The Padre Post

Talk about a beat down.  The Padres beat the Rangers 24-7 today and racked up 25 hits.  Russell Branyan had a game fit for a video game. He went four for six with two homeruns, five RBIs and four runs.  Adrian Gonzalez also homered as did Kazmar.  There was a lot of offense in this game for certain.

Greg Maddux made his last start of the spring and looked sharp.  He gave up two runs on four hits and a walk with five strikeouts in six innings of work.  Linebrink closed the game out with a perfect ninth.

David Wells takes the mound for the Padres tomorrow against the Royals in a day game.

The Padres got their bats going yesterday and they ran up the score in a 10-7 win.  They scored eight runs in the third inning alone.  Adrian Gonzalez had a big day at the plate.  He went two for four with his fourth spring homerun and he drove in three runs.  Khalil Greene also hit the ball well and he went yard for his fifth homerun of the spring.  Brian Giles scored twice and drove in two runs while Vince Sinisi scored twice.

The pitching wasn’t nearly as pretty.  Steve Watkins ended up picking up the win despite giving up four runs in two innings.  Chris Young was scheduled to start but they didn’t want to show him off to the Giants because that’s who the Padres will face when Young gets his first regular season start.  It was also nice to see that Kevin Towers is all right after getting hit by a foul ball.

The win improves the Padres record to 13-11 this spring.  They play the Royals tonight. I’ll be listening in on Gameday Audio.  It’s just a little over one week until the Padres opener and I’m getting really excited. 

Marc Normandin previewed the Padres today over at Baseball Prospectus.  As always, it’s a more sabermetric look but it’s also balanced as well.  He talks about some of the young guns like Kevin Kouzmanoff, who should be an upgrade for the Padres at third base.  He also talks about the Padres strong bench as well as the rotation.

The overall prognosis is that the Padres definitely has a team that can win another NL West.  This is a solid and timely read.

Geoff Young reviewed the Padres over at the Hardball Times today in their five question format.  He touches on everything from Bud Black as a manager to Josh Bard as a starting catcher.  He finishes up with a look at whether the older fellas in the rotation, David Wells and Greg Maddux, can have an impact on a team that’s already won two straight division titles.

I like the Padres heading into this season.  They have some nice stories (Greg Maddux in his twilight) and enough young talent to make the team very interesting.  A lot of people think the Dodgers are the team to beat, but I think the Padres will be right there when it’s all said and done.

MiLB.com recently previewed the Padres minor league system.  There’s profiles on players at each level of the Padres minor league system, including Cesar Carrillo and Luis Cruz.  They also recap the 2006 draft as well as predict that the best players in the Padres minor league system will be Cedric Hunter and Cesar Carrillo.  This is a great one stop read for just everything happning that’s minor league for the Padres.

John Maffei at Baseball America recently profiled Kevin Kouzmanoff.  There’s some quotes from Kevin Towers about why the Padres pulled the trigger and sent Josh Barfield to Cleveland for Kouzmanoff and it touches on how the Padres have some pretty high hopes for the rookie as the starting third baseman.

My favorite Padres blog, Ducksnorts, recently put out a 2007 Baseball Annual.  Looks like you can go hardcopy or download with the download being less then $10 bucks.  Looks like a solid bargain at close to 200 words.

Greg Maddux misses his spring start yesterday against the White Sox because of a mild lower abdominal strain.  Bud Black indicated that he would have thrown had it been the regular season so it can’t be too serious. 

Tim Stauffer ended up picking up the start and he threw three shutout frames although he hardly coasted through it.  He walked three and gave up two hits but he struck out two.  Paul McAnulty went yard and Geoff Blum doubled and drove in two runs in the 10-8 win.

Baseball Prospectus recently wrote up a fabulous player profile on Padres reliever Scott Linebrink.  It wasn’t that long ago that Linebrink was on the trading block but other then Trevor Hoffman, he’s been one of the Padres best and consistent relievers that past couple of years.  This is also a guy who, once Trevor Hoffman hangs it up, could easily shift into the closer spot.  Nice analysis with a great bottom/up look at Linebrink’s major and minor league career.

The Padres beat the Diamondbacks yesterday in a 5-3 win and it was truly a team effort.  All eight hits came by different Padres while all five runs and all five RBIs were by different Padres as well. 

Chris Young had a decent start. He gave up a solo homerun to Jerry Hairston but he struck out three in his three innings of work.  Clay Hensley throws this afternoon against the Angels.  If you have gameday audio, you can tune in from work.