Results tagged ‘ young guys ’
September/October Evaluation (Plus a Rant)
2010 season came to an end for the San Diego Padres which means it’s time for a final evaluation of the year. Padres finished the season with a 90-72 record and this team turned out to be one of the biggest surprises in baseball this season. Without further ado, I present to you the top 5 greatest moments of September/October for the San Diego Padres.
5. Snapping the 10-game losing streak
What more I can say? Losing ten in a row hurts. In fact, it’s so excruciating watching your beloved team lose ten games straight. Especially when that team has been playing solid baseball. This entry shows my frustration and a long letter for the Padres. On September 6th, Padres finally broke the lengthy losing streak against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park. Winning this game got the Padres back on track and the energy this team originally had started to grow again.
4. Rookie Cory Luebke’s First Major League Win
Two days later, rookie Cory Luebke earned his first major league win against the Dodgers. He tossed six scoreless innings and struck out seven batters. He was pick number 63 in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft and started his professional career with short-season Eugene Emeralds. He was soon promoted to Class-A Fort Wayne Tin Caps and later promoted again to Class-A Advanced Lake Elsinore Storm. In 2008, he spent his time with the Tin Caps and Storm. Last year, he was promoted up to Double-A San Antonio Missions.
This season, Cory Luebke was part of the September call up and made a great impression to the Padres staff and the fans. He made his major league start on September 3rd but suffered with a loss. On September 8th, he earned his first major league win as his second start. He is a young pitcher but his potential to be the very best in the major league is very eye-catching and remarkable. I can sense that he will have a bright future with the Padres.
3. Chris Denorfia’s Walk-Off Double Against the Aroldis Chapman
On September 25th, Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds in an exhilarating fashion. On the bottom of the ninth, Chris Denorfia was in a battle with Reds’ young phenom Aroldis Chapman. Chapman’s 100-105 MPH pitches blow me away every time. However, Chris Denorfia was able to win this incredible battle and drove in the winning run for the Padres. The energy at Petco Park was intense and the atmosphere was breathtaking. The look of Padres’ faces really showed that they wanted to win this game badly. This team earned a big win against the Reds and proved that anything can happen.
2. Unsung Hero: Tim Stauffer
Personally, the player who deserves plenty of recognition is pitcher Tim Stauffer. Because of the struggles with starting pitching in mid-August, Tim Stauffer filled in and settled very nicely. This meant that original starting pitcher Kevin Correia was pushed back to the bullpen. Stauffer had few opportunities to pitch for key games such as games against the Giants and he did nothing but a solid job. He definitely did the best he can and I have to applaud him for the hard work he gave it all for the Padres. I hope to see him grow even more and hopefully settle himself into a starting pitching rotation next season.
1. 90-72 Record for the 2010 Season
Although this record did not allow the Padres to secure a spot in postseason, I’m really proud of my team for making it this far. This brings up to the next part of my entry, which is a rant about reflecting the wonderful 2010 season.
Padres Rant: Reflecting the 2010 Season
When this season began, there were countless amount of doubters who projected this team was going to finish last place. The show began in April and the Padres were getting better and better. There were young talent and veteran players who stepped up their games to help out the young players. Contribution was made by everyone. It wasn’t just from one player with “My stats. My role.” kind of thing but everyone made some sort of benefaction. From young arms to veteran arms, this team had great chemistry. Acquisitions of Ryan Ludwick and Miguel Tejada during the mid-season also impacted this team in a great way. Padres played gritty and solid baseball and remained in first place for almost the whole year. There were ups and downs but I personally think the main down side was the ten-game losing streak. Besides that losing streak, this team played nothing but great baseball.
However, everything came down to game 162 against the rival San Francisco Giants. Padres were down by 3-0 on top of the ninth inning and I was getting nervous and nervous every time Giants’ closer Brian Wilson made his pitches. When the Padres got the last out and the Giants gathered and celebrated, I was in absolute shock and tears came down to my face. It was absolutely heartbreaking how the last game of the season determined the faith of the Padres. After playing great baseball since April, it was unbelievable how one game can change everything. Padres are not in the playoffs this season and I am extremely dismal but at the same time, I am very proud of my guys for giving their all this season.
