Tagged: duaner sanchez
Throwing Strikes For DUMMIES
It only took ten minutes.
I switched on the radio about two hours after the game started, deciding that I should probably check the score. The first thing I heard was Cubs fans cheering and Andy Masur saying, “And there’s two more for the Cubs!”
Oh, great.
I was trying to eat lunch while listening, but 0.1 inning and six runs later, I had to turn of the radio. It was giving me indigestion. Once it was 7-1 Cubs, I was done.
But the onslaught went on without me. The Cubs pounded out 11 hits and 11 runs.
The Padres got a few runs, three to be exact. Adrian hit his 14th homer of the season, and he’s now hit at least one homer in four games straight. Man, if he wasn’t in Petco all the time…wow. This guy is now leading the majors in home runs.
“I could [not] care less,” Gonzalez said. “It wasn’t enough.”
Drew Macias hit his first homer of the year, but we only got four hits total. We were disgraced in this series, getting swept for the second straight time.
The pitching is what killed us. Chad Gaudin only went 4.1 innings, allowing four runs. Luis Perdomo gave up three, and Duaner Sanchez gave up four. Cla Meredith had a good inning, and Heath got to pitch as well, getting two strikeouts. I feel so bad for Heath.
The worst part of this game was the walks. We gave up TEN walks. Gaudin gave up SEVEN in his 4.1 innings!! These guys just couldn’t find the plate.
The Padres are back home now, after having a closed-door meeting after the game. I sure hope it worked.
Well, time to call in the Professor.
I called Greg Maddux early this morning, explaining this situation to him. He was busy golfing, but he agreed to come over and talk to the pitchers for us.
I sent all the position players to the batting cages, telling them to stay there, for say, five hours. Then all the pitchers gathered in the clubhouse as Maddux began to speak.
“It’s all about location, location, location.” he started.
“Oooooooh!” said the pitchers.
“When you pitch, you need to focus on where your pitch is going more than how fast it’s going.”
“Ahhhhhhh!”
Duaner Sanchez raised his hand. “Excuse me, sir, I’ve been having trouble understanding what exactly a strike is. Perhaps you could explain to me.”
“Of course.” Greg said, quickly drawing something on the whiteboard next to him.
“You see, you want to get the ball over the plate, but not so the batter can hit it,” Maddog explained. “A lot of my success came my hitting the corners, but since you guys don’t have much control, I wouldn’t recommend that.”
Duaner rubbed his chin. “Hmmm, I think I’m finally starting to get it!”
“Good,” said GM Kevin Towers as he walked into the room. “Maybe you can work on it more when you get to Triple-A!”
Next, Greg showed the pitchers exactly how to hold the ball.
After Maddux talked to the pitchers for a few more hours, drilling them about where exactly the strike zone was, I walked him out to his car.
“You’ve got an interesting bunch of pitchers there.” he commented.
“Yeah, but a lot of them are probably going to be kicked out soon.” I said. “Hey, Doggie…”
He stopped, looking at me expectedly.
“You miss baseball yet? ‘Cause we could use another starting pitcher.”
He just smiled.
Well, I hope that meeting helped the pitchers realize a bit more about pitching, especially since they got it from the Professor. The Padres are back home for a nine-game homestand, starting with the apparently red-hot Reds for three. I’m scared. Aaron Harang, who scares my sister, is going tonight against Kevin Correia.
I mean, look at those eyes. They’re creepy!
By the way, I hate Tim Sullivan’s ways to improve this team. They are plain wrong!! We must not get rid of Kouz!!!! He just needs time. We didn’t give up on him in 2007 and we can’t give up on him now. If they traded him, I would need a support group for months and months and months!! It would not be pretty.
Speaking of getting rid of players, I heard Trevor’s eighth save in eight chances yesterday. It plain broke my heart. I miss that dude sooo much!!! But you know what, I am so glad he’s on that team right now and not on the Padres. If he was here, he would be completely miserable. At least he’s on a winning team, and he’s getting to pitch. I just miss him like crazy!!
So, I am getting even more excited about Sunday’s game for one simple reason:
This gorgeous dude is pitching against Jake!!
OK, this is really weird, but I am soooo amazingly excited about seeing this guy pitch! Here’s the story.
