Giles Rests, Friar Bats Follow Suit

Harry "Bud" Black finally gave Brian Giles most of the night off (who did earn a walk in the 8th, staying the game after pinch hitting), giving a nod to rarely utilized reserve Edgar Gonzalez. Reminiscent of the 2008 campaign, Edgar made the most of his opportunity, swatting a bomb off former Padre Randy Wolf, staking the Padres to a 1 run lead in the top of the first. Unfortunately, the Padre bats were otherwise quiet, and Chris Young, who allowed one run in 7 innings vice 5 punch outs, was just short of the perfect pitcher he had to be in order to capitalize on the offense his club would contribute for the night. After giving way to Edwin Moreno and Cla Meredith, who both posted zeros on the board, Luke Gregerson allowed 3 hits and run without recording an out, giving the Dodgers their second walk off win in as many nights.

Run Bud Run?
After reaching first on a fielding error in the 4th, Edgar Gonzalez (leading off the inning while batting second) was erased attempting to swipe second base. Scott Hairston, hitting third, then fouled out for the second out, bringing up cleanup hitter Adrian Gonzelez with nobody on base. FF understands that a struggling team needs to shake things up at times to score a few runs, but we'd also love to see a station-to-station approach with the Adrian, who is the only hitter on the team that strikes consistent fear in opposing pitchers. It may very well be that this was a calculated approach with Adrian facing a lefty in Wolf, but he is still the club's finest, most consistent batting threat.

Lead Off Out

Padres RF, Brian Giles, is absolutely killing the Padres lineup by not getting on base in front of Adrian Gonzalez. A Gon broke his own team record by pounding 9 (previously 7) homers in the season's first month in the clean-up spot in the order. Adrain produced more than just power he hit at an impressive .333 clip and only drove in 20 runs. FF has placed blame on Giles, and will continue doing so until he is hitting above the Mendoza line. FF has been waiting for Giles to (at the very least) be moved from the 3 hole, and manager Bud Black finally cooperated...but moved him to lead off! Wow, way to "jump-start" the offense by getting Giles more AB's. FF understands that Giles has had a long and fruitful MLB career, but he no longer deserves to play every day at this very low level. He is just shy of 100 at bats in '09 and he has 2 extra base hits, FF remains underwhelmed with Giles, and Black.

FF will start to follow the Giles-Mendoza watch as we enter the 2nd month of the season.

FF continues to question Bud Black's bullpen usage, but that rant will have to come at a future date.

Managerial Mayham

With sharks circling Bud Black's locker with ever-increasing anticipation that they may get a meal, FF continues to feel the burden of this unacceptable season lift. We think Black should go. After being reasonably happy with him as Bruce Bochy's successor in 2007, we lost patience very early this season. Let's be clear - Bud Black was just a rebound relationship for Friar fans. After common law marriage with Bochy, we were all happy to embrace a new model that wears a normal hat size. Now that we've had our post-Boch fling, it's time to find a managerial relationship we can stand by. Below is FF's suggested list of items for the front office's personal ad, hopefully it will help lead this next foray to the alter:

• Black has recently lamented not having his starting catcher this season. He has nobody to blame but himself for that one. He rides catchers into ground. The next Friar manager has to recognize the demands of baseball's toughest position and give these guys the rest they need to span the season. Bochy was better.


• Black, in the previsouly linked U-T article, isn't happy with pitching, in general nor the bullpen:

  “We kept trying to find the right guys in the bullpen and we never got the right combination from the start of the season. That is something we need to address.”

  Were there more than two or three relievers in the bullpen? I guess FF was confused, because it seemed like Black just trots the same guys out over and over until he's worn them down as well. Bochy was better.


• Black's team never stole bases. In fairness, they played American League style ball - station-to-station, waiting for the "big hit". Great strategy on these teams. In fact, there seems to be a pattern forming here - AL ball doesn't work in the NL West. Bochy over-managed, Black has under-managed. Let's avoid the characteristics of managerial predecessors on this one.


• Three hitting coaches in two years isn't Black's fault. This is actually the primary problem in Padre-ville. The front office has created defacto dysfunction with whomever it cozies up to in the form of an outlandish home. It's time to fix Petco. Good pitching is good pitching - we don't need a brutally unfair park to "make" pitchers good. It should neither play like Death Valley nor a bandbox. A balanced park will give the team a chance when pitching and defense isn't perfect.

