday night? Not me. I'm more interested in the second home game on Saturday night. Tony Gwynn always said the REAL baseball fans come out the second night. Let's face it: Mr. Hall of Famer knows what he is talking about.
One note of caution. Don't be fooled by the Padres averaging six runs in their first two games. This is a team with a pop-gun offense that is going to struggle to score runs. If it is to win a third straight NL West title, it will probably be because of the bullpen again.
It's April; everybody's eyes are on a new season. Just don't let the first week fool you. I remember the original Padres in 1969 won their first three games, then won only 49 more over the next six months. In Jerry Coleman's year as manager, the team started 5-2 the first week and was running the bases like crazy. By the end of the season, Coleman was run out of town (at least as manager.)
It's way too early to judge Bud Black now. He looks like a genius so far. We'll see over the next 160 games ... starting with a potential three-game sweep tonight at San Francisco.