There were plenty of surprises from the Padres. The bullpen was absolutely dominating and young star Mat Latos blew me away. Heath Bell continued to serve his role as a closer very well. The leadership quality from players such as David Eckstein, Jon Garland, Matt Stairs and Miguel Tejada are remarkable. Watching young talents from players such as Will Venable and Aaron Cunningham are still rememberable. This team is filled with group of guys who are very fun to watch. I am very proud of every single guys in the 2010 Padres roster. This season was a wild roller coaster ride and I’m glad I was in it for 162 games. This season will be very memorable, despite the fact that Padres came extremely close to postseason. I can’t wait to see what 2011 Padres has to offer. I really believe that the force is still strong with the Padres.
Introducing… the 2010 San Diego Padres (Part 2)
(Continuation of section 3 of part 1)
Matt Stairs
He will be definitely added on the Padres’ 25-man roster on Sunday. Matt Stairs signed a minor league deal during the off season and I thought this move was great. He won a World Series ring with the Phillies in 2008 and I always love when the Padres acquire players who claimed the ultimate prize. He is obviously one of the vetrans of this club and I am looking forward to see him to play. Especially in pinch hit situations because Padres did not have a strong pinch hitter throughout the seasons. Matt Stairs can change that ’cause the first thing that comes up to my mind when I think of him is pinch hit situations. I will be definitely looking fowrard to that situation throughout the season.
Now for part 2.
5. Young and experienced players: pitchers
I would like to add more things from this entry because really, I mentioned about the five pitchers.
Padres pitching rotation looks like the following below:
1. Jon Garland
2. Chris Young
3. Kevin Correia
4. Clayton Richard
5. Mat Latos
Looks like a big name is missing. What is it? That’s right. It’s Jake Peavy. We don’t have Jake as the number one starter anymore. So what? Loss of an ace should not be an impact towards a disastorous team when we have players that are solid and stepping up their games. Now, don’t get me wrong. I still like Jake and miss him. Trading him away was heartbreaking but it was part of buisness in the baseball industry. Personally, this move was acceptable because now the young guys can push themselves even more to be the starter.
For example, Clayton Richard.
He was one of the pitchers we got from the White Sox. He pitched the day after Jake Peavy left and wow, Clayton blew me away. He made a great first impression to the Padres fans. To me, first impression is very, very important. Clayton accomplished it well and that is the reason why he is one of my favorites. Ever since that day, he looked strong on the mound and I am still having fun watching him pitch. He is one of the youngsters but he can pitch extremely well at times. I am looking foward to see him everytime he goes on the mound.
Padres have another young starting pitcher who is totally going to blew the fans away.
When Mat Latos made his major league debut last July, he also made a great impression. Even though he got the loss on that day, he continued to pitch well whenever he got the ball. He is a big deal so the hitters need to watch out. He has a great fastball and can domintate the opposing players by throwing consistenet amound of strikeouts. Congrats to Mat for making on the fop five. By the way, this guy can throw some serious gas.
The top three pitchers Jon Garland, Chris Young and Kevin Correia is going to continue to pitch well and help out the young pitchers. Jon Garland is known as an inning eater and having him as the number one starter was an excellent move. He continues to pitch well and he will be an impact for this team. Not to mention he is pretty dang hot.
Chris Young is 100% back and this is a big, big must for the Padres pitching rotation. He was unhealthy for the last two seasons and it was devestating. His absence made the rotation shaky and the Padres needed him so much when he was placed on the disabled list. This is 2010 and a brand new, clean season for Chris. I can’t wait to see him again on the mound and hopefully he can deliever great things like he did during 2007, his All-Star season.