A few years ago, Bronson Arroyo walked a Padre batter with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, and we won the game. I’m not exactly sure what he was doing pitching in the bottom of the ninth, but I know it was him. I remember him by the hair, which looked like Khalil’s.
I’m not exactly sure why I became so fascinated with him, but it was probably because the Padres did really well against him. Also, he’s really cute!
At first, I thought it was going to be Peavy-Owings this Sunday, because that’s the way the rotation had panned out, but I didn’t realize that the Reds had an off-day this week, thus pushing Arroyo to Sunday.
What a pitching match-up this is going to be! I am so ridiculously excited, it’s ridiculous!! I mean, I’m so super pumped about watching the opposing pitcher! I think all this losing is going to my head.
But seriously, I can’t wait to see Bronson. He’s amazing. Hopefully my Padres will be able to hit him, though 🙂
You know, I don’t really care that the Padres are losing so much right now. I just want to get out to the ballpark, take pictures of my boys, and watch some baseball. It’s almost guaranteed to be a great pitchers’ duel all the way. I’m going to go out there and enjoy some baseball. Who cares that the Padres are heading down the drain, that they’re a million games behind and can’t hit or pitch?
It’s going to be an amazing game, and my boys had better pull away with the win. And if they aren’t able to do that, I at least hope they can play well. I don’t want to have to walk out of there angry and frustrated and embarrased by them. If they try as hard as they can, I’d be satisfied. But they’d better win 🙂
I’m soooooo excited!! AHHH! Only a few more days….
GO PADRES!!!
Killing the Gem
Last night, Jake Peavy pitched an absolute gem.
Eight innings, two hits, one walk. Eight strikeouts. That was Jake Peavy out there in Dodger Stadium last night. He’s had some bad outings, some OK outings, but this was definitely one of his best. He’s always owned the Dodgers, and last night was no different.
But on the other side, Clayton Kershaw was shutting down my Padres. Kershaw has been pretty good against us, and he held us to four hits and two walks for seven innings. We got nothing against three Dodgers relievers.
The whole story of this game was the ninth inning. Scoreless game, Duaner Sanchez comes in to pitch. He allowed a single, then two walks.
He’s trying to get out of this inning, send the game into extras to give his team a chance. He’s got the bases loaded, but two outs. Russell Martin comes to the plate.
Swinging strike. Good. Ball. Ball in dirt. Not good. Then FOUR foul balls. That must have been really stressing for all the people listening to the game. Then another ball. We’ve got a full count. Yet another foul.
The tension is at its climax here. The runners on all the bases crouch, ready to sprint to the next stop. Sanchez is dripping sweat. He wipes his face nervously, but it doesn’t help the sweat that much. He glances over his shoulders, checking the dancing runners. Finally he turns to his catcher, picking up the sign.
The crowd of 47,210 is on their feet, cheering with all they’ve got. Full count…Sanchez finally throws the pitch…it sails to home plate…and it’s a ball.
Game over. 1-0 Dodgers.
Man.
Sanchez has been terrible. I’m sorry, but we really need to get rid of him. He’s done nothing but help us lose ever since the beginning of the season. You just can’t put a guy like that in a scoreless game, bottom of the ninth. I have no idea why Buddy didn’t take him out. But let me tell you, I wouldn’t be suprised if he got sent down soon. I would be relieved. (Get it? Relieved, relievers in the bullpen? Haha? Wow, that’s bad!!)
Jake, I mean, WOW. He did an incredible job out there, owning the Dodgers as he usually does. He deserved that win. I am so glad that he had a solid outing. He needed it, his team needed it, and the fans needed it. Unfortunately, we can’t even win when Jake gives us a near-perfect outing. Reminds me of last year…
That’s what’s scaring me. We’re 11-12 right now, having lost nine out of our last eleven. This year is starting to remind me of last year. We’re not hitting, our bullpen is miserable, and we’re losing. I’m really worried about this team right now.
I had hoped that we would be able to at least split this series with the Dodgers. We would have to win the next two games to do that. I just am not seeing a winning team right now. I’m pretty sure we can get this game tonight, but I don’t know if we could handle winning two games in a row.
