Finally back...

It has been a hectic month at the Bronson Municipal Fieldhouse here in Bronson, MI. I have spent all my time wading through zoning ordinances as opposed to bad sports articles. Let's see what we can find my first day back:

TEST DRIVE STARTING TO SPUTTER

Adrian Gonzalez, the All-Star first baseman, is starting to swing at pitches he’d be hard-pressed to reach with an oar.

This seems accurate: Last year he swung at 23% of pitches outside the strike zone, this year it's up to 30%. I would submit that '07 and '08 were up there at 28% so this is not unprecedented for Adrian.

Kyle Blanks, the Opening Day cleanup hitter, is hitting .162 and striking out at a staggering .455 clip.

Yeah, that's bad for your 9th place hitter.

Everth Cabrera, the primary leadoff man, has scored one more run than has Kevin Correia, a pitcher.

To be fair to Cabrera he has had no time anywhere above A ball. So the jump to the Majors has probably been a bit of a shock.

Tony Gwynn the Younger, who continues to trail his dad by eight batting titles, has drifted down to .202.

His dad was frickin awesome though!

If hitting is contagious, the San Diego Padres appear determined to develop baseball’s strongest immune system.

HA!

To say their hold on first place is tenuous is like saying David Eckstein might have difficulty dunking on Kobe Bryant.


Geez, he already knows he's short, leave the man alone, he plays with a lot of heart.

This is a ballclub due to start dropping.

Ehhh...Actually they are under performing their Pythag.


Sunday’s 1-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers completed a three-game sweep and confirmed that management’s emphasis is on long-term development rather than short-term results.

I thought that was confirmed when they traded away Jake Peavy. Also there all the trade rumors surrounding Gonzalez for the last year. But if you want to use a 3 game series in May go for it. I suppose if they really wanted to win now they would have made some trades for this 3-game series in May.

For despite Blanks’ continuing and profound slump, despite the prevailing lousiness of their lineup and despite a National League West without a genuine juggernaut, the Padres continue to approach the 2010 campaign as a test-drive rather than as a race.


I've read this sentence 3 times and still have no idea why the campaign is a test-drive DESPITE slumps and lousiness.

Meaning: expect more of the status quo or, if you prefer, the status woe.


So close to a Joey Lawrence reference there. I'd have finally gotten to add that tag.

If it does not happen until 2011 (or later), the Padres may be OK with that. Six weeks into their season, they remain committed to a course that never did run smooth; entrusting their fate to an inconsistent (arguably overmatched) young core while resisting the kind of patchwork players who might yield more predictable results.

Well, the Royals and Pirates achieve predictable results year after year. I don't know if that's a goal you should have.

Case in point: Pat Burrell. Two years removed from a 33-home run season with the Philadelphia Phillies, Burrell and his .202 batting average have been designated for assignment by the Tampa Bay Rays. The Padres have indicated no interest.

Interest in what? Do they need someone to help the grounds crew with the tarp? Cause if so, Burell had a tarp coverage rating of 2.31 last year. 2nd behind, guess who, Pujols and his ridiculous 3.43.

Neither have they been tempted to make a meaningful run at free agent Jermaine Dye, who hit 27 homers last season in the service of the Chicago White Sox. Part of the difficulty with Dye relates to the length of his layoff, and the time it would take to get him game-ready. Another part, obviously, relates to his salary expectations.

Also that the Padres play in the NL and Dye can't cover a bed with a comforter. That's not even getting into his offensive numbers. Hint: Don't be fooled by the 27 homers.

Yet even if the fiscal issues could be surmounted, philosophical barriers would remain. Though fans generally prefer the quicker fix, it’s tough to nurture a young player who is constantly looking over his shoulder for a boarding pass to Portland. The question confronting Hoyer and manager Bud Black is how long to allow a Kyle Blanks to keep flailing at the big league level before showing confidence in him becomes counterproductive.
This is the same question the Phillies faced in 1973, when they stuck with rookie Mike Schmidt through a season in which he finished with a .196 average. That Schmidt led the National League in home runs in each of the next three seasons en route to enshrinement in Cooperstown is a classic example of the virtue of patience.

Or bringing a player up one year too early. What you call patience, I call impatience since they could have let him developed more in the minors.

That the Phillies finished last in 1973 is a reminder of the likelihood of short-term lumps in any long-term proposition. That Black started four players hitting .215 or below Sunday is evidence of his limited alternatives.

And we get to the crux of the problem, there's no one else to throw out there.

Presumably, the Padres’ offense is pretty close to low ebb. With four singles, one walk and a hit batter against the Dodgers’ Chad Billingsley, and no baserunners against the L.A. bullpen, the Padres succeeded in advancing only one runner as far as second base. They wasted another brilliant start by Wade LeBlanc, who lost both a no-hitter and the game on Russell Martin’s sixth-inning RBI single.


That is a bad game. ONE bad game. But still, a bad game.

With a single in two at-bats Sunday, Venable raised his batting average to .220. For the Padres’ offense, that passes for progress.

Well let's see:
Bottom 5 in average: check
Bottom 5 in HR's: Check
Bottom 5 in team OPS: Check
Bottom 5 in ISO Power: Check

And you get the picture. You let a bunch of rookies who haven't developed yet start, this is what you are going to get. Just ask the Astros and their .276 OBP. .276? How on Earth do they ever win any game?

Case Closed!