SB Nation - Edward Mujica

Rox host hot Friars to kick off final homestand

Poseidon's Fist — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:02:04 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

For the last month, San Diego has been as hot as a team can be without having even one 5-game win streak.

As I mentioned ad nauseum in the NL West Report yesterday, the Padres have managed to go four consecutive weeks without suffering a losing week. Look at the roster and the schedule, and you had better respect that. In fact, San Diego has won 10 of their past 13 series (and 12 of 16), with two of the losses coming against the mighty Cardinals. Four of the wins came against playoff contenders on the road.

Their pitching has stabilized dramatically, but also, as with many young teams, some of the youth in the lineup has started to figure things out at the plate. Chase Headley, Everth Cabrera, and Will Venable have all been steadily improving. You could point to their 30-45 record on the road as a big weakness, but I wouldn't let you without understanding that they are 17-14 on the road since the ASB, including being winners of 11 of 16 away from PetCo.

Then consider Kevin Kouzmanoff could finally return this series, meaning Bud Black doesn't have to use guys like Edgar Gonzalez in the outfield. Is there reason to be optimistic? Well, duh. The Rockies are much better team, they dominate at home (especially lately), and Colorado has the starting pitching edge in each game. Plus, San Diego was busy playing an extra inning game in the eastern time zone while the Rockies sat comfortably through an off day in Denver following a day game. Rest is on our side. I just wanted to worry you a little. We really ought to win this series, San Diego's recent history be damned.

In light of Rox Girl's article this afternoon, I'll leave out the Scoreboard Watch that debuted last week, but I will remember to include the link to Gaslamp Ball.

San Diego Padres (69-82, W3, 4th, 21.5 GB)

Friday-Sunday: 3-game series at Coors Field

The Bats: D+

As I mentioned last time, the Padres do not appear to be a good offensive club statistically. They are at or near the MLB cellar in batting average, runs, stolen bases and wOBA. But even the Yankees and Phillies would look terrible playing in PetCo Park. The team just scored 11 runs yesterday on the road - a game in which youngster Chase Headley had five hits - and their 94 team OPS+ almost makes them an average NL offense.

The return of the Kouz could help. He has been out since September 8th with a calf strain but took batting practice and was given an "outside shot" to return to the lineup yesterday. He did not, but I infer that means he should be back this series. The return of the third baseman would allow Chase Headley to slide back to left. Here's the lineup:

LINEUP	Avg	HR	RBI	OBP	SLG	wOBA	OPS+
Everth Cabrera - SS	.267	2	30	.352	.377	.330	102
David Eckstein - 2B	.264	1	45	.321	.338	.295	83
Adrian Gonzalez - 1B	.273	39	92	.398	.557	.398	161
Kevin Kouzmanoff - 3B	.257	17	84	.304	.421	.313	99
Chase Headley - LF	.266	12	61	.342	.408	.333	107
Will Venable - RF	.270	11	33	.337	.463	.349	119
Nick Hundley - C	.233	7	27	.309	.401	.309	95
Tony Gwynn Jr - CF	.266	1	17	.344	.333	.302	89

That's not an intimidating lineup, but they aren't really pushovers either. Judging from the multitude of stats, A-Gone is a bona fide All-Star while Will Venable is a very strong MLB starter. Headley and Cabrera are competently average if not slightly stronger, and Nick Hundley is young an improving to the average area. Gwynn and Eckstein are below average, but they aren't dragging the offense down as much as most lineups we have seen recently.

Drew Macias (.174, 1, 6) and Luis Durango (4-for-6) are the backup OF, though Oscar Salazar (.310, 3, 8) and Edgar Gonzalez (.205, 4, 13) are IFs that have also recieved starts in the outfield. Luis Rodriguez (.211, 2, 16) joins Salazar and Gonzalez as IF relief options while Eliezer Alfonzo (.180, 2, 8) and Henry Blanco (.236, 5, 13) fill the roles as the typical September backup catcher duo.

Hop after the jump for the scouting report on the arms, the D, the pitching matchups, the hot/cold players and injuries.

The Arms: D+

I feel like I'm having serious de ja vu. First, we face Lincecum/Zito/Cain in order in a series twice in two weeks. Now we're facing Mujica/Stauffer/Richard in order. Again. The last time it happened, the Rockies eeked out one additional win the second go-round. If they do it again, that means a series win.

The above phenomenon points to something San Diego hasn't had much this season - stability, and that's always a plus. They still have a staff tRA north of five, but as we saw last time, they can still be a threat. Mujica, Stauffer and Richard held the Rockies to just 4 runs on 8 hits over 15 IP. Past that, the bullpen is improving its stability and talent as well. They just got setup man Mike Adams back, finally. Of the 13 pitchers in the bullpen, only 3 have ERA+'s south of 100. Take of that what you will.

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Heath Bell	6-4	64	0	0	0	39	5	65.2	49	21	21	3	22	72	2.88	1.08

Wade LeBlanc (95 ERA+), Joe Thatcher (155), Cesar Ramos (3.0 IP, 0 ER) and Aaron Poreda (0.2 IP, 0 ER) are Bud Black's left-handed options, a rich goodie bag that will help against a left-handed dominant Rockies team. The right side of the pen is inhabited by Mike Adams (434 ERA+), Luke Gregerson (127), Adam Russell (100), Greg Burke (86), Ryan Webb (100), Luis Perdomo (81), Ernesto Frieri (has not appeared), and Sean Gallagher (5.0 IP, 0 ER).

The D: C-

San Diego's 87 errors places them right in the middle of the NL, but they have the second-worst UZR only to the Mets. Fangraphs' UZR based rating system places them just shy of average. Should Kouzmanoff return, he'll provide a boost defensively on the infield, but Headley isn't an asset at Coors in LF.

Probable Pitchers:

Tonight, 6:40 pm MDT

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP

2009 - Edward Mujica 3-4 65 2 0 0 2 1 85.2 85 37 32 12 16 68 3.36 1.18

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Edward Mujica	3-4	65	2	0	0	2	1	85.2	85	37	32	12	16	68	3.36	1.18

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Jorge De La Rosa	15-9	30	29	0	0	0	0	174.2	162	86	81	20	77	179	4.17	1.37

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP

2009 - Jorge De La Rosa 15-9 30 29 0 0 0 0 174.2 162 86 81 20 77 179 4.17 1.37

Mujica will be making his third career start, his first coming the last series the teams met. He has yet to pitch into the fifth inning, but that's mostly because he hasn't been stretched out after 63 big league relief appearances this year. He went over 70 pitches his last time for the first time in his career, allowing 2 ER in 4.2 IP against Arizona, a solid start after his scoreless debut vs Colorado. This will be a rematch of the first game of the last series, the game Colorado scored four times off Heath Bell in the ninth. De la Rosa dominated that start, allowing one run in seven innings, part of a September that has just been on fire for him. He has allowed just three runs total in his four September starts (3-0, 1.04 ERA). That has dropped his ERA 55 points to a season low 4.17, giving him a shot to fall below 4.00. Inconceivable! Favors: ROCKIES very strongly

Wednesday, September 23, 6:40 MDT

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP

2009 - Tim Stauffer 4-7 13 13 0 0 0 0 68.1 68 29 27 8 29 50 3.56 1.42

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP

2009 - Jason Marquis 15-11 35 30 2 1 0 0 201.1 199 92 86 14 69 105 3.84 1.33

Stauffer is quietly studly. He was off in his last start in Pittsburgh more than any start this year, allowing 3 runs in 3 IP. But in 13 starts this season, he has held his opponent to 3 ER or less, including his last four starts. He has been Mr. Consistency all season, with his only "blowups" being two consecutive 4 ER outings vs the Cards. The labrum surgery survivor was the 4th overall pick in 2003's draft. Marquis has gone from annoying me to outright pissing me off. The Rockies have lost 4 of his last 5 starts. His "best" start of those four came last time out, when he allowed 4 ER on 6 hits and 5 walks in 6 innings. His ERA hasn't been this high since June, when he finished that complete game shutout in Los Angeles. Favors: ROCKIES slightly

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Tim Stauffer	4-7	13	13	0	0	0	0	68.1	68	29	27	8	29	50	3.56	1.42

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Jason Marquis	15-11	35	30	2	1	0	0	201.1	199	92	86	14	69	105	3.84	1.33

Thursday, September 24, 6:40 MDT

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Clayton Richard	4-2	10	10	0	0	0	0	51.0	52	28	27	6	29	44	4.76	1.59

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Jason Hammel	9-8	31	28	1	0	0	0	163.1	188	88	79	14	41	117	4.35	1.40

Clayton Richard took a nice stride by allowing just one unearned run in his last start, on the road, but that was vs Pittsburgh. Before that he was 1-2 with a 10.69 ERA away from Petco Park with San Diego, averaging just 4.0 IP per start. How does that sit with you? Okay, so it's just four games, and he was a better road pitcher with Chicago...All things considered for the season, he has been...average. At the time of this writing, Jason Hammel is the scheduled starter for this game, though Jim Tracy has hinted he may go with some combination of Jose Contreras and Aaron Cook. Assuming it's Hammel, it would probably surprise you to know the Rockies are 10-3 in Jason Hammel's starts at Coors Field this year, but it's true. In fact, Colorado is 9-1 in his last ten at home. Sure, his ERA is north of 5 at Coors, but look at that record! Earlier on, he battling the hit-bug, but in his last eight starts, he has a WHIP of 1.14. Favors: ROCKIES moderately.

Adrian Gonzalez has five home runs this month, including one yesterday. Chase Headley, Nick Hundley, Oscar Salazar and Will Venable each have two, with the H-men hovering around .300 for the month of September. Everth Cabrera is working a modest six game hit streak. Luke Gregorson, Aaron Poreda, Joe Thatcher, Mike Adams, Sean Gallagher, Ryan Webb and Cesar Ramos have combined to allow just 3 ER over their combined 41 September appearances.

