For the entire month of March, the Sportable Staff will look at one Major League Baseball team a day. We?ll look at their lineups and pitching and in the end, assess their playoff chances. Previews will be done by division, starting with the American League East. Each new division will also feature a new podcast devoted entirely to that division.
Keepin’ the Faith. There may not be a more mediocre two time defending division champion than the San Diego Padres. The Friars, who finished 82-80 in 2005 and 88-74 in 2006, have been the NL West Champs over these past two seasons, and, have taken beatings at the hands of the St Louis Cardinals in the first round of the playoffs both times. Bruce Bochy, who has managed this team since the invention of the wheel, has departed in the exodus to San Francisco along with center fielder Dave Roberts, first baseman no talent ass clown Ryan Klesko, and former coach and announcer Tim Flannery. Bud Black takes the reigns of a team that is absolutely loaded with pitching but has about as much hitting ability as a little league team.
Bats. In a word, anemic. Just like there is no real power threat in this lineup, theres no real identifiable lead off hitter. We’ll assume it’s Termel Sledge, who is useless. Sledge has put together a nice spring, but that won’t atone for the garbage that he calls ‘career numbers’ at the major league level. Right off the bat, a major weakness in this team. If the Padres want to contend, they’ll have to look elsewhere for a left fielder. Go ahead and prepare yourself for an endless amount of sibling jocking, as the Padres shipped off Josh Barfield and brought in Marcus Giles, Brian Giles’ brother, to play second base. Since 2004, both of their numbers have fallen harder than Fidel Castro down a set of stairs, and it leads me to suspect only one thing. Brian Giles needs to stop taking batting practice naked, and start driving the ball into the seats in right field. Marcus Giles needs to fill in adequately for Barfield, who had a superb year last year, or you can count on me to ride his ass all year. Khalil Greene is going to hit for a poor average, hit 20 home runs, make a few unreal plays at short stop, and break his finger or hand somewhere in the playoff race. I say this with confidence because it has happened literally every year he’s been in the majors. Kevin Kouzmanoff, who came over in the Barfield trade with Cleveland, is an intriguing player at third because he supposedly brings a lot of power in his bat. Hopefully he is able to put aside the intimidation of Petco Park, unlike players who have gone before him. Adrian Gonzalez may be the most feared hitter in this lineup. Gonzalez had a strong 2006 season in which he lead the team in home runs and batting average. Expect him to really come into his prime, and potentially develop as one of the better first basemen in the National League. Mike Cameron is a guy I really love out in center field because his glove is unreal. Cameron’s bat, though he strikes out often, brings at least 20 home runs to the ball park and some speed, which the Padres have no other source of.
Pitching. The Padres have one of the best pitching staffs in the National League, if not all of baseball. Jake Peavy had a disappointing 2006 season riddled with injuries and lack of run support, and I expect him to bounce back and have a dominant season this year. Chris Young may in fact be the best pitcher you’ve never heard of. Young was dominant last year in place of Peavy, going 11-5 with an ERA of 3.46. I’ll go ahead and throw his name in the dark horse hat for Cy Young contention. Greg Maddux came over in the offseason, and the saggy old bastard will still squeeze 15 wins out of his indestructible arm. Maddux is one of the best pitchers to ever play the game, and his leadership and experience will certainly be an asset to young guys like Peavy and Clay Hensley. Fat ass David Wells was another old guy who came over in the off season. The newly discovered diabetic has vowed to beat the disease by controlling his diet and staying more healthy. Maybe it’s just me, but what took Wells 43 years to realize his love for hot dogs and booze might catch up to him one day? Clay Hensley rounds out the starters and I am looking for Hensley to be the surprise in this rotation this year. He’s constantly improved over the past two seasons and I believe this is his year to break out and become one of the most dominant 5th starters in the league. The Padres bullpen doesn’t skip a beat when talking about pure dominance. Trevor Hoffman is the name everyone will gravitate to because he’s one of the best closers, if not the best, to ever play the game. The experience of being at a game and watching him enter the stadium from center field to the tune of Hells Bells is one of the most incredible experiences in sports. Scott Linebrink’s arm might just fall off this season, after being overworked by Bruce Bochy for the past three years. If Linebrink isn’t dealt by June, which seems to be the talk every year, he’ll remain one of the most dominant set up men in the game. Cla Meredith is a guy who flat out owned last year for this team in the ‘pen. Meredith’s absurd 1.07 ERA in 50 innings last year is unreal.
Prediction. This team is interesting because, it has the pitching to carry it a long way, but the hitting also has the potential to derail any playoff hopes. I don’t think they’re going to have enough to beat out the Dodgers in the West, but the addition of a bat at the trade deadline would do wonders for this team.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 0 comments… add one now }