FF hopes the front office catches us a hottie.

Where There's Black Smoke...

After Padres hitting coach, Wally Joyner, resigned prior to his likely dismissal at seasons end, the stability of the entire coaching staff is in question. The Padres extended manager Bud Black's contract through the 2009 season this spring, however the Sandy Alderson's and Kevin Tower's in the organization are refusing comment and not publicly supporting their skipper.

FF has regretfully slowed the frequency of posts due to the most disappointing season in recent memory. It takes a lot of poor play and lack of franchise direction to turn two lifelong Friar fanatics into those who can't stand to watch the on field product.

Whether it is right or wrong there are scapegoats when a season falls this shy of expectations. The head that usually rolls is that of the manager, and in this case FF completely supports the idea of going a different direction. Let the domino's start to fall, rip this thing apart and rebuild quickly (possibly starting with the 1st pick in the draft).

Stolen Season

Just a quick point of poorly this Padres team has been put together. In the month of July the Padres stole just 1 base. In the that same moth 96 players in MLB stole at least 2 bases! To make matters worse the player who swiped second was Greg Maddux, a pitcher who is over 40. I put this on Bud Black and the front office. The Padres rank last in baseball in SB's, and have no speed to speak of on the big club or in the system. Last FF checked on a team with no power and a huge ballpark should have a ton of speed. FF assumes it was an oversight in the computer program used to compile this group of players. FF is as close to fed up with this bunch of Padres as humanly possible.

Thatcher Blasted, Again

In what has become a common theme in the 2008 season San Diego manager, Bud Black, hands the ball to relief pitcher, Joe Thatcher, and the lefty proceeds to get absolutely hammered. Thatcher, acquired last July in the Scott Linebrink deal, impressed with a 1.29 ERA in 22 games as a rookie. The reliver has responded this season by posting a ridiculous 8.42 ERA in 25 appearances. The latest installment helped the Reds to their series winning victory 9-5 on Wednesday as Thatcher recorded 2 outs while surrendering 5 earned runs. FF is not sure whether Thatcher's performance is worse than the fact that Bud Black continues to hand him the ball.

Tomko Back, Padres Lose 6th Straight

The San Diego Padres gave Friar fans a familiar feeling Friday night by losing to the Seattle Mariners 5-2 and bring Brett Tomko back for a 3rd tour of duty. The Friars made room for Tomko by sending lefty Justin Hampson to AAA Portland. FF can't get too excited about this move, but not only does Tomko provide Bud Black a swing-man in the bullpen he may also gift SD with an additional draft pick next summer.

FF feels the pain of all Padres fans. What has made this season more difficult than the horrendous record of 32-49 is the fact that the Padres are bringing up the rear in the worst division in baseball. If the Friars are a distant last in this weak division, exactly how bad are they? We'd invest in puts if we had the chance.

Padres KO Kuroda

The Padres had to be worried this offseason with the Dodger's acquisition of Japanese phenom Hiroki Kuroda. After a decent start, Kuroda's shutto has gotten the Tom Selleck treatment, this time with a back-to-back bombs from Brian Giles (to right center at Petco) and Adrian Gonzales (another opposite field shot), kicking off a 9-0 ass-whoopin'. Giles' shot gave Jake Peavy, making his first start since straining his forearm in mid-May, a 3 run lead, with A. Gone adding his 59th RBI of the season (he would eventaually add number 60). Gonzales' little big brother remained hot, with 3 more hits to boost his average to .322. The only Padre not to get in on the action was Kevin Kouzmanoff, who is in the midst of a major slump that has drawn his average down to .254. Bud Black had Peavy on a pitch count of about 90, but Jake would only require 72 to beat LA in 6 innings (4 punch outs, 3 hits allowed, 0 walks).

Notes:

• Luke Carlin managed RBI number one for this career with a first inning fielder's choice. He would then force in a run via a walk in the third.
  
• The Padres are now 8 games under .500.
• Joe Thatcher was optioned back to AAA Portland to make room for Peavy's return.
  

Hairston, Padres Walk Off To 4th Straight 2-1 Win

Scott Hairston hits another huge game winning bomb. The latest Hairston shot, leading off the 10th frame, propelled the Friars to their forth consecutive 2-1 victory (new MLB record). If it seems like Scotty Hairston only hits homers when his club needs it the most, its because he does; all 9 of his long balls have come with the Padres either trailing or tied. Bryan Corey threw 2 impressive innings before Mike Adams tossed a scoreless inning to pick up his first win of the season.