Heath Bell blew another save last night in Pittsburgh, giving him three blown saves in his last five chances. He seems to be the only reliever getting hit around these days. In fact, he is. Only he (6.00) and Adam Russell (4.05) have a Sept ERA higher than 4. Luis Rodriguez is hitless in 14 straight AB's.

Outfielders Brian Giles and Kyle Blanks are on the 15-day DL, though neither will return this season. 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff is questionable for tonight's game with a calf injury. RHP's Cha Seung Baek (forearm), Chris Young (shoulder), Shawn Hill (elbow) and Mark Worrell (elbow) are on the 60-day DL along with Cliff Floyd (shoulder).

Poll

Ryan Webb has apparently unleashed Tinkerbell's pixie dust on his teammates. Can pixie dust survive at altitude?

Of course it can you idiot...pixie dust is for flying. The Padres will sweep.

6 votes

Enough. I don't see why we're any better off than the teams the Padres have steamrolled lately. They'll take two games

10 votes

Yorvit's magic touch is stronger. Or maybe it's just our starting pitching. Rox win the series.

65 votes

You kidding? This team smells blood. There will be no mercy this time. Rox sweep

54 votes

135 votes | Poll has closed

Diamondbacks 5, Padres 6: J-Up in Smoke

Azreous — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:33:30 -0000

More photos » by Chris Park - AP

Arizona Diamondbacks 2B Augie Ojeda looks confused after his fifth inning triple, his first career hit in 35 at-bats at Petco Park. Yes, Augie. You get to run the bases now.

Browse more photos »

Record: 64-83. Pace: 71-91. Change on last season: -9

As a baseball fan, aren't these the kind of September games you root for? Afternoon baseball between two teams fighting for superiority in their division, with the road team going for a series sweep against the team with a one-game lead on them.

All right, all right. By superiority I mean "worst superiority," as the Diamondbacks and Padres battled each other in their race for the cellar. Today's matchup featured Doug Davis against little-known Edward Mujica. Davis was looking to overcome a terrible start his last time out, and Mujica was looking to maybe make it into the fifth inning or something. But it was a certain young outfielder who stole the show, at least until an epic collapse in the ninth inning when the D-backs were just two strikes from a victory. And then...some things happened. But those and other descriptions...

...are after the jump.

From the start, this looked like standard D-backs fare. They spent the better part of the first four innings against a young, unheralded pitcher getting slapped around. Any significant threats the offense managed to mount were erased quickly: a two-out Justin Upton double in the first, a leadoff single by Upton in the fourth (popout, strikeout, caught stealing), etc. The Diamondbacks (and the Padres, for that matter) weren't helped much by a strike zone that could be described as sporadic at best, or spasmodic at worst.

Meanwhile, Doug Davis was pulling his usual vanishing act, continuing his quest to replace Houdini (or Criss Angel for you damn youngsters) as the world's top illusionist. He worked around a leadoff single in the first by striking out a couple of batters. He danced around danger in the second, when his own error put runners on second and third with two out. The slew of baserunners caught up to him in the third, though, when Everth Cabrera and Tony Gwynn reached on consecutive hits. After a flyout advanced Cabrera to third, he scored on a routine grounder by Chase Headley to make it 1-0 Padres.

The Diamondbacks finally broke through against Mujica in the fifth to take the lead. Brandon Allen slapped a base hit to right with one out, and scored on an Augie Ojeda triple (it should be noted that it was Augie's first-ever career hit at Petco Park; he'd been 0-for-34 to that point) that probably raised his slugging about 900 points. With one out and a runner at third, Davis did what he usually does when I recap his starts and he's up with RISP -- fail miserably. But Chris Young stepped up and delivered a huge two-out double to plate Ojeda and give the Diamondbacks a 2-0 lead. That chased Mujica after just 73 pitches, right about where he was supposed to be. Arizona tacked on one more run in the sixth after Upton (notice a trend?) tripled to start off the inning, and scored on Miguel Montero's little groundout that Webb -- no, not that one -- threw away.

Davis continued his roller coaster ride by walking the leadoff man in each of his next three innings. The first two times he got away unscathed (a bunt moved the runner over in the fourth, but he got two quick outs to get out of it, and a double play erased the leadoff man in the fifth), but again he got caught trying to get through the sixth. After a free pass to Henry Blanco, Davis plunked Macias with a pitch, and Durango reached on what appeared to be an attempt at a sac bunt. Just like that, bases loaded and nobody out. This time, Davis gave up a base knock to left that was hit sharply enough to only score one run, and though he got Cabrera to groundout into a force at home, Gwynn slapped a sac fly into right that even Upton couldn't do enough with to keep the tying run from scoring.

With a fresh start for both teams and just three innings to go, the Diamondbacks answered back in a hurry, starting with the top of the order. Young reached on an error by Cabrera, and Stephen Drew followed him with a base on balls. Justin "F'in" Upton drove in the go-ahead run with an opposite-field base hit, his fourth of the game. After Montero reached on a little base hit up the middle, Reynolds grounded out deep enough to score Drew from third, and it was 5-3 Arizona just like that.

Of course, the problem with insurance runs is that sometimes you can't afford enough insurance (insert health care debate joke here). After a couple of uneventful frames, Esmerling Vasquez came in to close things out in the ninth with a two-run lead. Nerves were frayed a bit after a leadoff single, but he got two pretty quick outs from the 3-4 hitters (granted, the Padres' 3-4 hitters) and it looked like things were under control. And then Adrian Gonzalez happened. He roped an 0-1 fastball down the opposite-field line for a two-run shot that tied up the game and gave the Fangraph a small heart attack.

From there, it seemed like our fate was inevitable. The D-backs went down in order in the top of the 10th, and Yusmeiro Petit was brought in for the bottom half -- no, I don't understand it either. Petit labored through just three hitters -- a leadoff single, a 50-pitch at-bat by David Eckstein that ended in a flyout, a stolen base, and a base hit that finally ended it. And yet, I felt nothing. Such are the doldrums of 20-games-under-.500 September baseball.

Master of his Domain: Justin Upton, +29.3%
Honorable Mention: Chris Young, +17.8%
God-Emperor of Suck: Esmerling Vasquez, -46.9%
God-Co-Emperor of Suck: Yusmeiro Petit, -35.7%
Dishonorable Mention: Doug Davis (hitting), -15.2%; Gerardo Parra, -11.4%

This is one of the cases where the Fangraph (and the contributions of those involved) makes perfect sense. Upton was a perfect 5-5 on the day, just a homer short of the cycle. Young .drove in the go-ahead run at the time and had another solid game. Meanwhile, Vasquez's spot should come as a surprise to no one, and Petit -- well, he's Petit. End of story.

For the Diamondbacks, Upton's success has already been well documented. Young had a couple of hits and a walk; Allen added a couple of walks and a hit. Ojeda finally broke out of his slump at Petco and added a free pass of his own. It should also be noted that although Reynolds was 0-for-5 with 4 Ks (reaching the 200 strikeout plateau), he did manage to drive in a run and steal his 24th bag of the year. He's on the cusp of the 45-25 club, which is pretty exclusive territory. Zavada and Rosales each picked up holds for solid work in the innings before Vasquez's meltdown, and Schoeneweis lowered his ERA 11 points for retiring the one batter he faced.

A happenin' GameDay Thread for an afternoon game, although it didn't start out looking that way (and with no local TV coverage, who can blame people?). Skins led the way with just short of a brazillion jinxing comments (259); no one else reached triple digits. Roll Call: soco, sayheyupton, snakecharmer, DbacksSkins, emilylovesthedbacks, kishi, Jim McLennan, mrssoco, pygalgia, txzona, katers, SaveUsY2J, hotclaws, AJforAZ, Wailord, IHateSouthBend, Azreous, venomfan, dima1109, Muu, jazzbo13. Total Users: 21. Total Posts: 742.

It's an off day tomorrow, which should give ample time to drink away this loss. Or at least forget about through other more natural means (like head trauma?). Next up, it's a three-game set at home against the Colorado Rockies; maybe this awful loss is just to make us winning the weekend series that much more heart-breaking for them. Yeah, that's it.

Amazing Eight! Mujica tries to bust Rockies mojo, but Yorvit Torrealba rallies Colorado to win with ninth inning double

Rox Girl — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 05:20:57 -0000

More photos » by Denis Poroy - AP

Even Scrappiness couldn't beat the Rockies on Friday night.

Browse more photos »

Yorvit Torrealba's bases loaded heroics saved the night for the Colorado Rockies, as the streaking catcher continued a torrid month with a three run double off of Padres closer Heath Bell with two outs in the top of the ninth inning on Friday night to keep Colorado's win streak alive.

The Colorado Rockies got the kind of start they needed from Jorge De La Rosa after one shaky first inning, but nonetheless their offense failed to materialize as the San Diego Padres capitalized on a first inning walked in run and an effective performance from starter Edward Mujica and a handful of relievers to take a 1-0 lead on Friday night and for most of the game, it appeared they were on their way to victory. The Padres scored their run when De La Rosa loaded the bases following a one out David Eckstein double by walking Adrian Gonzalez and allowing a single to Chase Headley. JDLR then walked Oscar Salazar to push Eckstein home before regaining his composure and more or less cruising through the next six innings of his start.

The Rockies best chance to score before the ninth inning rally came when they loaded the bases with one out in the seventh inning. In the seventh inning when Todd Helton got hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and moved to third one out later when Brad Hawpe doubled. With runners in scoring position, Garrett Atkins popped out to first. Seth Smith pinch hit for Clint Barmes and was intentionally walked bringing Ryan Spilborghs (pinch hitting for Chris Iannetta) to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. Spilborghs struck out swinging to end the threat.

In the ninth, Helton walked, Hawpe singled with one out and pinch hitter Jason Giambi also walked to load the bases for Colorado. Heath Bell struck out Matt Murton, but Torrealba came through with the bases clearing double that would give Colorado a 3-1 lead. A single by Paul Phillips scored Torrealba and pushed the lead to 4-1. Franklin Morales came on to pitch a scoreless ninth inning for the save.

With the win Colorado improved to 82-60 on the season and stayed two games behind the Dodgers, while expanding their lead over their closest competitors in the N.L wild card chase as both Florida and San Francisco lost.

