1-Man’s Opinion on Sports-Monday
‘Spraying Shots to All Fields’
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PADRES…Sitting and waiting on this MANNY MACHADO ankle sprain. He hasn’t run yet, is taking stationary ground balls, limited batting practice, no side to side running, no baserunning, no planting and turning.
FERNANDO TATIS..Waiting too for another CT exam in the slow healing situation with his fractured left wrist. We are headed to July in what I thought would be a long term rehab. Once cleared to swing a bat, take BP, and play on the field, we have to see how his wrist reacts to the torque in his swing. And of course we wonder about this left shoulder separation situation that has flared in recent years.
BLAKE SNELL…What an enigma, what a telent, what a 5-inning pitcher…what a mystery as to why he goes in and out of bad innings. He found himself the second half of last season with 7-quality starts. He’s done nothing of that quality since last year and didn’t do much prior in his first year in San Diego. He’s a far cry from the guy that was (20-4) in Tampa years ago.
SCOREBOARD DOES NOT LIE…The Padres batting average since Machado got hurt (.215)..Runners in scoring position batting average (.207)…Friars are just (19-18) against teams with winning records…Hard to believe Phillies are (40-18) in games at Petco Park.
ROLE PLAYERS…Good seasons so far from Jurickson Profar, free agent pickup Jorga Alfao and just promoted Nomar Mazaro. Credit Padres scouts taking a look at other teams fringe players and players in other teams farm systems. Hate to think where the Padres would be without those three.
LINEUPS…Eric Hosmer’s (.200) bsatting average is mystifying considering its length and the fast start he had. No Wil Myers, a sub .200-Trenth Grisham, and you can understand how they had a (.207) average with runners in soring position since the Machado injury. And there’s still half a season to play on the summer schedule.
ON THE FARM…Jose Castillo’s rehab after 3-years of injuries is nearly complete. He’s waiting for the phone to ring to come back to the Padres, with an (0.89-ERA) in AAA this eason. Waiting and hoping too is Dinelsoh Lamet, who has a (2.08-ERA) in El Paso after a slow start as they converrted hi to a long reliever.
DODGERS…They are in disarray. No Walker Beuhler for 8-weeks with the bone spur elbow surgery. No Blake Treinen till August with the shoulder issue.
Now you lose setup reliever Daniel Hudson with a torn knee ligament for the season. And Andrew Heaney has restrained his left shoulder just one start after coming off the injured list. Dustin May’s year long recovery from elbow surgery has not gotten to the point he will be ready rejoin this team yet. Maybe September.
TREVOR BAUER..What a burden this whole investigation and appeal process is creating. The arbitrator’s decision could come in the next two weeks. Then the Dodgers decision moves front and center. Release him? Use his 32M salary to go find a pitching rental? Do they dare bring him back considering the roster situation they are in? It has been exactly 1-calendar year this week since his last start. What do they do?
ANGELS..19-losses in 23-games heading into the weekend, a threadbare starting rotation, an over worked bullpen, and injuries to Mike Trout, Jarrod Walsh and the season ending surgery to Anthony Rendon. The failures of #1 picks Jo Adell and Reid Detmers. Shohei Ohtani has been magnificent, doing things we have ever-ever seen before, but he cannot carry the whole team. The ugly beanball brawl on Sunday afternoon seemed to unify the team. A quagmire of problems for interim Manager Phil Nevin.
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