Pads Points

• Jake Peavy threw over 60 pitches in a simulated game Saturday afternoon and reported no pain. It appears as through Jake was throwing smoothly and getting close to returning.


• Michael Barrett hit his first home run as a Padre with a game tying solo shot in Saturday night's win.


• The Padres 4th straight victory is the longest winning streak of the season, the fact that they have won them all 2-1 is a nice piece of baseball trivia.


• Scott Hairston hit his 3rd walk off home run with the Padres in less than a season.


• The entire NL West has won their last 2 contests, the Padres remain 8 games off the pace in 4th place.

Hey, Bud
FF questioned the move Black made in the 6th when he choose to use Tony Clark in Huber's spot with the bases loaded and 1 out. Clark ended up grounding into a fielders choice that forced Brian Giles at the plate. FF would have preferred using Jody Gerut for many reasons that include, speed, ability, and AB's. We think that Black wanted to keep Gerut to double switch into the 9 spot to extend the top of his line up and bury the pitchers spot for the next time around, but there was an opportunity to put up some runs. In addition, Paul McAnulty should be the #1 left handed option off the bench until Tony Clark starts hitting.

Padres Banks In

The San Diego Padres quietly picked up pitcher Josh Banks off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays earlier in the season, and that wire transaction is now paying off. Banks made his first start for the Friars Saturday in San Francisco and was extremely impressive tossing a complete game 6 hitter in the Friars 5-1 victory. FF would like to point out that Banks did not walk a batter, which kept his pitch count to just 101 for the game. Banks made a strong bid at a shut out as the Giants managed to plate a run with 2 outs in the 9th. Bud Black could not have asked for a better time for this complete game as his bullpen is taxed from last Sunday's (May 25th) 18 inning affair and the 13 frames played Friday night.

Friar Footnotes

Left handed Shawn Estes joined fellow starters Jake Peavy and Chris Young on the DL Saturday after fracturing the tip of his left thumb in a freak accident. Estes fell down the stairs leading to the Padres dugout during Friday night's game.

#21

The Pads will replace the injured Estes with Carlos Guevara, a Rule 5 draftee from the Reds organization, who will need to remain with the Padres through the remainder of the season or be offered back to the Reds for $25,000. When the right hander makes his first appearance, he will be the 21st pitcher the Friars have used in the young season.

Estes Steps into Rotation

As we speculated Tuesday, Shawn Estes will assume the 5th spot in the starting rotation. Additionally, as the U-T also hints in the previously referenced article, we expect Joe Thatcher to be sent to Portland in order to make room for Sean Henn. Then again, we've frequently discussed Bud Black's unhealthy reliance on Thatcher, particularly in critical situations, so you never know...

UPDATE:
Glendon Rusch was outrighted to make room for Henn and will likely become a free agent.

Carlin Called Up; Morton To AA

In a much anticipated and reported move the Padres have purchased Luke Carlin's contract from Portland and sent Colt Morton down to AA to get some playing time. FF is happy on multiple accounts with this move:
1). It finally happened
2). Colt Morton finally got a MLB base knock
3). Maybe Carlin will provide a manager Bud Black a back up backstop that he will actually place in the line up...thus provided Josh Bard an inning or 2 off every 3 weeks.

Another Lackluster Loss

The San Diego Padres continue to be outclassed by all opponents this season as they fall to the scorching Atlanta Braves 5-2 on Wednesday night. The Padres scored the first run of the game in the second inning on a balk by Braves righty Tim Hudson. The second and final Padre run tied the game in the sixth as a run scored on a Kevin Kouzmanoff double play ball. Randy Wolf escaped multiple jams by inducing 4 twin killings before leaving with the bases loaded in the 7th of a tie game. Bubby Black handed the ball to Joe Thatcher who promptly coughed up the 3 runs that closed out the Atlanta victory.

FF wishes that just once or twice a week the storyline and game type would be different. Unfortunatley we are all finding out that this is a bad baseball team, with the majority of the season to determone how bad. The Union Tribune pointed out that this 08 Padres squad is on pace for over 100 defeats, buckle in for the rest of this long bumpy ride.

Germano Out, Estes In?