Kevin Correia is one of my favorite because he totally stepped up his game last season and made a really good impression. Also, it was his best season of the career. I like this guy a lot and he is fun to watch. I hope he can improve the performance from last season and continue to impress me.
6. Bullpen and closer
Bullpen is a pleasant surprise with mixture of young and experienced pitchers.
One of the youngsters is Luke Gregerson.
He joined the Padres late Spring Training of 2009 and he is very consistent on the mound. Last year was his first full season in the majors but I liked this guy from the start. He looks strong and impressed me as well. I hope to see him healthy and solid this upcoming regular season. He is a key ingredient towards a strong bullpen.
Another bullpen pitcher that is capturing my attention is Mike Adams.
He is an amazing pitcher with very good numbers. He must stay healthy or the bullpen can become disastorous. Mike is a solid pitcher but one of the problems he have is injury. I hate when guys especially like him gets injured and impacts the team in a horrible way. He was once again injured last season and I really want him to not go near the disabled list. His stuff is nasty and will blew the batters away.
And of course, how can I forget Heath Bell?
Last year, Heath took a giant step by taking Trevor Hoffman’s spot. As a first year as a closer, he made an excellent impression for not only Padres fans but fans across America. He lead the National League in saves and this was great way to represent San Diego. I am really proud of this guy and hopefully he can deliever the same pitching like he did last year for this season. He even made into the All-Star roster for National League and it was a lot of fun watching him. Heath is not only a great pitcher but a freaking hilarious guy. His bright personality can definitely bring the club up, not down.
Wrap Up
I am so pumped for 2010 season to kick off on Monday. Get ready Padres fans. This is going to be a fun, exciting winning season for San Diego. I guarantee it. With mixture of youth and veteran players, this one heck of a team will surprise so many people and prove the haters wrong by consistency, power and most importantly, energy.
Introducing… the 2010 San Diego Padres (Part 1)
Spring training has come to an end which means 2010 regular season is quickly approaching. I had a great opportunity to take a good look at the players we have during spring training. Veteran players are no problem and young players impressed me very much. I had so much fun listening and watching the Padres play. This entry will be about my hopes for each Padres and a much better season.
1. Young players: non-pitchers
What more I can say? These guys are tough. So the other teams better not underestimate these guys.
Everth Cabrera
He has a great arm, can handle the ball extremely well and nail almost every defensive plays I can think of. He reminds me of 2004-2007 Khalil Greene. As we all know, Khalil is still struggling in the majors and I hope this will not happen to Everth. When Everth came to the majors, I immediately thought he was going to be a huge impact for the Padres. He is the guy who only played single-A baseball. No double-A. No triple-A. To come to the majors by playing single-A ball is absolutely incredible. He is still young but grew so much when he became the starting shortstop and did not miss a single start ever since the day he came back from DL in 2009. I always have high hopes from him because he is extremely talented. 2010 season should be not be a problem for Everth.
Kyle Blanks
If I am the opposing pitcher, I better watch out when Kyle Blanks comes up to bat. Like Everth, I was happy to hear when Kyle made his major league debut last year. The defensive plays he make are eye-popping wheter he is playing at first base or outfield. Power is the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of him. That power lead him to hit inside the part homerun last year against the Cubs. He is so much fun to watch. He did miss couple of weeks because he was injured and it was last month of the season. I want him to stay healthy throughout the season and hope to see the same Kyle Blanks on the field and on the plate; Power and energy.
Will Venable
When I think of Will, defense comes to my mind first. Yes, he can hit well but I personally think Will looks stronger when he plays at the outfield. I like him a lot. He made his major league debut in 2008 and I saw promise of his bright future as time progressed. He may look like a soft-spoken player but he does not back down from anyone in the majors. I repeat. Anyone. For example, on August 23rd, 2009, Will and Albert Pujols had some sort of fight. I was thinking to myself, ”WOW. Will? And Albert Pujols?!” As we all know, Albert Pujols is like the king of Major League Baseball right now. I was shocked when Will did not back down from Pujols. This was great for Will because he did not make an excuse of being young but rather stepped up his game. I had to give two thumbs up to Will for the extreme courage. He is fun to watch and I hope to see him grow as well in 2010 and so on.
