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“Padres–Dodgers…Hot Teams-Big Matchups”

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The Padres chased away alot of ghosts this past week.

They had gone 22-years without winning a playoff series.  Ended that anchor around their neck.

They were just (1-10) in playoff games dating back to 2006.  That is gone too.

The St Louis Cardinals took a pretty fierce beating in losing the last two games badly.

What a fun season.  The 23-come from behind wins.  Averaging a league high 6-runs per game.  The 7-Grand Slam home runs this season.

A starting rotation that was dominant early, bailed out by a bullpen that has found its roles and is deep as ever in baseball now.  The roles surely have been reversed.

Is there a better left side of the infield than the Machado-Tatis combo, with the glove and standing in the batter’s box?

Now the Dodgers are on the radar screen in the best of five series that starts Tuesday in Arlington, Texas.

If the Padres scare you because they are hot, then describe the Dodgers.  They sledgehammered their way thru the shortened season, going (47-13).

They did this having said goodbye for 4-veteran starters from last year’s team, Kenta Maeda, Rich Hill, Hyun Jin-Ryu and Ross Stripling.

They put up those numbers despite really substandard seasons from Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson, Keke Hernandez and a myriad of injuries to Justin Turner.

But they are healthy right now and they are ready, bats and arms to face the Padres bats and arms.

There are challenges out there right now for Manager Jayce Tingler.  He went to the bullpen 23-times in 3-games in beating the Cardinals.

He faces 5-games in 5-days and knows he must get quality innings from his starting pitchers beginning on Tuesday.

It’s doubtful Mike Clevinger and Dinelson Lamet can be part of the 28-man roster.

There is a huge question right now about the trust-worthiness of Chris Paddack, who has a (7.33-ERA) over his last nine starts, and is suffering from a loss of confidence and a loss of his stuff, having given up 14-homers in 44-innings..

The Dodgers are not home free either.  Who knows what a suddenly looking aged Kenley Jansen will look like coming out of the bullpen.

The offensive stats are almost even.  LA with a (.257) batting average…San Diego at (.256).  The Dodgers with an amazing 222-walks this year.  The Padres with the impressive slugging percentage and OPS edge.  LA with 128-homers…San Diego had 95 bombs.

The matchups will be fun to tollow.

The Padres and Dodgers are even-steven in terms of batting order.  They can both kill you with bombs, but the Padres get more men on base and wear out pitching staffs.

The Dodgers definitely have the edge in quality starting pitching.
The Padres own the shouting rights to the bullpen.
The Padres have the more productive bench.
The Dodgers have a World Series proven manager in Dave Roberts.

The 5-games in 5-days structure favors the team with proven starters.

LA won 6-of-10 from the Friars during the regular season.  But now they are both healthy, both hitting bombs.

This has been a lopsided rivalry for years.  The Padres have closed the gap,

It was a strange week last week.  The Cubs didn’t make it.  The big hitting Reds went 22-innings without a run.  No Twins, No White Sox, no Indians moving on to play this week.  The Best of 3-series was scary.  Think what happens now in the next five days.

The winner of this is likely the team going to the World Series because no one can imagine the Marlins-Braves, in the other bracket, will pose much of a threat.

Enjoy this week in baseball.  It’s been a long time coming.

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Hacksaw returns…

Will be posting on this website later Sunday evening.

Good to be back

Hacksaw

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“Bad Day–Padres–Chargers”

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It’s been a bad week for both the Padres and the Chargers.

The Padres, headed to the playoffs next week, might have to start the postseason without the ace of the pitching staff.

The Chargers head to weekend three of the schedule without their starting quarterback, his unavailability because of a medical issue with a team doctor.

Not good news on either front.

Mike Clevinger, the huge trade deadline acquisition from the Cleveland Indians, came off the mound after 1-inning in his latest start against the Angels.  The max-effort righthander threw 12-pitches, but tweaked his lower bicep near his elbow after throwing a curveball to the second batter he faced.