Padres.com has reported that Friar manager Bud Black has removed Justin Germano from the starting rotation. In the short run, Black will insert Wil Ledezma into the rotation's 5th spot. This is not necessarily indicative of long run change, as Black is not committing to who will fill the 5th spot during the next pass through the rotation. There has been long running speculation that Shawn Estes will eventaully assume the spot. The article notes that Estes has an opt-out clause in his contract and that he has indicated that he intends to execute it if he isn't called up by May 15.

While not a major positive change, it's nice to see the Friars shake things up a bit. FF is skeptical of band aids on the club's already gory situation, but something is better than the "stay the course" approach embraced by the front office to date.

Peavy Paces Padre Victory

Jake Peavy was the stopper for San Diego, despite allowing a two run homer in the first to put the Padres down by 1. In recent weeks, this would have been enough to sink the Friars, but Peavy buckled down and the offensive showed signs of life on the way to defeating the Fish Saturday evening at Dolphin Stadium 7-2. The 2, 3, 4 and 5 hitters, Tadihito Iguchi, Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Kouzmanoff and Jim Edmonds, respectively, all managed at least two hits to lead the barrage. To cap off the scoring, Gonzalez notched his third hit with an opposite field bomb (putting him on pace for 35 on the season). Every position player had a hit on the evening; this includes Callix Crabbe, who came in for Khalil Greene in the 7th to play shortstop. Greene's injury has is reported by Padres.com to be an irritated left eye, with no word on when he is likely to return to the lineup.

Peavy went 5 2/3 innings with 8 punchouts, but should have completed 6 if not for a missed strike three call by the home plate umpire on a back door slider. Cla Meredith and Heath Bell were brought and performed inline with traditional bullpen expectations. Bud Black finally found an comfortable inning for Joe Thatcher to work out the kinks in the ninth. After appearing a bit erratic, the now cut-fastball avoiding sidewinding southpaw, induced a double play and slick play from Kouz to end the game.

Crabbe Slick at Short
Crabbe did his best Khalil impression in the ninth with a nifty turn to complete a double play on the a feed from Iguchi. Earlier, Edmonds was easily tossed a second base on an apparent missed run and hit with Crabbe at the plate.

Marlins Announcing Crew
These guys don't call the best game in the league, but FF gives them credit for being one of the few opposing duos that call it fair enough that we don't have to break out the mute button.

Crasnick Pegs Pads Perfectly

Jerry Crasnick's column today on the Padres hits the nail on the head; the Padres can't hit - regardless of venue. He quotes Bud Black as saying,

"In any given lineup, when things are going well and you're scoring runs and the offense is clicking, you might have five, six or seven guys really swinging the bat well... When things are going along as normal -- win a couple of games, lose a couple -- you have three or four guys in the lineup swinging well. What we have going now, on a given night, is maybe one or two guys swinging well.

I think we're going to get out of it, and we'll reach the level of what our guys have done in their careers. Over the course of six months, it's never smooth sailing. But this storm has hit early and it's hit hard."

Of course the real question here is how much career norms will help. FF (unfortunately) sees it as something like this:

1. Brian Giles - Good for 30 doubles, .400 OBP, and 60 pop outs short of third base
2. Tad Iguchi - A solid hitter likely to match his career average of about .274
3. Adrian Gonzalez - Solid #3 hitter on most clubs
4. Kevin Kouzmanoff - Should quietly hit about .300 with 35 doubles, but not a classic 4 hitter
5. Jim Edmonds - This season's Vinny Castilla - great clubhouse guy, but it's likely the end of the road
6. Khalil Green - Will hit .250 with about 25 bombs, but it on fire or not
7. Josh Bard - Seems gassed already, but should fight back to about .280
8. Scott Hairston - The reason he hasn't been a regular has become apparent

Not exactly a fear inducing lineup. We honestly like Jake Peavy's at bats more than many of the team's fielders. We'd love to be wrong about this and hope the Friars catch on fire, but two thirds of the outfield doesn't seem likely to play at an average pace as the season continues, putting the club at a severe disadvantage.