Row Call and graph after the jump.

via www.fangraphs.com

Row Call: Jabberwocky, The Lodo Magic Man, MissR, SDcat09, Silverblood, noelman31, butterfly, WolfMarauder, leadbelly, OutHereInPA, Shoemaker, Rock Oax, pedalpusher, ckloewer, TuLoRocks2008, ddavis539, Russ, LACK, befizzle, SimchaWard, realmenwearpurple, EricMedic, coolopotamous, AtkinsandTulofan, Poseidon's Fist, HeltonsHeroes, Colsportsfan, ejskater, TGumb, Rox Girl, bballrox4717, RockiesMagicNumber, GoRoxInNSB,FL, Kumar_98, theshiva, RoxnSox09, Cargo's Ball Sack5, brian8065, Jester76, squalene203, CombatChuk, Teekalong, djmbluemoon, tulotulotulo, moose14, smokinRox, Foxhole Atheist, Digshot, fatheadX, bucimislover, Roberbola, haj_saitou, McCorvic, amoeba, controlled_slide, Narcoleptico, Mondogarage, dogs, RockiesDave, DeRock, jeffpalfini, Angélique C. Murray

Padres Anagrams

jbox — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:29:12 -0000

Dex was just showing me this website that figures out an anagram for your name. I decided to do it for each of the Padres. Surprisingly in some cases the anagram actually describes the person. It's remarkable!

NAME	ANAGRAM
Jeff Moorad	MAJOR OF FED
Tom Garfinkel	GNATLIKE FORM
Kevin Towers	I'VE NETWORKS
Paul DePodesta	UP PLEASED TOAD
Grady Fuson	FURY GONADS
Bud Black	BALD BUCK
Heath Bell	HELL! BATHE
Greg Burke	KRUGER BEG
Kevin Correia	CROAKIER VEIN
Sean Gallagher	HAS LARGE ANGEL
Luke Gregerson	OK GREENER SLUG
Mat Latos	AM TOTALS
Wade LeBlanc	CLEAN BAWLED
Edward Mujica	DRAW MAD JUICE
Luis Perdomo	I'M PROUD LOSE
Aaron Poreda	POOR AND AREA
Cesar Ramos	OR MASSACRE
Clayton Richard	A CONTRARY CHILD
Adam Russell	SMALL AS RUDE
Tim Stauffer	MATURE STIFF
Joe Thatcher	HA! REJECT HOT
Ryan Webb	BRAWN BYE
Eliezer Alfonzo	RAZZLE OF ONE LIE
Henry Blanco	LYNCH ON BEAR
Nick Hundley	UNKINDLY CHE
Everth Cabrera	BRAVER CHEATER
David Eckstein	KINDEST ADVICE
Adrian Gonzalez	DAZZLING ON AREA
Edgar Gonzalez	NAG DAZZLE OGRE
Kevin Kouzmanoff	KNAVE FUNK IF ZOOM
Luis Rodriguez	GURU IDOLIZERS
Oscar Salazar	ALAS! CZAR OR AS
Anthony Gwynn Junior	JOY! NOW HURTING NANNY
Chase Headley	ELSE HEADACHY
Drew Macias	A WEIRD SCAM
Will Venable	WELL! EVIL BAN
Gaslamp Ball	SMALL BAG PAL

Wolf Wins #100

Brendan Scolari — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 09:54:49 -0000

by Francis Specker - AP

3 months ago: Los Angeles Dodgers' Andre Ethier (16), is greeted by manager Joe Torre in the dugout after hitting a home run off Padres pitcher Edward Mujica in the fourth inning of a baseball game in Los Angeles, on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009.(AP Photo/Francis Specker)

View full size photo »

The Dodgers beat the Padres 7-4 Saturday night, giving Randy Wolf his 100th career victory. The last palyer to win his 100th game in a Dodger uniform was Derek Lowe in the last few days of the 2006 season. Wolf pitched very well, allowing only 2 runs in 7 innings with 5 strikeouts and 0 walks. Wolf improved his record on the season to 10-6 and lowered his ERA to 3.22 (his FIP is 3.86). Wolf has certainly pitched well this year, probably better than anybody expected. In fact, David Ely of MLB.com writes in his recap that "cool-handed Randy Wolf" should be the Dodgers #1 starter in the playoffs. I think that player should be Chad Billingsley but Wolf is certainly making his case.

Anyway, back to the game. The Padres got one of their two runs off of Wolf in the first inning on a pair of singles. However the Dodgers answered right back in the bottom half of the inning with a pair of runs on a Rafael Furcal single, Juan Pierre walk, a couple of groundouts, and then an RBI single by James Loney.

The Dodgers added another pair of runs in the 2nd inning. Russell Martin and Furcal both walked and eventually scored on a single by Juan Pierre that Padres shortstop Everth Cabrera threw away. Both Martin and Pierre advanced a base in the inning on two balks by struggling starter Mat Latos. The two balks were the most in one game against the Dodgers since former Giants pitcher William VanLandingham had two balks on June 25, 1995. This was the 11th such occurence in LA Dodger history.

The Padres scored their only other run off of Wolf in the 3rd inning when Adrian Gonzalez singled home Everth Cabrera, who had hit a ground-rule double earlier in the inning. The Dodgers loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning and while Latos was able to get out of the jam he was removed after that.

The Dodgers added two more runs in the 4th inning against reliever Edward Mujica. Andre Ethier hit a solo home run to center field and Matt Kemp scored on a James Loney single.The Dodgers added their seventh run of the game in the sixth inning when Furcal doubled to lead off the inning and Ethier doubled to plate Furcal.

The score stayed 7-2 until the ninth inning. James McDonald came into the game but allowed three straight singles without recording an out so Joe Torre decided to call on Jonathan Broxton to close the door on the Padres. Broxton allowed a single which plated two runs but then recorded his 32nd save by striking out Tony Gwynn Jr. and Will Venable and getting Everth Cabrera to ground out to short.

Broxton has now gone 12 straight appearances without allowing an earned run. For anyone who wants to question Broxton as the Dodgers closer, his 2.14 FIP is the lowest of any reliever in baseball and his 2.3 WAR is the highest of any reliever in baseball. In other words, he is awesome.

Here's the win probability chart for the game. It was all Dodgers:

via www.fangraphs.com

The win ties the Dodgers with the Cardinals for the best record in the National League at 81-56. The Phillies are two games behind at 77-56. Tomorrow the Dodgers will be on national television when they play the rubber match of this three game set against the Padres. Hiroki Kuroda (5-5, 4.08) will be going against righty Tim Stauffer (3-6, 3.76) at 5:10 PM.

WP - Randy Wolf (10-6): 7 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts

LP - Mat Latos (4-5): 3 IP, 3 hits, 4 runs (2 earned), 5 walks, 4 strikeouts

SV - Jonathan Broxton (32): 1 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 2 strikeouts

GM Towers: "I think he'd [Kyle Blanks] be pretty good behind the plate too."

jbox — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 22:31:18 -0000

XX Sports Radio: Kevin Towers interview (MP3) with Darren Smith

Kevin Towers is a huge University of Oregon fan. He couldn't go to the game because he was in a meeting with Moorad and Garfinkel.
Towers thinks that you can add 3/4's of a run onto a pitcher's ERA when they go from the NL to the AL.
Towers would like for the AL to do away with the Designated Hitter.
He would rather put money into pitching than to sink it into a DH.
Towers likes the Padres game time changes. He needs to find another pitcher with a split finger like to Sterling Hitchcock to pitch in the shadows.
Edward Mujica, Josh Banks or Cesar Ramos will take Mat Latos' spot in the rotation. They'll use September to look at pitchers.
We will see Sean Gallagher in the bullpen before the end of the season. He could be a back end starter in 2010.
The Padres are going to be cautious over the next 4 weeks with Kyle Blanks foot injury. He'll be in the middle of the line up next year. He'll be out of the cast in the next 10 days. He doesn't think it's serious enough to be a career ending injury.
Towers thinks Blanks would make a good catcher. He'd be a nice big target to throw to and no runners would take him out like they did Wiki Gonzalez.

Padres 11, Brewers 7

KLSnow — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 05:03:53 -0000

More photos » by Lenny Ignelzi - AP

Kyle Blanks is congratulated after dropping the Brewers back below .500.

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W: Edward Mujica (3-4)
L: Tim Dillard (0-1)

HR: Will Venable (3), Kyle Blanks (5)

MVP: Prince Fielder (+.204)
LVP: Tim Dillard (-.357)

I stayed up all night for this?

This game looked like it'd be a fun one for the first few innings. Braden Looper allowed a first inning run to the Padres, but the Brewers responded with seven runs in the top half of the second, their highest-scoring inning of the season. Looper, however, couldn't hold the lead, and gave up his 25th and 26th home runs of the season (setting a new career high), allowing the Padres to close the gap to 7-6. Tim Dillard followed Looper to the mound and poured gasoline on the fire, allowing three runs in the sixth while retiring just one batter.

The second inning was a nice offensive explosion for the Brewers, but it could have been much better. With the bases loaded and no one out, both J.J. Hardy and Jason Kendall struck out, and the entire inning would have been negated if not for Looper's two run single that sparked a rally. In an inning where the Brewers sent 13 batters to the plate, Hardy made two outs, both with the bases loaded.

Prince Fielder reached base his first four trips to the plate and went 3-for-4 with a double and a walk for the Brewers, scoring a run and driving in two more. Amazingly, in a game where the Brewers scored seven runs, Corey Hart was the only other Brewer with multiple hits.

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Win

Eric Stephen — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:10:53 -0000

More photos » by Denis Poroy - AP

Billingsley was an All-Star both on the mound and at the plate Sunday for the Dodgers, but ended up with a no-decision in what ended up a crazy yet memorable game.

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Chad Billingsley's Sunday started off with the news that he, along with teammates Jonathan Broxton and Orlando Hudson, was named to the National League All-Star team for the first time in his career. He then went out and showed why, pitching into the ninth inning, allowing only two runs and throwing only 97 pitches in the process. He also hit his first career home run, a shot over the left field wall in the fifth inning off Padres' starter Josh Banks. Billingsley also had a double, making today the second two-hit game of his career.