I don’t know what to do with this team. I mean, there’s nothing I can personally do, but I don’t know what the front office can do either. We definitley need new pitching, starting and bullpen. Our hitters…I have no idea. We got four hits total last night, but we were going against a really good pitcher (I wonder how much longer I can use that excuse!).
We aren’t hitting that great. Quite a few of our guys are off to sloooow starts. We definitely aren’t pitching, especially at the end of the bullpen.
I’m not pressing this yet…
…but this team has got to get it going. We need to play hard. We need to be able to beat the really good teams like the Dodgers. We have to be able to if we want to go anywhere in this division.
Tonight it’s an Opening Week re-match of Chris Young and Randy Wolf. Last time they met on that second game of the season, CY came out on top. I was at that game 🙂
Hopefully, our second ace will be able to pull of an excellent outing. And our hitters had better give him some support. And the bullpen had better not give up so much as a run, or else…
(photo credits: files.turbosquid.com, chrisoleary.com, zillow.com, gorirrajoe.com)
Me and My Gang
It’s all for one and ONE FOR ALL YA’LL
It’s a brother and a sister kinda thang
Raise up your hands if you all wanna hang with
With me and my gang
We live to ride, we ride to live
Me and my gang
Jump on that train
Grab a hold of them reins
We gonna rock this thang, cock this thang
Me and my gang
Today in the Latest Leaders I got #15, which is the best I have ever ranked. So, first of all, a HUGE thank you to all my readers. You guys have been amazing!!
Lately I have really grown to like Rascal Flatts. Their music is pretty amazing, and one of my favorite CDs is Me and My Gang.
I thought this song was kind of appropriate for the Padres. Kind of seems like a Jake Peavy song, ya know?
The Padres and their fans are on an amazing adventure right now. Hey, five-game winning streak and on top of the NL West. This season is going to be exciting, at least for a while. I think the Padres fans have been skeptical of this winning team, but more and more are coming behind them and joining the party. We don’t know where our Padres are going, but it will be so much fun to find out.
I know that I, for one, will be sticking by these Padres all year, even if Monday night was the last game we will win this year. Even if we lose Jake Peavy (oh boy), even if we don’t lose another game this year. Even if this team crashes and burns. It’s not easy, I found that out last year. But I’m going to stick by this team no matter what.
So, jump on that train, grab a hold of them reins, let’s rock this thang, cock this thang…me and my gang/Padres!!
Today, in my dedication to #15, I’m going to mention 15 members of my gang who have had superb performances in the last week.
GANG MEMBER #15
Luke Gregerson has been excellent this week. He’s gone five innings, giving up only three hits and that’s it. He’s been able to get out of bases-loaded-with-no-outs jams, and he’s been absolutely solid.
GANG MEMBER #14
Adrian Gonzalez has been warming up over the week. He has eight hits, seven RBIs, and two home runs in eight games. He’s going to be so good this year!
GANG MEMBER #13
Scott Hairston is a stellar ballplayer, man. He’s been so solid this week, with some spectacular catches in center field, as well as some blast from the plate. This guy can flat-out play!
GANG MEMBER #12
Luis Rodriguez has been pretty good in the past week. He’s played in seven games, with three hits and four RBIs. But check this out: he has eight walks! Wow, that’s pretty good. But understandable since he’s been hitting low in the lineup, usually right before the pitcher.
GANG MEMBER #11
Duaner Sanchez has kind of gone under the radar, but he’s been solid for the Padres. He’s thrown three innings, allowing nothing but a walk. He came into some essential games, too, like Monday when the Padres had a one-run lead.
GANG MEMBER #10
Heath Bell has had no problems taking over Trevor Hoffman’s job as closer on the Padres. He has four saves in four opportunities so far this season.
GANG MEMBER #9
David Eckstein has been an excellent pickup for the Padres. He’s had some great at-bats, even though they didn’t always end up in a positive result. Still, he’s been very solid in his hitting and his defense.
GANG MEMBER #8
Chase Headley has been playing very well for the Padres. He has six hits and five RBIs in eight games. He also has two home runs, and great defense in left field.
GANG MEMBER #7
Henry Blanco was not signed by the Padres for his offense, but San Diego has recieved some of it anyway. In addition to catching some excellent games, Henry has two home runs already.