2. Not-so-young-players-but-young-in-a-way-players: non-pitchers
I don’t think that makes sense but I continue.
Chase Headley
His natural position is third base. When he made his major league debut during the 2007 season, he was called up because Kevin Kouzmanoff, unfortunately now a former Padre, was injured. His playing time at third base got short as the season rolled on because Kouz was already locked in at third. So he had to shift his position to outfield and did a great job. Now that Kouz is not with the Padres anymore, he is moved back to his natural position and it is finally time for him to shine. I hope he does well in 2010 and so on now that he is at where he started.
Tony Gwynn Jr.
2010 will be his first year starting the season off with the Padres. When he came to San Diego from Milwaukee, I was screaming in joy. As the son of Mr. Padre, Tony Gwynn Sr., I was glad to hear that Tony Jr. joined us. I forgived him when he forced the Padres to unable to clinch in 2007. Besided that terrible memory, he is an overall a great player. He can run extremely well, which is a good thing since San Diego Padres is not well known as speedy. Speed can actually win games by base stealing and forcing the runner to be at scoring position. I hope to see Tony a lot throughout the season with the mixture of talented outfielders.
3. Veteran players: non-pitchers
These guys know and have the ability to help out the young players we have. The leadership skills from the veterans will surprise many teams.
David Eckstein
I just know that he will continue to deliver what he has in 2010. His leadership skill is excellent for the young players and I can always depend on him when the Padres are slumping. The former World Series MVP is a great players to have in the young team. Extending him was a great move and he deserves to be the everyday starter at second base. When he was injured last season, the Padres were slumping and Eck could not help the team. His absence sunk the club and I hope this will not happen in 2010 season. I want him to stay healthy throughout the season and continue to do his job very well. With the word “grit” all over his face, I’m sure he can handle the bat by moving the runners over to scoring position and driving them in.
Adrian Gonzalez
According to my book, he is now one of the veterans for the Padres. He won two Gold Gloves and he represents San Diego by playing for his home team while helping out the city as well. There is still a trade talk about Adrian and I do not want to see him go. The young kids growing up in San Diego playing baseball who are looking up to Adrian will be devastating. As for the Padres, he is a key towards winning games because of his power at the plate and strong defensive plays at first base. Without him, this team will look shaky and I hope this will not happen in 2010. First step for the Padres is keeping Adrian.
Scott and Jerry Hairston
Did I mentioned that they are cute? Anyways, Both Hairstons experienced in the majors for a long time and it’s an honor having them together in a team that is rebuilding. It’s great to have Scotty back from Oakland because I missed him so much when he left in middle of 2009 season. Jerry recently won the World Series with the Yankees and it’s fun to have former World Series winners with the team that needs a bit of help. I like both of them a lot and it’s going to be very exciting to see them play together. Their offense is great because they can hit bunch of homeruns that’s going to make the fans stand on their feet and cheer on the Padres really loudly. I want to see that a lot throughout the season.
4. Catchers
I already wrote about them. You can check out the entry here.
So that will do for part 1. Tune in for part 2!
What to expect from 2010 Padres
Can you believe another year flew by? So many things happened, making 2009 memorable. But the beauty of all this that we are getting a fresh start. Another chance, a new beginning, a new year.
It is time for the Padres to start fresh as well. I was pleased by the work they have shown in 2009. There were lots of new faces and farewells which ended up making this team very young. In order to become a successful team in 2010, Padres must have believe in themselves throughout the season, never lose faith, everyone woking together as a team, and of course, play their best as if they are in postseason. I expect a lot from the Padres especially with new and good acquisitions.