The Dodgers ended up winning 7-6, but did not take the easy route to the win.

Billingsley, who came into the game second in the NL with 51 walks, did not walk a batter for the the first time since the home opener against San Francisco.

Prior to Billingsley's home run, the Dodgers used the long ball to provide him a 4-0 lead. Andre Ethier hit a solo home run in the second, his second road homer of the season, and Casey Blake hit a three-run shot in the third.

After giving up a home run and a double to start the ninth inning, Billingsley was relieved by fellow All-Star Broxton. This is the point of the story when Broxton was supposed to come in and preserve the win, even in a non-save situation. However, Broxton was not on his game, throwing nearly all fastballs on his way to coughing up the 6-2 lead. The Dodgers were only spared when Eliezer Alfonzo overslid third base to end the inning. Broxton faced seven batters, and only retired five of them.

It looed like curtains for the Dodgers in the 10th, when Ronald Belisario started the inning with a hit-by-pitch and a walk. However, Guillermo Mota and Brent Leach came in to get the final three outs, with an intentional walk to Adrian Gonzalez mixed in.

After the 12th inning ended, this game brought us three rare events:

1) Thanks to David Eckstein pulling his hamstring running to first base, and the Padres out of bench players, backup catcher Jose Lobaton made his major league debut...at second base.

2) James Loney hit a home run, a shot off Edward Mujica over the RF wall, his sixth of the year, to give the Dodgers a 7-6 lead.

3) With one out and nobody on base, Adrian Gonzalez was intentionally walked. It was only the fourth time all season in MLB that somebody was walked intentionally with nobody on base.

Jeff Weaver was perfect otherwise, pitching three hitless innings to pick up his fifth win.

The Dodgers travel to New York tonight, and have Monday off before beginning a three-game series with the Mets on Tuesday. Clayton Kershaw is slated to battle Mike Pelfrey in the first game of the series.

WP - Jeff Weaver (5-2): 3 IP, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

LP - Edward Mujica (2-4): 1 IP, 1 hit, 1 run

Box Score

36-35, Game Notes

Jeff — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:46:31 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

"I have legs?"

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With the way Don Wakamatsu's talking, it's beginning to look like Brandon Morrow is here to stay. Which - I can't get over how quickly everybody seemed to change their minds on this. Morrow was ticketed for AAA. The story was everywhere. There were quotes from everyone from the coaches to the front office to Morrow himself acknowledging the plan. And then it never happened, and the whole idea just kind of got swept under the rug. Every additional start he makes up here makes it that much less likely that he ever goes back to the minors. So now I guess we have to live with this. If Brandon Morrow goes on to have a successful career, it'll be a testament to how raw talent can overcome even the craziest development process. And if he doesn't, then we'll be left to wonder what if.

But anyway, as long as he's here, we might as well talk about him as a Major Leaguer. And while it's hard to gauge his progress when he's going up against the Padres, he did make it up to a season-high 87 pitches while throwing 66% strikes and his last fastball at 95.1mph, which is something. I didn't think he started very well. He fell behind four of the first five batters he faced, and his first couple breaking balls missed the mark badly. His battle against Kouzmanoff was a lousy one, and he couldn't have put his 3-2 heater in a worse location. But then he settled in and started to look better. I liked his fifth inning at bat against Everth Cabrera in particular. After falling behind 2-0 on fastballs, a mound meeting calmed him down and he threw three straight tough sliders to get the punchout. Not a lot of righties trust their slider that much behind in the count against a lefty, but whether by design or by necessity since his changeup isn't very good, Morrow made it work. All in all, he probably wanted to get through more than five innings, but considering everything he's been through and how he's looked, tonight was all right. Would've liked to see him throw more offspeed stuff, but this is what happens when you try to develop a guy in the Majors. We'll look for more progress his next time out. That one'll come against an actual lineup.

Along the way, Morrow turned in the easiest double play I've ever seen. With a man on first, Tony Gwynn tried to lay down a bunt, but he popped it up towards the first base side of the infield. Continuing along the natural path of his follow-through, Morrow jogged to his left to make the catch and then sprinted to first to beat Cabrera back to the bag. I don't know how many 1-unassisted double plays have been turned in the history of baseball, but it doesn't get any simpler. Most double plays require at least one throw, and even the unassisted ones usually require someone to catch a line drive. All Morrow had to do on this one was catch a bunt and run in a straight line. Of all balls ever hit into play, this one might've been the most impossible to screw up, and it was worth twice as many outs as normal.

With two outs in the bottom of the second, third base umpire Angel Hernandez rung up Griffey on a 2-2 check swing. Problem #1: Griffey didn't go around. Problem #2: Hernandez' gesture was shamefully emphatic. When faced with this sort of situation, most umpires either make the safe sign or indifferently raise their fist. Hernandez threw an animated haymaker and yelled something. Randy Marsh had to follow Griffey back to the dugout to make sure nothing escalated between Hernandez and the guy Hernandez basically told to go fuck himself. I wonder, though, what Marsh was really thinking, because at some point you have to get tired of covering for the same umpires over and over again. People have been complaining about Angel Hernandez trying to put himself in the spotlight ever since he first started umpiring, and it's only a matter of time before somebody loses control. I look forward to that happening.

Mark Grant, first inning: "Junior's put on some lb's."

Josh Geer fell behind 14 of the 27 Mariner batters he faced tonight. His pitch distribution after falling behind in the count? 19 fastballs, 9 sliders, 20 changeups. That's less than 40% fastballs after falling behind. Why? Because the M's aren't a sufficiently disciplined team to make opposing pitchers give them pitches to hit. I'm not going to criticize their productivity tonight, since they put up a line of .344/.400/.594, but it's interesting to see how people go to work against this lineup. They don't give it a lot of respect.

Ronny Cedeno's single tonight was his first hit since June 7th. It was a grounder through the 5-6 hole. I absolutely love the fact that he has a fierce-looking tattoo on his arm. He's ruining fierce-looking tattoos for everybody. Although I suppose I shouldn't give him too much of a hard time tonight since he did such a phenomenal job of tracking down that Scott Hairston pop-up in the sixth. His route wasn't perfect, but pop-ups behind the bag aren't easy to follow when you turn your back to home plate, and Cedeno made a hell of a catch. I wonder if tonight's effort might give him a little bit of confidence. He's going to need it, since he might be looking at sustained playing time now that...

...Yuniesky Betancourt is out with a pulled hamstring. As if Zduriencik wasn't anxious enough to find a shortstop before. Yuni overall has been the least valuable member of the team, but I'll be honest with you - this was a bad time for him to get hurt, because he's finally been showing some improvement. Not only has his effort in the field been markedly improved, but since coming back from his stint on the bench, he's put up an OSwing% of 26.8% and a ZSwing% of 68.0%. Compare that 2.5 ratio to his 1.8 ratio in May and 1.7 ratio in April. I don't know if that's real or an anomaly, but to the naked eye, it seemed as if Yuni had taken Wakamatsu's lectures to heart, and so to interrupt his progress with a potentially serious injury doesn't do us much good. I mean, yeah, I'd welcome a new long-term shortstop with open arms, but I'd like to find out if there's any salvaging the old piece of crap we already had. I hope he's not out for too long. The good news is that his hamstring injury didn't appear nearly as dramatic as Willie's.

Two things are true about Edward Mujica: he pitches in every game the Padres play, and I never notice that he pitched until I look at the box score later on.

Mike Adams was absolutely perfect in his showdown with Branyan in the seventh. Started him off with a slider on the low-inside corner, then pounded him with a couple low-inside fastballs. Three low-inside pitches, three called strikes. The last two were a little off the plate, but when you hit your spots with that kind of precision, the ump is usually going to give you the benefit of the doubt. That was an annoying but wonderfully executed at bat.

Mike Sweeney was one of the guys who helped carry Yuniesky Betancourt off the field and towards the tunnel. Do players usually do that? I feel like players don't usually do that. I'm having a lot of trouble seeing how the front office could DFA this guy. This is a guy who carries injured players off the field and babysits for other players on the road when they want a night on the town. He hasn't hit very well, but I guarantee you he's beloved by pretty much every single person in the clubhouse, and there's no way any of the players would understand his being let go. The front office probably couldn't be happier that Griffey is starting to produce, but the Sweeney situation is almost equally delicate.

On the San Diego broadcast, they ran a promo with David Eckstein encouraging fans to come out to the ballpark on July 4th for a game and free beach towels. I can't tell if I'm supposed to work for a joke here, or if the image is already funny enough on its own.

The same goes for Ronny Cedeno's pep talk with Aardsma in the ninth.

Jarrod Washburn and Wade LeBlanc in a 1:40 matinee. Ever wonder what Jamie Moyer would look like without the special little something that makes Jamie Moyer Jamie Moyer? Tune in to find out!

Phillies at Padres: June 1-3

Matt Swartz — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 21:00:20 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Adrian Gonzalez leads the majors in homeruns despite hitting at Petco Park. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

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The Phillies crept back barely into first place this weekend, maintaining a half game lead by sweeping the Nationals. The Padres had an early season lead in the West when they came to Philadelphia during the second weekend of the season, and they took two of three from the Phillies before the fourth game of the series was rained out. Now, the Padres are back down to .500 at 25-25. The Phillies themselves sit in first at 28-20.

Monday's game pits Joe Blanton against Kevin Correia. Correia is an okay pitcher who is able to put up decent number in a pitcher's park, though not particularly this year. Blanton is coming off a solid starts in which he pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out a career high eleven batters.

Tuesday's game will be a tough one as still-a-Padre Jake Peavy goes up against Antonio Bastardo, who will be making his major league debut. Bastardo is a lefty who has torn through AA and AAA this year, earning him the start in Myers' stead. Peavy is putting up another solid season, despite swirling trade rumors.