GANG MEMBER #6
Chris Young has throw 13 innings so far, allowing only two earned runs with 12 strikeouts. He has earned two wins, beating Randy Wolf and Tim Lincecum.
GANG MEMBER #5
Jody Gerut has five hits so far, including a home run and three doubles. He’s also had stellar defense in center. It’s been so much fun to watch him…
GANG MEMBER #4
Brian Giles has five hits and four walks, but has not come through in a lot of big situations, like bases loaded with no outs. His defense has been superb, though. He knows that right field corner in PETCO so well!
GANG MEMBER #3
Nick Hundley has definitley improved at the plate from last year. I think he’s going to have a really good offensive year. His catching has also been great.
GANG MEMBER #2
OH MY GOODNESS!!! That picture is soooooo cute!!! WOW, I totally love it!!! Ah, where was I? Oh yes, Kevin Kouzmanoff’s amazingness! He has six hits so far. I think he’s still warming up. He’ll get better as the season goes on… Just look at that guy. Wow.
GANG MEMBER #1
Jake Peavy’s first start wasn’t the best, but his second was incredible. In 15.1 innings pitched, he has 18 strikeouts. I am so thankful that he’s still here in San Diego, and I hope he will be sticking around for a long time.
Again, thanks so much to all my readers! Without you guys, this blog has no meaning. Keep checking back here for all the latest Padres news!
Today the Padres are playing the Mets again, Kevin Correia against Oliver Perez. GO PADRES!!!
Review of a BUSY Weekend
Ah, it’s so great to be back to blogging after a busy weekend! I’ve got a lot to tell you guys, so hang in there! Lots of interesting stuff happened this weekend…
PADRES GAMES
- Saturday against the Indians: 8-6 Indians
It was a pretty good game from the Padres’ side, actually. Cha Seung Baek started, not allowing a baserunner until he gave up a bunt single in the third. He pitched four innings, giving up two runs on two hits. I think he’s getting a little better. Justin Hampson has been falling apart a bit lately. He gave up four runs on three hits. Arturo Lopez gave up two runs. But the other three pitchers did well.
The hitting highlight of this game was probably outfielder Drew Macias. He had three hits and a great defensive game as well. Cliff Floyd drove in two runs, and Luis Rodriguez had an RBI. I think we did pretty well in this game. Obviously the pitching is still struggling, but I seriously think that the hitters are ready to go. They’ve been in camp for a while, and they are ready. But there are still a lot of roster decisions to be made, so it’s good that some of these guys are getting as many ABs as possible. This half of the Padres lost 8-6.
- Saturday against the Giants: 8-4 Padres
We won half of this split-squad thingy! If you had asked me, I would have said that the team in Peoria would have won, but no. It was the Scottsdale team that came out on top.
Cesar Ramos started the game and threw three scoreless innings. I am very pleased that he had a good outing. He probably won’t make the team out of Spring Training, but he has struggled this spring, so it’s good to see him put up some zeros there. Walter Silva pitched two scoreless innings, which is great! Silva is on loan to the Padres from a team in Mexico, and we’re taking a look at him for as potential starter in the rotation. Thing is, he hurt his ankle and Saturday was his first outing this spring. I am very glad that he pitched well, though! Jae Kuk Ryu and Will Inman each gave up two runs. But otherwise, the pitching did pretty well!
Chase Headley and Nick Hundley each hit a two-run double in this game. Kyle Blanks hit his second homer of the spring, driving in two runs. Very cool. My boy Kevin Kouzmanoff also had two hits. Yay! We seem to hit Matt Cain pretty well. At least lately. When we faced him in a game in September, we killed him, getting like five runs in the bottom of the first. And here again, he gave up five runs to us. Interesting. And so, this half (the better half?) of the Padres won 8-4. Great game!
- Sunday against the Rangers: 10-7 Rangers
Well. Not so great game for my Padres, or should I say, their pitching!!! Let’s see…Wade LeBlanc gave up three runs in two innings, Nick Schmidt gave up six runs without getting an out, and Josh Banks gave up a run. I don’t remember who Josh Banks is. He might have come up to the majors last year, but I’m not sure…oh wait, I remember him now. He must have been in the minor league camp so far. Anyways, Joe Thatcher threw a scoreless inning, even getting three strikeouts around two hits. He still needs to go way down to the minors.