Friars Claim MLB Basement

The Padres lost yet again, staking the claim to Major League Baseball's worst record at 11-19. Such a statement isn't exactly the way I had hoped to welcome my son to world and world of Friar fan-hood. Then again, this is perhaps the proper introduction to San Diego sports, as we have all had to learn how expect the worst to stay sane. But I digress - back to more of the same for this season of discontent. Justin Germano continued his streak of poor outings, allowing 5 earned runs in 5 2/3 innings of work. Most of the damage came by way of the long ball. The Marlins managed 3 bombs, accounting for 5 of the 6 overall runs the plated. Kevin Cameron (3.72 ERA in 8 outings) and Wil Ledezma (1.08 ERA in 16+ innings) both posted perfect relief outings and should be considered by Bud Black for promotions in the bullpen's world order. Offensively, the Padres collected just 7 hits across 4 batters; Kevin Kouzmanoff did his best T. Gwynn impression with a 4-4 nights, including one double. Khalil Greene finally belted his first home run to give the Friars half of their runs in the 6-4 loss at Dolphin Stadium on Friday night. Colt Morton spelled Josh Bard, but has yet to claim his first knock of the season.

Mendoza Line Watch
The following players are currently at or approaching the infamous Mendoza Line, with nearly 1/5 of the season gone:

• Paul McAnulty - .222


• Khalil Greene - .217


• Josh Bard - .209


• Tony Clark - .208


• Justin Huber - .200


• Scott Hairston - .198


• Callix Crabbe - .160


• Jim Edmonds - .160


• Colt Morton - .000

Padres Bullpen Once Again Falters

Another strong Randy Wolf start was spoiled by the bullpen and shaky Padres offense - this time a 6 inning, 9 strikeout effort that kept the team in the game. The 3-2 loss at Citizens Bank Park saw Joe Thatcher allow a go ahead home run to Ryan Howard in the 8th. For the 2008 campaign, Thatcher has allowed a run in 6 of 13 outings and has yet to make a single appearance without allowing at least one hit or walk. By comparison, Thatcher allowed just 3 earned runs in 22 appearances for Bud Black in the 2007 season. He also posted perfect appearances (no walks or hits) in 9 of those 2007 outings. A big question for Padre fans has to be why Black continues to trot an ice cold Thatcher to the hill in critical situations. Should the Padres offense have the ability to plate more than a run or two game, the lack of conversion by the 'pen might not be as noticeable. The lineup boasts just a single hitter batting over .260 at the moment, Adrian Gonzalez (2-4, 2B, HR), and only 4 of those hitters managed knocks on Thursday. Streakiness is certainly part of baseball, but at some point the patchwork outfield must begin to draw some attention for possible upgrades. One has to start thinking that a strategy that requires multiple players to have career years in order to be competitive in one of baseball's toughest divisions (if not the toughest) begs revisiting.

Barrett Still on the Shelf

Padres.com is reporting that Michael Barrett is still on about 10 days away from throwing and batting practice. In the meantime, Bud Black continues to rely heavily on Josh Bard. As we have recently noted, Bard's defense has recently improved, particularly in regard to throwing out base runners. Colt Morton has caught just over 14 innings (1 start) since joining the team in Barrett's stead. With the Friar lineup struggling to produce runs, it is understandable why Black pencils Bard into the lineup daily. Nonetheless, after years of having former catcher Bruce Bochy carry and play 3 catchers, it will intriguing to see how Bard holds up over the course of the season under the heavy workload.

Cameron Bolsters Bullpen

Kevin Tower's most successful Rule 5 pick since Will Cunnane has returned to the big club. Last year, Bud Black treated Kevin Cameron with kid gloves for the first half of the season. While Cameron seemed to excel before the break, a quick glance at his statistical line revealed a dangerous number of walks allowed (18 in a hair under 30 innings pitched with a 0.31 ERA). Before imploding in September, Cameron found his control and was rewarded with more high profile duty out of the pen. Down with flu during Spring Training, Cameron has been brought up from Portland with Enrique Gonzalez being outrighted to the Beavers to create roster space. The move will shore up a traditionally sturdy pen that has struggled thus far in 2008, a welcomed positive story for Frair fans everywhere.

Peavy Off, But Singles Lead the Way

Jake Peavy clearly didn't have his best pitches Friday night, but his mindset pushed him through his third quality start - and win - of the season. The offense picked up Peavy with a barrage of singles and a lone double to plate seven runs. Six Friars amassed multiple hit games with Kevin Kouzmanoff leading the way with a trio out of the cleanup spot. Callix Crabbe showed his impact in the eighth innings while pinch running for the ever-reliable Tony Clark. He easily stole second, then scored on Tad Iguchi's dribbler through the 3.5 hole. Given the continued struggles of future hall of famer Trevor Hoffman, who was again touched up for a run, despite earning a save, these kinds of insurance runs cannot be understated. The bullpen's other slow starter, Joe Thatcher also coughed up another run.