Wednesday's game pits the Phillies' J.A. Happ against the Padres' Chris Young. Chris Young has been okay this year, but has struggled to strike out as many hitters and has walked quite a few more as well. Happ has been solid in his first couple starts since joining the rotation after a solid display in the bullpen early on.

All three games will be pretty late in the eastern time zone, so stay tuned to The Good Phight for coverage if you have some silly reason that you can't stay up til one in the morning.

MATCHUPS

Monday, 10:05-- Joe Blanton (R) vs Kevin Correia (R)

Tuesday, 10:05-- Antonio Bastardo (L) vs Jake Peavy (R)

Wednesday, 10:05-- J.A. Happ (L) vs Chris Young (R)

After the jump, I breakdown the players and their splits.

PADRES

LINE UP

(1) RF Brian Giles (L): .192/.282/.285

proj: .280/.375/.420
bb: 13%
k: 12%
gb: 37%
iff: 11%
ifh: 4%
babip: average overall
s/c/z: excellent eye and excellent contact skill
r/l: .966/.788 ops; 0.6 vs 0.9 k/bb
h/a: about the same
p/o: pull hitter
other: none

(2) 2B David Eckstein (R): .246/.326/.322

proj: .275/.340/.350
bb: 7%
k: 9%
gb: 47%
iff: 12%
ifh: 7%
babip: pretty good on groundballs but pretty low on line drives, high groundball rate helps-- about average overall
s/c/z: very good contact and sees a lot of pitches in zone. swings at below average number of strikes but average number of non-strikes.
r/l: .700/.741 ops; k/bb is 1.2 vs 0.8
h/a: .738/.687
p/o: slight pull hitter but spreads ball around pretty well
other: used to steal bases more frequently but only tried 3 times last year and was caught once. He hasn't tried to steal yet this year. In 2007, he cut back to 11 attempts.

(3) OF Scott Hairston (R): .326/.387/.560

proj: .255/.325/.465
bb: 8.5%
k: 23%
gb: 36%
iff: 16%
ifh: 12%
babip: slightly below average, .290ish, since he pops out a lot, but good on groundball since he gets infield hits and decent on line drives as he has some power
s/c/z: slightly below average contact
r/l: 3.5 vs 2.5 k/bb; .712 vs .842 ops
h/a: a bit better at home in career but seemingly mostly luck so far
p/o: definite pull hitter
other: none

(4) 1B Adrian Gonzalez (L): .287/.394/.641

proj: .280/.355/.500
bb: 10%
k: 21%
gb: 41%
iff: 5%
ifh: 2%
babip: above average, around .315, rarely pops out, though doesn't get many infield hits. power indicates he should do well on linedrives
s/c/z: swings at average amount of balls, but lets fewer strikes pass than other players; somewhat below average contact
r/l: .886/.743 ops; 1.9 vs 3.0 k/bb
h/a: far more power on road (park effects) but slightly better k/bb at home (1.9 vs 2.4) and better babip at home (.328 vs .283)
p/o: somewhat of a pull hitter but spreads ball around pretty well for power hitter
other: far more success against finesse pitchers

(5) 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff (R): .228/.281/.348

proj: .275/.325/.455
bb: 5.5%
k: 20%
gb: 41%
iff: 6%
ifh: 4%
babip: average all around, low on groundballs and high on flyballs due to infield hit/fly rates
s/c/z: free swinger and chases a lot of pitches while at it, pitchers don't throw him that many pitches out of strike zone, despite that and somewhat low contact rate
r/l: typical
h/a: better on road, even at k/bb rates
p/o: pull hitter
other: struggles against power pitchers

(6) LF Chase Headley (S): .236/.309/.366

proj: .265/.345/.430
bb: 10%
k: 27%
gb: 38%
iff: 2%
ifh: 4%
babip: projection systems have him high-- like .330s+, but it seems like it he should be around .310 or so, since even though he pops out rarely, he doesn't get many infield hits and his groundball rate was abnormally high last year. even then, given that his eye is nothing special and his contact skills aren't great, he's likely due for a drop-- i think his overall projections are probably high
s/c/z: not a great eye and prone to chase, poor contact skills
r/l: only 140 career PA as RHB so it's tough to know
h/a: not enough info, so far better away but mostly luck based stats
p/o: definite pull hitter both ways
other:

(7) C Nick Hundley (R): .250/.348/.408

proj: .235/.285/.400
bb: 7%
k: 23%
gb: 37%
iff: 12%
ifh: 7%
babip: projected to be poor and tough to tell from small mlb sample size
s/c/z: average all around so far, it seems
r/l: very small sample size but 5.0 vs 2.9 k/bb difference
h/a: 3.1 vs 5.3 k/bb
p/o: spreads ball around pretty well
other: none

(8) SS Chris Burke (R): .206/.270/.324

proj: .245/.325/.370
bb: 9%
k: 17.5%
gb: 38%
iff: 18%
ifh: 7%
babip: projected around .285 which might be a little high given popout rate and lack of significant power or contact skill, though he has some success with groundball babip
s/c/z: decent eye, somewhat patient, okay contact, sees a lot of strikes
r/l: .648 vs .730 ops; 2.3 vs 1.8 k/bb
h/a: .708 vs .652 ops; 2.1 vs 2.2 k/bb
p/o: pull hitter
other: none

BENCH

C Henry Blanco (R): .172/.273/.345

proj: .240/.290/.350
bb: 6%
k: 19%
gb: 37%
iff: 13%
ifh: 6%
babip: not much power and tendency to pop up; below average
s/c/z: good eye, okay contact
r/l: a little more power right-handed
h/a: a little better k/bb at home but fewer extra base hits
p/o: pull hitter
other: none

IF Edgar Gonzalez (R): .180/.261/.426

proj: .270/.330/.400
bb: 8%
k: 22%
gb: 46%
iff: 2%
ifh: 4%
babip: definitely above average, rarely pops out and makes solid contact
s/c/z: great eye and good contact
r/l: k/bb of 4.7 vs 1.6; .685 vs .750 ops
h/a: typical given park effects
p/o: slight pull hitter
other: none

IF Josh Wilson (R): .209/.292/.279

proj: .245/.305/.365
bb: 7%
k: 20%
gb: 43%
iff: 10%
ifh: 6%
babip: projected slightly below average, around .295, which seems about right
s/c/z: not a great eye but somewhat patient, above average contact, sees a lot of strikes
r/l: .600 vs .594 ops in 259/104 PAs; 3.3 vs 2.9 k/bb
h/a: .578 vs .623 ops; 4.9 vs 2.3 k/bb
p/o: somewhat of a pull hitter
other: none

OF Tony Gwynn Jr. (L): .320/.393/.440

proj: .250/.315/.330
bb: 8%
k: 16.5%
gb: 49%
iff: 5%
ifh: 8%
babip: projected around .305 which seems about right
s/c/z: very patient with pretty good eye and above average contact, sees a decent amount of strikes
r/l: .599 vs .688 but only 30 career PA vs LHP; 2.3 vs 4.5 k/bb
h/a: .585 vs .628 ops; 1.6 vs 4.1 k/bb
p/o: pull hitter
other: none

OF Cliff Floyd (L): 0 for1 with 1 K

proj: .255/.340/.410
bb: 9.5%
k: 20%
gb: 42%
iff: 14%
ifh: 5%
babip: projected around .290 which could be right given powerful slow popout hitter
s/c/z: good eye with so-so contact, but his eye is actually deteriorated
r/l: .856 vs .793 ops; 1.5 vs 3.2 k/bb
h/a: .861 vs .823 ops; 1.7 vs 1.8 k/bb
p/o: pull hitter
other: none

ROTATION

MONDAY OPPONENT: Kevin Correia (R): 5.11 ERA, 4.0 BB/9, 6.6 K/9, 0.9 HR/9, 4.42 FIP, 42%

proj avg: 4.40 ERA, 3.5 BB/9, 6.7 K/9, 1.0 HR/9
gb: 39%
pitches: 60% fb, 27% sl, 9% ch, 4% cb
r/l: 2.3 vs 1.2; .762 vs .819
h/a: similar

Correia vs Phillies:

Rollins: 0/9, 0 BB, 1 K
Victorino: 3/5, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
Howard: 0/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Utley: 1/3, 1 2B, 0 BB, 0 K
Bruntlett: 0/2, 0 BB, 1 K
Ruiz: 1/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Dobbs: 1 BB
Ibanez: 1/1, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
Stairs: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Werth: 1 BB

TUESDAY OPPONENT: Jake Peavy (R): 3.67 ERA, 2.9 BB/9, 10.3 K/9, 0.9 HR/9, 3.13 FIP, 41% GB

proj avg: 3.25 ERA, 2.9 BB/9, 9.0 K/9, 0.9 HR/9
gb: 42%
pitches: 57% fb, 18% sl, 17% ct, 7% cb, 6% ch
r/l: 3.8 vs 2.6 k/bb, .603 vs .740 ops
h/a: .614/.737 ops's, 3.7/2.5 k/bb's

Peavy vs Phillies:

Feliz: 8/39, 2 2B< 1 HR, 1 BB, 9 K
Rollins: 3/12, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 BB, 1 K
Ibanez: 4/12, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 BB, 1 K
Werth: 1/11, 0 BB, 7 K
Howard: 2/8, 1 2B< 0 BB, 3 K, 1 SF
Utley: 0/8, 1 BB, 2 K
Stairs: 0/5, 0 BB, 2 K
Victorino: 3/5, 1 2B, 0 BB, 0 K
Coste: 0/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Dobbs: 2/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Ruiz: 0/2, 1 BB (IBB), 0 K

WEDNESDAY OPPONENT: Chris Young (R): 4.45 eRA, 4.45 BB/9, 6.6 K/9, 0.9 HR/9, 4.52 FIP, 32% GB

proj avg: 3.85 ERA, 3.85 BB/9, 8.0 K/9, 1.1 HR/9
gb: 28%
pitches: 75% fb, 18% sl, 5% ch, 2% cb
r/l: 2.6 vs 2.2 k/bb, .647 vs .674 ops
h/a: 2.8 vs 2.1 k/bb