Chad Huffman hit a homer and got three hits. Pete Ciofrone also hit a homer. Chris Snelling (more about him later) had a double and drove in three runs. Brett Dowdy had two hits.
And so, we lost. But it was a great game on the hitting side. If you don’t have good pitching, you don’t win. Jerry Coleman is brilliant.
MY BROTHER’S GAME
So, my brother played his fourth game of the season on Saturday afternoon. It was a great game! Pirates against the Marlins, and the Pirates came out on top, 7-2. First of all, the Marlins pitching was not very good. My brother got on base for the very first time in his baseball career by getting walked on four really wide pitches. So, when he’s in the majors some 12-15 years from now, he can say that he got on base for the first time by getting walked on four pitches. How neat! The reporters will be all over that. Just kidding 🙂
Anyways, in the last inning (which happened to be the fifth), the Marlin’s pitching was going nuts. Strikeout, walk, walk, hit by pitch, hit by pitch, walk, walk. Yeah, pretty crazy. In fact, their pitching gave up nine walk in five innings! But now, the most exciting part (to our family): my brother got hit-by-pitch! But not just any ordinary HBP. He got it with the bases loaded! Now he can tell the reporters when he makes his major league debut that he got his first ever RBI by getting hit-by-pitch from a pitcher who was not very good! And he didn’t get hit badly. I think he got it in the shoulder/upper arm area. It was certainly a little sore the next day, but he was fine. Pretty cool! My mom and I were just sitting there laughing. It was pretty amazing!
WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC
Now, the WBC. Mexico is very close to elimination, but with my Gonzalez boys on that team, they have a chance to get back into this thing. I think it was a really great weekend at Petco Park. Some great games were played. And Team USA is still in it for now.
JAKE PEAVY
But now I must have a little rant. About Jake Peavy. Yes, Padres ace and face of the organization is pitching with Team USA right now. He’s had two outings, and he’s given up eight runs in five innings. He’s also given up five walks. I am really worried about him. I feel like he’s pushing himself way too hard way too early. He only had two outings with the Padres before he left. He’s been put into this “playoff” atmosphere, and I know how much pride he has about playing with that USA on his chest. But I really think he is pushing himself too hard. And I’m worried that this will carry over to the season. Last time the WBC came around, Jake gave up three runs in eight innings. That was the year that he got hurt. Can you believe the blow it would be to this Padres team if Jake isn’t in top form this year?? Well, we saw it last year, when Jake was out with that elbow problem. That along with the 22-inning game killed our season. We can’t lose our ace. Not again. So, I hate to say it, but I really hope Jake can get back into camp soon. He really needs to slow it down. Come back to us, Jake!!!!!!!!!!
UM, EDGAR…??
I just had to share this picture. I mean, is that creepy or what? In the photo caption on MLB.com, it said that Edgar was sharing a laugh with his brother Adrian. Looks more like Edgar is yelling at his younger brother. Poor Adrian, always getting lectured by his older, shorter brother. Just kidding, the Gonzalez brothers have a great relationship. And though I have no doubt that Edgar really was laughing in this picture, I just had to poke fun at him. It is a pretty funny picture!
NEW SIGNEES
The Padres signed two players to minor league deals over the weekend: outfielder Chris Snelling and pitcher Duaner Sanchez. Now, the outfielder move is really questionable in my mind. We don’t need another outfielder! Maybe they want him for his bat. But I mean, our outfield is all locked up. We’ve got Jody Gerut in center, Brian Giles in right, and Chase Headley in left. Plus, we’ve got Scott Hairston and Will Venable, who are stellar outfielders. I don’t think we have a place for Snelling, but he sounds like a good player. As for the new pitcher, hey, we need arms that don’t give up ten runs a game. So let’s see if he can pitch!
CHECK IT OUT…
The Best Blog Out There! Get over to this blog and welcome a new die-hard Padres fan to the community. You can never have too many die-hards around here, especially Padres fans! I am very excited to read about another Padres fan’s opinions of our team!
Well, the Padres are off today. Tomorrow we will play The Angels Angels in Peoria. GO PADRES!!
(photo credit: MLB.com)
Unfinished Business 