Tossed
Scotty Hairston threw a strike to Josh Bard to erase Dodger Russell Martin, who came into the plate with a half-hearted shoulder. Bard and Martin exchanged pats on their midsection and butt, respectively, to show no ill will.

Coach Hill Would Be Proud
Iguchi continues to impress FF by playing ball the right way (for you PLHS alumni out there, that means Coach Hill's way). On a run-and-hit, Iguchi practically threw his bat to protect flat-of-foot Brian Giles at second.

The Ghost of Bruce Bochey
Bud Black was momentarily possessed by Bruce Bochey at Dodger Stadium, instructing Jake Peavy to forgo a sacrifice bunt attempt to instead ground into an inning ending double play in the second.

Dirty Hand Raises Rediculous Rumor

A blog has noticed what appears to be a dirty Jake Peavy hand, insinuating that he may be doing untoward. Bud Black has come to Peavy's defense, saying it just the combination of rosen and plain old dirt. Peavy himself has welcomed a "hand check" anytime. FF thinks there is absolutely nothing to this.

Lefties, Walks Sink Padres

A trio of lefties took a strong start by Justin Germano (1 unearned run allowed over 6 innings) and turned it into a laugher. Step one in the three step path to defeat was lefty Joe Thatcher, who was clearly off his A-game after getting a ground out to kick off the seventh inning. He was allowed walk the bases loaded in a 1-1 game, with fellow lefty Bud Black standing by him to allow a 2 run single to 0-for-2008 Russell Martin. Black finally found his hook, bringing southpaw Glendon Rusch on to surrender a run scoring hit and collaborate with backstop Michael Barrett for a passed ball to plate another. A subsequent base knock by Padre nemesis Andrew Jones added the inning's umpteenth run. All told, Black under-managed the situation into a 6 run Dodger inning on just three hits. All of this following Brian Giles' game-tying jack over the Petco porch against a very sharp Hiroki Kuroda. FF generally thinks highly of Black, but is already flustered this season by his affinity for specific relievers (as we were in 2007). This is particularly unacceptable if the team is going to continue carrying 7 arms in the 'pen.

Bud Black is a Fricking Genius

Just before Scott Hairston's two run blast Tuesday night, we at FF were pondering why Hairston is batting in the 5 hole ahead of Khalil Greene (27 HR, 97 RBI in '07). Then Hairston put the Friars up with a single swing, so we have now embraced it whole heartedly. After tonight's bomb, we have officially declared Harry Ralston "Bud" Black a fricking genius - again.

Hairston Launch Humbles Houston

The Padres have begun the 2008 season with two straight victories over the Houston Astros. The offense wasn't clicking on all cylinders as it was on opening night, but the Friars found Scott Hairston's 2 run blast enough to hold off Houston 2-1. The Padres had 2007 All Star, Chris Young, toeing the rubber on Tuesday and he battled through some control problems (5 walks in 5 2/3) to earn his first victory of the year. Young loaded the bases full of 'Stros after a base hit and 2 walks in the 6th. Skipper Bud Black turned the ball over to Joe Thatcher who got out of the jam after walking in the only Astro run of the game (and season). The lefty Thatcher retired the first batter of the 7th inning before giving way to side-winder Cla Meredith who cruised through the 2 batters he faced. Heath Bell worked a perfect 8th inning to set up baseball's all time saves leader in the top half of the 9th. Trevor Hoffman took his first steps into game action this year to the familiar sound of AC/DC's "Hells Bells". The Padres closer struck out the first and last batter he faced while working around a two out infield single.

Padres Points:

The Padres hand the ball to future Hall Of Fame hurler Greg Maddux on Wednesday night, the crafty right hander will attempt to keep pace with the top 2 pitchers in the Friar rotation.

Khalil Greene and Josh Bard each had multiple hit games with the Friar shortstop collecting 3, while the Padre backstop had 2. Brian Giles remains the only Padres regular without a hit through 2 games.

The Padres team ERA jumped all the way to 0.50 to kickoff the new year, Tuesday's 2-1 victory will be one of many close, low scoring affairs in 2008.

The Padres had a chance to extend their lead in the bottom half of the 8th (against former Friar Doug Brocail) after a 2 out Bard single sent Scott Hairston to second, an infield single by Paul McAnulty would have loaded the bases for a pinch hitter (presumably Tony Clark). Unfortunately, Scott Hairston got caught venturing too far off third after appearing to assume that P Mac would be called out at 1st.