Young vs Phillies:

Ibanez: 6/23, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 BB, 3 K
Feliz: 2/15, 1 Bb, 3 K
Utley: 4/11, 1 2B, 2 HR, 0 BB, 3 K
Dobbs: 1/8, 0 BB, 4 K
Howard: 1/5, 1 2B, 4 BB, 2 K
Rollins: 1/6, 0 BB, 1 K
Victorino: 2/6, 0 BB, 1 K
Werth: 0/4, 1 BB, 2 K
Bruntlett: 1/4, 0 BB, 2 K
Coste: 2/4, 2 2B, 0 BB, 0 K
Ruiz: 0/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Stairs: 1/3, 1 2B, 0 BB, 1 K

NOT FACING US THIS SERIES: Josh Geer (R): 5.17 ERA, 1.5 BB/9, 4.6 K/9, 1.7 HR/9, 5.20 FIP, 44% GB

proj avg: 4.70 ERA, 2.8 BB/9, 5.0 K/9, 1.1 HR/9
gb: 35%
pitches: 64% fb, 22% ch, 14% sl

Geer vs Phillies:

Bruntlett: 0/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Coste: 0/3, 0 BB, 1 K
Feliz: 1/3, 0 BB, 1 K
Howard: 2/3, 1 3B, 0 BB, 1 K
Ibanez; 1/3, 1 2B, 0 BB, 0 K
Stairs: 0/3, 0 BB, 1 K
Utley: 1/3, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
Victorino: 1/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Cairo: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K

NOT FACING US THIS SERIES: Chad Gaudin (R): 4.76 ERA, 5.9 BB/9, 8.2 K/9, 0.2 HR/9, 3.94 FIP, 48% GB

proj avg: 4.10 ERA, 3.7 BB/9, 7.2 K/9, 0.9 HR/9
gb: 44%
pitches: 64% fb, 28 sl, 8% ch, 0.1% cb
r/l: .744 vs .812 ops; 2.7 vs 0.8 k/bb
h/a: .780 vs .773 ops; 1.6 vs 1.5 k/bb

Gaudin vs Phillies:

Ibanez: 7/18, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 SF
Feliz: 2/8, 1 BB, 2 K
Stairs: 3/6, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 BB (IBB), 0 K
Dobbs: 2/2, 1 2B, 0 BB, 0 K
Werth: 0/1, 1 BB, 1 K
Bruntlett: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Coste: 1/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Howard: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Rollins: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Ruiz: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Utley: 1/1, 0 BB, 0 K

BULPEN

CL Heath Bell (R): 1.27 ERA, 2.5 BB/9, 11.0 K/9, 0.0 HR/9, 1.57 FIP, 51% GB

proj avg: 3.30 ERA, 3.2 BB/9, 9.0 K/9, 0.7 HR/9
gb: 50%
pitches: 72% fb, 28% sl
r/l: 4.7 vs 2.2 k/bb but .687 vs .616 ops since more power surrendered to lhb
h/a: .573/.726 ops split but k/bb even

Bell vs Phillies:

Utley: 2/8, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 K
Howard: 1/8, 0 BB, 4 K
Rollins: 0/8, 0 BB, 0 K
Feliz: 2/6, 0 BB, 0 K
Ibanez: 2/4, 1 BB (IBB), 0 K
Victorino: 1/5, 0 BB, 1 K
WertH: 1/4, 0 BB, 2 K
Ruiz: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 Sac
Stairs: 0/2, 0 BB, 2 K
Bruntlett: 1 BB
Coste: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K

Edward Mujica (R): 2.49 ERA, 2.1 BB/9, 10.0 K/9, 0.7 HR/9, 2.69 FIP, 33% GB

proj avg: 4.40 ERA, 2.8 BB/9, 7.0 K/9, 1.0 HR/9
gb: 28%
pitches: 67% fb, 9% sl, 6% cb, 2% ch, 17% sf
r/l: 8.0 k/bb vs righties, but mostly just no walks; 1.5 k/bb vs lefties in minimal experience
h/a: not enough info

Mujica vs Phillies:

Cairo: 1/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Dobbs: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Ibanez: 1/1, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
Rollins: 1/1, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
Utley: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Victorino: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K

Greg Burke (R): 1.35 ERA, 0.0 BB/9, 5.4 K/9, 0.0 HR/9, 1.96 FIP, 47% GB

proj avg: 4.50 ERA, 2.8 BB/9, 6.0 K/9, 1.0 HR/9
gb: 53% in majors so far
pitches: 71% fb, 28% sl, 1% ch
r/l: not much of a clear split in minors
h/a: not enough info

Burke: has not played any Phillies

Cla Meredith (R): 3.06 ERA, 3.1 BB/9, 6.1 K/9, 0.5 HR/9, 3.73 FIP, 61% GB

proj avg: 3.70 ERA, 2.6 BB/9, 6.7 K/9, 0.7 HR/9
gb: 69%
pitches: 79% fb (I think sinkers count as fastballs on fangraphs), 18% sl, 3% ch
r/l: 4.3 vs 1.4; .612 vs .794: major ROOGY
h/a: .637 vs .721 and 2.9 vs 2.7 k/bb

Meredith vs Phillies:

Feliz: 1/9, 0 BB, 5 K, 1 SF
Ibanez: 3/5, 1 2B, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
Werth: 1/3, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 SF
Howard: 1/2, 1 BB (IBB), 0 K
Rollins: 1/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Bruntlett: 0/2, 0BB, 1 K
Dobbs: 1/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Utley: 1/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Victorino: 1/1, 1 BB, 0 K
Coste: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Ruiz: 1/1, 1 2B, 0 BB, 0 K

Luke Gregerson (R): 3.38 ERA, 4.6 BB/9, 9.2 K/9, 0.3 HR/9, 3.09 FIP, 46% GB

proj avg: unprojected
gb: very high groundball rates in minors
pitches: 55% fb, 33% sl, 9% ch, 3% cb in majors so far
r/l: much better against righties and walks a lot of lefties in minors
h/a: not enough info

Gregerson vs Phillies:

Howard: 1/2, 1 HR, 0 BB, 1 K
Feliz: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Ibanez: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K
Utley: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Victorino: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Werth: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K

Joe Thatcher (L)

proj avg: 4.00 ERA, 3.3 BB/9, 7.1 K/9, 0.8 HR/9
gb: 46%
pitches: 78% fb, 13% sl, 6% ct, 1% ch, 1% cb
r/l: .717 vs .978 ops in majors with 1.1 vs 3.0 k/bb-- reverse split
h/a: 1.3 vs 2.0 k/bb; .725 vs .851 ops

Thatcher vs Phillies:

Feliz: 0/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Bruntlett: 0/2, 0 BB, 1 K
Coste: 1/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Howard: 1/1, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
Utley: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K
Victorino: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K

Luis Perdomo (R): 4.70 ERA, 4.1 BB/9, 4.1 K/9, 1.2 HR/9, 5.31 FIP, 44% GB

proj avg: 4.90 ERA, 4.6 BB/9, 7.0 K/9, 1.2 HR/9
gb: 47% in AAA
pitches: ?
r/l: not enough info
h/a: not enough info

Perdomo vs Phillies:

Coste: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Feliz: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Rollins: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Ibanez: 1 BB
Werth: 1 BB

PHILLIES

LINE UP

1) SS Jimmy Rollins (S): .226/.270/.337

projection average (proj): .285/.350/.460
projected BB/PA (bb): 8%
projected K/AB (k): 11%
career gb% (gb): 42%
career infield flies/flyball (iff): 10%
career infield hits/groundball (ifh): 5%
batting average on balls in play tendencies (babip): about average overall, though a little bit high popup rate so slightly below average. my system has him at about .308.
swing/contact/zone facts (s/c/z): good eye, pretty selective, but very high contact rate so low walk rate
righty/lefty (r/l): 1.7 vs 1.3 k/bb, mostly because of higher k-rate as lhb. otherwise similar on contact
home/away (h/a): 1.5 vs 1.7 k/bb; .805 vs .739 ops
pull/opposite (p/o): definite pull hitter
anything else (other): stole 47 bases in 50 attempts last year.

2) CF Shane Victorino (S): .293/.342/.449

proj: .285/.345/.430
bb: 7.5%
k: 13%
gb: 46%
iff: 15%
ifh: 8%
babip: slightly above average due to high babip on groundballs-- partly because infield plays in for him and he spreads the ball around well; not that high due to high infield fly rate. my system sees him at .303.
s/c/z: pretety bad eye but high contact rate
r/l: much more power righthanded (1.6% to 3.8% HR rate), but much better k/bb as lefty: 1.65 vs 1.88; higher babip lefty also (.316 vs .286)
h/a: far fewer walks on road but nearly exactly the same strikeout rate, same power, same babip
p/o: pull hitter both ways
other: stole 36 of 47 bases last year

3) 2B Chase Utley (L): .294/.430/.550

proj: .295/.380/.525
bb: 9.5%
k: 18%
gb: 37%
iff: 10%
ifh: 6%
babip: distinctly above average historically and for projections too; seemingly strong power leads to high line drive babip rate and reasonably high groundball babip especially for pull hitting lefty; high on flyballs despite high infield fly rate since he hits deep flyballs. my system has him at about .308, but he beats projection systems consistently.
s/c/z: pretty good eye, somewhat selective, somewhat high contact rate
r/l: not significant-- only 1.7 vs 2.0 k/bb; .919 vs .865 ops
h/a: similar k/bb home & away; better hr at home-- probably park factors; higher babip at home too
p/o: pull hitter
other: much better against power pitchers relative to other hitters