Here are some key ideas of what to expect from 2010 Padres:
1. Vetran players playing their role very well and setting great examples for the young group of kids.
Sounds very demanding, but it’s true. Without experienced players, the young guys would end up struggling with zero confidence throughout the season. Sure they have coaches that they can listen to, but when it comes to playing at the fields, it will be a different story.
For example, we have three strong vetrans at infield. They are: Kevin Kouzmanoff, David Eckstein, and of course, Adrian Gonzalez. Kouz played in the majors for only four years but that still means he’s a vetran, right? Eck on the other side, is a nine-year vetran. Ten when he starts playing in April. Adrian has a very bright career and have been playing firstbase for six years now. He is a two-time Gold Glove winner and a great pleasure to have in this club. All three guys are main ingredients who provide runs, hits and incredible defense.
Padres have a young player named Kyle Blanks who plays outfield and firstbase as well. At a certain situation when Kyle plays first, he can get advice from Adrian and I would love to see that someday. Everth Cabrera is another young guy that I can count on. Ever since he took a job as an everyday shortstop, he impressed me so much and I’m eager to see what more great things he can do.
Here’s what Cory Brock, beat writer for the Padres, had to write according to this post:
…provided some stability to a position where the Padres sure needed it, and he was very good in a place where fans don’t see it — in the clubhouse. The work he did with rookie Everth Cabrera from Spring Training was impressive. Eckstein mentors, he leads and does all of this in an unassuming, quiet way.
Enough said.
As for Kouz, he doesn’t have a rookie that he can give advice to, but I assume Chase Headley counts. Chase played in the major leagues for only one full year which happened to be during 2009. Although he is a natural third baseman, I believe he still needs some work. Then he can be successful and have a solid season soon.
The outfield looks very, very young. Almost like babies. Surprisingly, they all look really good. We got Kyle Blanks, Will Venable, Tony Gwynn looking sharp. Having vetran outfielder would be great but it’s not necessary.
If you guessed two catchers we have are young, you are correct. When we sent vetran catcher Henry Blanco to New York, I expected another vetran to replace Henry. I was wrong and we got a catcher who is younger than our everyday catcher, Nick Hundley. His name is Dusty Ryan and we acquired him from the Tigers. Catching side doesn’t look so sharp as the outfield. When the Padres make few adjustments for this position, it should be set and they can get ready to rock and roll behind homeplate.
2. Solid and consistent starting pitching rotation and relievers.
Ever since Padres’ ace Jake Peavy got traded to the White Sox, the rotation definitely changed. All four pitchers we got did not play in the majors for more than two years. Out of 24 pitchers the Padres have, only four of them played in the majors for at least more than three years. They are: Mike Adams, Heath Bell, Kevin Correia, and Chris Young. Being the two relievers, Mike and Heath have been excellent for three years with the Padres. They are the ones to count on especially close games. Heath saved 42 games as a first year as a closer which made him number one as most saved games for NL. I applaud him for a great accomplishment and for going to the 2009 All-Star Game.
Here’s the situation: Chris Young have not been healthy for two years straight and missed most of his starts. It gets frustrating to see him heading to DL because he is an outstanding pitcher to have. He did go to the 2007 All-Star Game as NL starting pitcher. I expect him to return healthy this season. But if he doesn’t, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Padres offered him to leave San Diego.
I’ve mentioned a lot about Kevin Correia so I’ll just get to the main idea. He was a guy who signed a minor league deal in beginning of 2009 and ended up as the solid starting pitcher that everyone can count on.
There are pitchers who want to be in the starting rotation like Wade LeBlanc, Clayton Richard and Mat Latos. I see a lot of promise from them and they could be locked in the starting rotation.
3. A better record.
Once again, the Padres finished the season below 500. After taking a good look at who the Padres have, I can predict that everyone will work together very hard in order to finish the season strong. 2007 was a great year for this team and I hope 2010 will be like ’07.