Padres figure to start newly acquired Justin Huber in left tomorrow as the Astros will start a southpaw on the hill. Pads fans also figure to get their first view of the year of catcher Michael Barrett.

All time saves leader Trevor Hoffman is fashioning a longer hair style than in years past, reports out of spring training were that Mrs. Hoffman likes the longer locks.

This Bud's For You

The San Diego Padres extended the contract of manager Bud Black through the 2009 season on Tuesday. As a rookie skipper last season, Black lead the Friars to a 89-74 record, and earned a spot in a one game playoff for the NL Wildcard. Black provided longtime Padres fans a breath of fresh air last season highlighted by his handling of rookie Kevin Kouzmanoff, who got off to an extremely rough first month of the season; Kouz came on strong down the stretch and ended as the 3 hole hitter in the Friars lineup. In years past FF has continually seen ex manager Bruce Bochy stick with unproductive veteran players and bury the younger players on the bench (with the exception of Sean Burroughs).

Black made the transition from the American League (where he was the pitching coach for the California Angels of Anaheim in LA) to the NL and handled double switches and pinch hitting situations well. The former MLB hurler handled his pitching staff as well as could be expected while he and pitching coach Darren Balsley helped Jake Peavy realize his full potential and garner huge returns from Mets castoff Heath Bell.

FF is happy to see Buddy Black on the top step of the Padres dugout for a minimum of 2 more years. We are sure that many former big league hurlers are also excited as Black helped dispel the notion that pitchers do not make acquit mangers.

Gerut a Go?

FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal is reporting that Jody Gerut is likely to get the starting nod in left field in the likely event that Jim Edmonds not be available on Opening Day. Additionally, the article suggests that Gerut may be platooning with Scott Hairston should Edmonds be return to the lineup. Rosenthal goes on to link Seattle Mariner Jeremy Reed as a candidate to roam Petco's spacious center field, if needed.

This would mean that Chase Headley is headed to Portland to hone his defensive skills in left field, despite doing as much as anyone could possibly expect to push his bat into the lineup. The cautious road is probably the best bet for Chase. One has to wonder if Bud Black would be as tolerant of a Klesko-esque left fielder (could Headley even be that bad?) as he was of Kevin Koozmanoff's cold start at the plate in 2007. The Moneyball approach says yes, but Black may say no.

Comparing Padre Managers

Geoff Young over at Ducksnorts.com recently posted a comparison of Bud Black vs. Bruce Bochy. His post uses a lot of statistics from the Bill James Handbook 2008 (haven't received my copy just yet). Some of the main differences outlined were (FF reaction inlined):

• Bochy used more than 3 times the number of pinch runners in 2006 than Black did in 2007. I'd attribute this to two things. First, Bochy chronically over-manages. Second, the '06 team (as well as many before it) had a number of veterans nearing the end of their careers that Bochy was infatuated with, seemingly for their experience and their ability to provide an excuse that would indulge his propensity to over-manage (i.e., Mike Piazza, Ryan Klesko, Vinny Castilla). Advantage: Black.
  
• Black pulls his starters faster and uses more relievers on consecutive days. Black seems happy to take a strong outing and rely on the bullpen - at least his favorites. Keeping the only part of the team that is truly strong intact was probably a wise move, but FF wouldn't be surprised to see Heath Bell's arm fall off on his 20th consecutive day of use in the 2008 campaign. We'd like to see him balance out the 'pen a bit more, but prefer Black's approach to Bochy's "use 'em cause we got 'em" approach that seemed to frequently pair a shaky reliever with a tenuous situation. Advantage: Black
  
• Black uses many more pitch outs than Bochy. In all fairness, he was probably just trying to slow down the racetrack that was the base paths. If Bochy was good for something, it was that he seemed to get the most out of catchers - not a huge surprise given his background. Disadvantage: Padres front office for disregarding the defensive skills of catchers in their selection of backstops.

Overall, FF enjoyed the first several seasons of Bochy's reign, but grew tired of his tinkering and increasing reliance on veterans over the years (did you not cringe to see Mark Bellhorn repeatedly trotted out when younger guys watched him strikeout from the pine?). Bud Black did a nice job overall. One of the bright spots for 2007 was Kevin Kouzmanoff - he'd probably be playing for Pittsburgh with Xavier Nady right now if Bochy was still in San Diego.