4) 1B Ryan Howard (L): .266/.340/.573

proj: .275/.375/580
bb: 14%
k: 33%
gb: 40%
iff: 2%
ifh: 4%
babip: low on groundballs over time as he pulls the vast majority of them; very very high on flyballs because he almost never pops out in the infield at all and many of his flyballs are very deep. also since so few of his flyballs stay in the park (only 2/3 or so), a higher percentage of his balls in play are line drives-- which he does well on like many power hitters-- his low contact rate means he sometimes make poor contact though. probably above average overall
s/c/z: swings a lot especially for someone who doesn't see many strikes. however, he is pretty good at distinguishing balls from strikes despite the consensus on him. he makes terrible contact overall though. my system sees him at .310.
r/l: 1.064 vs .786 ops: say it with me "that means he's good against righties, not bad against lefties!" in fact, he's the best hitter against righties in baseball right now probably. his k/bb vs lhp is 3.7 vs 1.6 vs rhp. he has a lot of power against lefties however, but a lower babip. i don't have split data on pull% vs lhp/rhp but observationally i'm pretty sure that's the difference in his babip: .338 vs .309.
h/a: much higher babip on road. very similar hr numbers. 2.0 vs 3.2 k/bb.
p/o: pull hitter, especially on groundballs-- hits more homeruns the opposite way though
other: struggles mightily against power pitchers and groundball pitchers, dominate flyball pitchers (since he almost never pops out, and has 10.3% hr rate) and smashes finesse pitchers (11.8% hr rate); he also does much better on babip with runners on base as defenders can't shift against him-- especially with runners in scoring position

5) RF Jayson Werth (R): .253/.342/.460

proj: .270/.360/.460
bb: 12.5%
k: 29%
gb: 38%
iff: 8%
ifh: 8%
babip: high on groundballs due to high infield hit rate, high on line drives due to power, and hits pretty deep flyballs too; has been historically probably higher than it should be since he's faced more lhp than normal rhb do; overall still seems to be very above average. my system has him at .329.
s/c/z: very selective and pretty good eye; somewhat low contact rate
r/l: .762 vs .919 ops; 2.4 vs 2.0 k/bb; hr rate of 6.7% vs 2.9%
h/a: not much of a split at all
p/o: spreads ball around well for power hitter, but still a pull hitter
other: stole 20 bases in 21 attempts last year

6) LF Raul Ibanez (L): .332/.394/.684

proj: .285/.350/.480
bb: 9%
k: 17%
gb: 42%
iff: 11%
ifh: 5%
babip: above average, probably because he spreads the ball around pretty well for a power hitter; much better babip with men on-- probably hooks ball in hole well or maybe he was shifted against more so beforehand. my system sees him right at .300.
s/c/z: definitely a good eye though it's getting worse, slightly above average contact
r/l: .850 vs .733; 1.5 vs 2.8 k/bb
h/a: better k/bb (1.6 vs 1.9) but worse power probably park factors, and probably likely to be better at home
p/o: slight pull hitter but not much for a power hitter
other: none

7) 3B Pedro Feliz (R): .302/.365/.432

proj: .250/.300/.420
bb: 6%
k: 15.5%
gb: 44%
iff: 15%
ifh: 5%
babip: very low-- pops up a lot, hits groundballs predictably to left side and is slow so they can play shaded over and deep; not all that much power so not terrific on line drives either, makes a lot of weak contact as he isn't good at making contact so he chops a lot of balls. my system sees him at .271.
s/c/z: high swing rate and not terribly good at distinguishing balls from strikes. swung significantly less in 2008, but it was as much of a decrease in balls as strikes, makes average contact
r/l: 3.3 vs 2.3 k/bb; .708 vs .755 ops, more babip and a little more power agaisnt lefties
h/a: much higher k rate on road, similar bb rate; more power on road, higher babip at home. likely not much difference (.725 vs .716 overall ops)
p/o: definite pull hitter
other: defensive numbers dipped last year, had offseason surgery for back, perhaps these are related

8) Carlos Ruiz (R): .304/.427/.506

proj: .255/.335/.390
bb: 10%
k: 14%
gb: 50% (but rose in 2008 to 54% from 46%)
iff: 9.5%
ifh: 4%
babip: was extraordinarily low in 2008, but that seems to be rather flukey. his high groundball rate and solid contact rate and pitch selection indicate he should be a good babip guy, but he does very poorly on groundball as he chops the ball a lot. my system sees him at .288.
s/c/z: very good eye and excellent contact skill, extremely patient
r/l: bizarre reverse split despite 0.5 k/bb vs lhp and 1.2 vs rhp; impossibly low .204 babip against lhp, probably flukey and probably much better vs lhp in reality
h/a: similar k/bb, worse babip but higher power at home (park factors)
p/o: slight pull hitter
other: better against power pitchers

BENCH

C Chris Coste (R): .254/.356/.460

proj: .265/.315/.405
bb: 5.5%
k: 17.5%
gb: 40%
iff: 10%
ifh: 6%
babip: slightly below average, seemingly due to poor eye and swinging and hitting bad pitches. my system sees him at .294.
s/c/z: high swing rate, pretty poor eye, average contact
r/l: .747 vs .855; same k/bb rate, much better babip against lhp, similar power but slightly more vs lhp
h/a: .886 vs .679; 5.4% vs 1.5% hr rate
p/o: pull hitter
other: struggles with power pitchers somewhat

IF/OF Eric Bruntlett (R): .118/.179/.235

proj: .240/.325/.335
bb: 10%
k: 18%
gb: 41%
iff: 14%
ifh: 5%
babip: high popup rate leads to low babip, but not that low; also doesn't do all that well on line drives due to lack of power
s/c/z: somewhat above average eye and doesn't swing much; makes very good contact, sees a lot of strikes
r/l: .592 vs .764 ops; 2.5 vs 1.2 k/bb; 5.7% vs 8.8% xbh/ab-- he's actually average if not above average against lhp; he just is terrible against rhb. he should be used as a counterswitch to loogy use against lefty pinch hitters
h/a: more power at home and more walks at home; similar strikeout rate and babip
p/o: opposite field hitter
other: none

IF Greg Dobbs (L): .132/.250/.211

proj: .285/.335/.445
bb: 7%
k: 17%
gb: 36%
iff: 13.5%
ifh: 3%
babip: has been high but probably should not be projected as high-- success derives from impossibly high line drive babip which doesn't typically happen for non-extreme power hitters. given his popup rate, he probably isn't a .320 babip guy and there isn't a .285 hitter
s/c/z: poor eye but very high swing rate; average contact rate
r/l: .761 vs .579 ops despite impossible .481 babip against lhp. in reality, he strikes out in 48% of at-bats against lhp. he should never see them. absolutely no power against lefties also.
h/a: virtually no split at all
p/o: pull hitter
other: much better against finesse pitchers

OF Matt Stairs (L): .281/.465/.594

proj: .255/.340/.440
bb: 11%
k: 22%
gb: 42%
iff: 11.5%
ifh: 5%
babip: average all around. my system sees him at .295.
s/c/z: very good eye and slightly below average contact
r/l: .862 vs .748; much more power against rhp; 1.4 vs 2.1 k/bb
h/a: not much of a split at all
p/o: slight pull hitter but not much for a power hitter
other: use stairs in case of emergency

OF John Mayberry Jr. (R): .222/.222/.667

proj: .235/.290/.415
bb: 6.5%
k: 27%
iff: around 15-20% in minors
ifh: ?
babip: hits ball hard but pops up a lot; probably a bit average but tough to know; projected below average
s/c/z: not enough info
r/l: batter against lefties, particularly at making contact, in minors
h/a: not enough info
p/o: not enough info
other: none

ROTATION

MONDAY STARTER: Joe Blanton (R): 6.14 ERA, 3.3 BB/9, 8.4 K/9, 1.6 HR/9, 4.80 FIP, 40% GB

proj avg: 4.25 ERA, 2.5 BB/9, 5.8 K/9, 0.9 HR/9
gb: 45%
pitches: 56% fb, 16% ch, 15% sl, 12% cb
r/l: 2.3 vs 1.8 k/bb; .750 vs .719 ops
h/a: 2.2 vs 2.0 k/bb; .698 vs .776 ops; much worse babip away (.313 vs .282), more power surrendered on road
other: extraordinarily good against leadoff hitters, especially the first hitter of games

Blanton vs Padres:

Gonzalez: 2/8, 0 BB, 0 K
Burke: 0/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Eckstein: 3/3, 1 2B, 0 BB, 0 K
Blanco: 1/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Giles: 0/1, 1 BB, 1 K
Rodriguez: 0/1, 1 BB, 0 K

TUESDAY STARTER: Antonio Bastardo (L): has not played in majors 2009; but in AA: 1.82 ERA, 1.8 BB/9, 10.1 K/9, 0.3 HR/9 in 34.2 IP; in AAA: 2.08 ERA, 2.1 BB/9, 8.3 K/9, 0.7 HR/9 in 13 IP

proj avg: 5.60 ERA, 4.8 BB/9, 7.0 K/9, 1.9 HR/9
gb: 40% in minors
pitches: ?
r/l: 2.1 vs 4.1 k/bb in minor league career
h/a: much better control at home in minor league control

Bastardo: has not played Padres

WEDNESDAY STARTER: J.A. Happ (L): 3.00 ERA, 3.3 BB/9, 7.1 K/9, 0.8 HR/9, 4.13 FIP, 37% GB

proj avg: 4.40 ERA, 3.8 BB/9, 7.7 K/9, 1.2 HR/9
gb: 29% in majors thus far; 42% in AAA in 2008
pitches: 64% fb, 18% ch, 14% sl, 2% ct, 2% cb
r/l: 1.7 vs 3.0 k/bb in majors thus far; 2.7 vs 3.5 k/bb in AAA in 2008
h/a: not enough info

Happ vs Padres:

Hundley: 1/1, 1 BB, 0 K
Kouzmanoff: 2/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Gerut: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K
Giles: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
A.Gonzalez: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
E.Gonzalez: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Headley: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Rodriguez: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K

NOT STARTING THIS SERIES: Cole Hamels (L): 5.21 ERA, 1.9 BB/9, 9.3 K/9, 1.9 HR/9, 4.47 FIP, 39% GB

proj avg: 3.45 ERA, 2.3 BB/9, 8.4 K/9, 1.1 HR/9
gb: 40%
pitches: 55% fb, 32% ch, 14% cb
r/l: .680 vs .748, but same 3.6 k/bb both ways; slightly more power vs lhb-- this is probably selection bias as managers withhold all but the best lefties against him (explaining 20% of hitters faced are lefties only)
h/a: 3.85 vs 3.4 k/bb; .676 vs .709 ops-- less of a difference due to higher HR rate at home
other: much higher k-rate at night: 25% vs 20%, which is statistically significant. ERA difference (4.71 vs 3.01 exaggerated by babip difference), as HR rate and XBH rate very similar. most likely he strikes out more at night.