4. First World Series Ring?
Maybe. We won’t know until the season progresses. I really, really want the Padres to be the ultimate winners. Then they can prove to the other teams wrong who are intimidating the Padres. Ok. Padres are not a very strong team, I admit that. But one thing this team does not to is backing down. We will not back down from anyone. A World Series Ring for the Padres will make me incredibley happy for couple of weeks.
P.S. Sorry if this whole entry looks totally biased. I’m just explaining what’s going on inside my head about the Padres. Well, I hope you guys had wonderful and happy first day of 2010.
Gentlemen, drop your bats and gloves
2009 season for the Padres officially came to an end. This year wasn’t great but it wasn’t bad at all. Padres have a lot of young guys who are climbing towards the top to have the capability to become a solid baseball player. Part of achieving that is of course, getting big help from experienced players like David Eckstein and Henry Blanco.
This club bounced back from last season which was a disaster. Padres started off hot in 2009 by remaining first place for few weeks but cooled down in the middle due to ton of injuries. Last two months however, they turned things around and finished the rest of the season strong. What I’m looking for a team is a strong finish and the Padres did that. Even though they lost game 162, I’m just proud with all of them.
As I was mentioning earlier, group of young kids stepped up and proved to the fans they have the stong desire to play like an experienced player. When vetran outfielder Brian Giles hit the disabled list and never came back, two young outfielders stepped up their games and they did very nice jobs filling in the missing hole. They are: Kyle Blanks and Will Venable. Kyle can play firstbase as well, but he looks stonger in the outfield. I saw few actions from Will last year and he turned things around throughout 2009. When Brian Giles returns next year, I will be a little bit disappointed because he didn’t do much of a thing that helped the club. I would personally see Kyle Blanks and Will Venable getting more playing time. With Gwynn Jr. in the middle of course.
For the infield, it’s looking very strong and solid. We have: Adrian Gonzalez at firstbase, David Eckstein at second, Everth Cabrera at shortstop, and Kevin Kouzmanoff at the hot corner. I pay attention to middle infield very carefully and examine it while taking notes. With the mixture of youth and experience (Everth and David), this combo is going to remain next year and will amaze the fans by eye-popping plays. Kevin is straight-up gold glove candidate. If you don’t know much about him, please look at his numbers. He only made three errors in over three hundred chances. That is so amazing. Kouz is going to stay hot and I know it. As for Adrian, 2008 gold glove winner, impressed me as well and Padres’ firstbase is continuing to be strong.
Starting pitchers and bullpen has been the most shaky position this season. Kevin Correia was the only survivor from opening day’s pitching rotation. He started off slow but got better as the season progressed. I’m looking at him as a number two starter next year. He impressed me so much. For some reason, I had high expectations from him when he signed a minor league deal in spring training 2009. I will be thrilled if he comes back next year. When the Padres traded away 2007 NL Cy Young award winner Jake Peavy and talented outfielder Scott Hairston, they recieved total of seven, young pitchers. Not all of them are strong obviously, but pitchers such as Clayton Richard and Adam Russell is going to look great. Lefty Clayton made me so proud that I completely forgot about Jake Peavy few times. (Sorry Jake. I still miss you!)
The offseason began for San Diego but we already made a big move before the season’s end. Padres finally released general manager Kevin Towers. He was the GM for the Padres since 1996 and it was time for him to move on. I say this is the right move because I disagreed with him most of the time. We just could not agree with each other most of the time. Padres are defintiely going to have a brand-new GM by end of October. I hope the new general manager will bring mostly positive move to the club.
Padres season may be over but there are still plenty of major league baseball action in October. Twins became AL Central Champions and I applaud them for a win against the Tigers in dramatic walk-off style. However, I’m rooting for the Cardinals and I really hope they will be World Series winners again. Last time they won the World Series was back in 2006 and my dear David Eckstein was the MVP. 2009 postseason will definitely have twists and turns with nail-biting moments and eight remaining teams will fight to win the ultimate prize.
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