Hamels vs Padres:

Giles: 3/17, 1 2B, 0 BB, 2 K
A.Gonzalez: 5/15, 1 HR, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HBP
Burke: 4/15, 1 BB, 6 K
Kouzmanoff: 2/12, 0 BB, 2 K
Hairston: 4/10, 2 2B, 2 HR, 0 BB, 2 K
Eckstein: 3/6, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 Sac, 1 SF
Headley: 2/6, 0 BB, 1 K
Rodriguez: 1/6, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
E.Gonzalez: 0/4, 0 BB, 0 K
Hundley: 1/2, 1 HR, 1 BB, 0 K
Gerut: 1/1, 0 BB, 0 K

NOT STARTING THIS SERIES: Jamie Moyer (L): 6.75 ERA, 2.7 BB/9, 5.1 K/9, 2.4 HR/9, 6.57 FIP, 38% GB

proj avg: 4.80 ERA, 2.8 BB/9, 5.5 K/9, 1.2 HR/9
gb: 39%
pitches: 41% fb, 30% ct, 24% ch, 6% cb
r/l: virtually no split but that seems to be selection as he sees 24% lefties only compared with 32% league average for lhp
h/a: 2.3 vs 1.9 k/bb; not much difference on contact; slightly better babip at home but not more so than the average starter gets

Moyer vs Padres:

Eckstein: 14/56, 2 2B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 Sac
Giles: 4/17, 1 2B, 3 BB, 1 K
A.Gonzalez: 5/15, 3 HR, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 Sf
Kouzmanoff: 5/12, 1 2B, 1 HR, 0 BB, 2 K
Blanco: 5/11, 0 BB, 0 K
Gerut: 1/7, 0 BB, 0 K
Hariston: 0/5, 2 BB, 0 K
Burke: 0/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Headley: 0/3, 0 BB, 1 K
Hundley: 0/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Rodriguez: 0/2, 0 BB, 0 K

BULLPEN

CL Brad Lidge (R): 7.71 ERA, 5.0 BB/9, 10.0 K/9, 2.3 HR/9, 6.08 FIP, 38% GB

proj avg: 3.50 ERA, 4.1 BB?9, 11.0 K/9, 0.8 HR/9
gb: 41% (though this went up to 46% with increased slider use in 2008)
pitches: 56% sl, 43% fb, 0.4% ch in 2008 (historically 54% fb, 42% sl)
r/l: 3.6 vs 2.8 k/bb; .601 vs .686 ops (tough to tell if that tendency became more or less extreme in 2008 due to limited sample size)
h/a: 3.6 vs 2.9 k/bb; .666 vs .614 ops though due to higher babip away
other: HR/Flyball plummeted in 2008-- probably unsustainably low and his ERA should rise; still rumors of him tipping pitches explain the HR/Flyball spike in 2006 & 2007

Lidge vs Padres:

Eckstein: 2/8, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP
Giles: 2/8, 1 3B, 2 BB, 0 K
A.Gonzalez: 2/6, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 K
Kouzmanoff: 3/5, 2 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
Headley: 1/3, 1 BB, 2 K
Blanco: 1/2, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
Burke: 0/1, 1 BB, 1 K
Gerut: 1/1, 1 2B, 0 BB, 0 K
E.Gonzalez: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K
Hairston: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K
Hundley: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K
Rodriguez: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K

Ryan Madson (R): 2.49 ERA, 2.8 BB/9, 10.0 K/9, 0.0 HR/9, 1.90 FIP, 42% GB

proj avg: 3.80 ERA, 2.9 BB/9, 7.2 K/9, 0.8 HR/9
gb: 48%
pitches: 58% fb, 24% ch, 15% ct, 4% cb
r/l: 3.65 vs 1.8 k/bb; .714 vs .786 ops
h/a: no major split at all

Madson vs Padres:

A.Gonzalez: 4/9, 1 2B, 0 BB, 1 K
Giles: 3/8, 2 2B, 0 BB, 0 K
Burke: 2/5, 0 BB, 1 K
Hairston: 3/5, 1 2B, 1 HR, 0 BB, 1 K
Eckstein: 0/3, 1 BB, 0 K
Blanco: 1/3, 1 2B, 0 BB, 0 K
Gerut: 1/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Headley: 1/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Hundley: 1/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Rodriguez: 0/1, 1 BB, 1 K
E.Gonzalez: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K

Scott Eyre (L): 3.09 ERA, 6.2 BB/9, 5.4 K/9, 1.5 HR/9, 6.50 FIP, 36% GB

proj avg: 4.20 ERA, 4.1 BB/9, 8.8 K/9, 0.9 HR/9
gb: 41%
pitches: 59% fb, 35% sl, 6% ch, 0.2% cb
r/l: 1.5 vs 1.9 k/bb; .815 vs .720 ops
h/a: not much of a split

Eyre vs Padres:

Giles: 3/16, 1 2B, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 SF
Eckstein: 3/7, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 SF
Burke: 1/2, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 K
A.Gonzalez: 0/4, 0 BB, 1 K
Gerut: 0/3, 0 BB, 1 K
Hairston: 1/3, 1 HR, 0 BB, 1 K
Blanco: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K

Jack Taschner (L): 3.92 ERA, 6.5 BB/9, 4.8 K/9, 0.9 HR/9, 5.82 FIP, 34% GB

proj avg: 4.50 ERA, 4.1 BB/9, 8.0 K/9, 1.0 HR/9
gb: 35%
pitches: 57% fb, 30% sl, 13% ch
r/l: 1.45 vs 2.2 k/bb; .754 vs .747-- large selection bias where he faces only very good lefties and not very good righties
h/a: .698 vs .797 ops; 2.1 vs 1.5 k/bb

Taschner vs Padres:

Giles: 3/17, 1 3B, 2 BB, 4 K
A.Gonzalez: 5/12, 1 2B, 2 HR, 2 BB (1 IBB), 3 K, 1 HBP
Hairston: 2/4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
Kouzmanoff: 0/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Rodriguez: 0/2, 0 BB, 1 K
Eckstein: 1/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Gerut: 1/1, 0 BB, 0 K
E.Gonzalez: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K

Chad Durbin (R): 4.50 ERA, 5.2 BB/9, 8.0 K/9, 1.0 HR/9, 5.08 FIP, 34% GB

proj avg: 4.10 ERA, 3.5 BB/9, 6.5 K/9, 1.0 HR/9
gb: 41%
pitches: 47% fb, 38% sl, 8% ch, 7% cb, 1% ct
r/l: virtually no split
h/a: somewhat of a reverse split but probably just noise

Durbin vs Padres:

Eckstein: 1/11, 0 BB, 0 K
Giles: 1/4, 0 BB, 1 K
Blanco: 0/3, 0 BB, 0 K
A.Gonzalez: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Hairston: 1/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Hundley: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K
Kouzmanoff: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K

Clay Condrey (R): 2.20 ERA, 2.8 B/9, 6.3 K/9, 1.3 HR/9, 4.52 FIP, 53% GB

proj avg: 4.50 ERA, 2.8 BB/9, 4.9 K/9, 0.8 HR/9
gb: 50%
pitches: 59% fb, 17% ct, 15% sl, 9% ch
r/l: 2.1 vs 1.3 k/bb; .761 vs .842 ops
h/a: .703 vs .898 ops; 2.2 vs 1.3 k/bb

Condrey vs Padres:

Burke: 0/3, 0 BB, 1 K
Hairston: 1/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Eckstein: 2/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Gerut: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Giles: 1/1, 1 2B, 0 BB, 0 K
A.Gonzalez: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
E.Gonzalez: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Headley: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Hundley: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K
Kouzmanoff: 1/1, 0 BB, 0 K

Chan Ho Park (R): 6.57 ERA, 4.7 BB/9, 6.3 K/9, 1.2 HR/9, 5.25 FIP, 43% GB

proj avg: 4.50 ERA, 3.5 BB/9, 7.3 K/9, 1.2 HR/9
gb: 45%
pitches: 51% FB, 29% SL, 12% cb, 5% ch, 4% ct
r/l: .666 vs .820 ops; 2.6 vs 1.3 k/bb; .280 vs .301 babip; 2.6% vs 3.6% HR rate-- much better against righties
h/a: 2.0 vs 1.7 k/bb; .708 vs .780 ops

Park vs Padres:

Eckstein: 7/23, 2 2B, 4 BB, 0 K, 1 HBP
Giles: 7/19, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 K
Blanco: 0/11, 2 BB (1 IBB), 4 K, 1 HBP
Gerut: 2/7, 0 BB, 1 K
Burke: 0/4, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 Sac
Kouzmanoff: 2/5, 0 BB, 2 K
A.Gonzalez: 2/4, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
E.Gonzalez: 2/4, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
Headley: 0/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Hundley: 1/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Hairston: 0/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Rodriguez: 0/2, 0 BB, 0 K

SUSPENDED UNTIL WEDNESDAY: J.C. Romero (L)

proj avg: 4.00 ERA, 5.5 BB?9, 7.5 K/9, 0.7 HR/9
gb: 55%
pitches: 58% fb, 25% sl, 17% ch, 0.1% cb
r/l: 1.2 vs 2.2 k/bb; .814 vs. 591 ops
h/a: 1.6 vs 1.3 k/bb; .697 vs .768 ops

Romero vs Padres:

Giles: 1/8, 1 HR, 2 BB, 3 K
Gerut: 0/7, 2 BB, 3 K
A.Gonzalez: 0/4, 0 BB, 1 K
Eckstein: 0/3 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Kouzmanoff: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP
Blanco: 1/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Hairston: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K