He felt tightness, felt a twinge, just two days after threw a 25 pitch bullpen session where he did not feel anything wrong with his arm.  He is a power pitcher, who has wicked stuff, and power delivery.

Biceps are scary.  The location, down near the blow, is scary too.  And these type of injuries, inflammation, need time to heal, and the Padres don’t have time.  They start the National League playoffs next week.

If Clevinger cannot take a playoff start, things get complicated, because fellow starter Chris Paddack has had just 1-quality start in his last 7-outings, with an ERA over 6.00-in that span.

Meanwhile the scary story with Chargers QB-Tyrod Taylor has become a hot story nationwide.  Taylor suffered a cracked rib in the season opening first series in Cincinnati.  He played the entire game, but the situation got worse last week.

Limited in practice, Taylor finally had x-rays late in the week that showed two cracked ribs.

The quarterback took a pain-killing injection Sunday morning, hours before the 2nd game kickoff against the Chiefs.  He developed pain in his chest, then had breathing problems during warmups..

Now we find out a team doctor, who gave him the pain-killing injection on Sunday morning, missed the rib, and punctured a lung.  That led to the breathing and pain problem.

Borderline malpractice?  A bad medical mistake?  This is a bad look for the Chargers organization.  Accidents like this should not happen.

Cracked ribs take time to heal.  A damaged lung is much more serious.

We have not heard the end of this story.  The NFL Union wants answers.  The doctor has not been identified, disciplined, or removed from the staff, yet, but this is serious-very serious.

One wonders what the feeling is inside the Chargers locker-room in terms of “trust of the medical people” employed by the club.

There has been a history of medical treatment issues with Charges team doctors, dating back to the Junior Seau pre-suicide health issues, all the way back to the Chargers drug scandals in the 1970s with pep pills…and pain killeers.

Yes, rookie QB-Justin Herbert played very well against the Chiefs, so he will keep the team competitive , but he is a rookie, and more big games are up next on the schedule.

And Taylor has been told he will not be playing for an indefinite period of time.

This is not a good time, with a Padres team that is now hurt, not hitting, and has lost 5-of-7.  Not a good time for the Chargers either, with a big picture question about the medical care given to players.

Injuries are part of the game.  Treatment of injuries, the intangible part of the Padres-Chargers seasons, is important too.

Bad day hopefully does not turn into a bad week and impact what many hoped would bea good season.

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“NFL-Quarterbacks—Changing of the Guard”

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You know it will happen one day.
The Quarterbacks will be gone.
Maybe it’s happened and we did not even know it.
Maybe it is common place, but still it’s tough to see great ones go.

John Elway retired.  so did Peyton Manning.
Andrew Luck up and left injured.
Eli Manning left saddled with losses and interceptions.

We knew the next wave had arrived, led by Russell Wilson and all things-Seattle. , Deshaun Watson. can play but needs more help around him in Houston.
Patrick Mahomes is now into his 3rd year of explosive Sundays in Kansas City.

Here came Lamar Jackson and his dynamic Baltimore skills.
Jared Goff had success early, going to the Super Bowl already..
Dak Prescott has won alot but not the big one in Dallas.
Ben Roethlisberger has a Hall of Fame resume in Pittsburgh and still time left on the clock.

A new coach and a new lease on life in Green Bay for Aaron Rodgers.
It has been fascinating to watch Cam Newton in New England on a changing team.
Who knows what to think about Jim Garoppolo in San Francisco.

We are waiting for Sam Darnold to become a star, but that is a bad Jets team right now..
The same for young Giants 2nd year thrower Daniel Jones on a really bad  team.
Drew Lock has shown flashes in Denver but now is hurt.

Others washed out like Blake Bortels.
The jury is still out on Mitch Trubisky in Chicago.
Ryan Tannehill won at the end of last season in Tennessee, but can he do it again?
Derek Carr seems caught in the middle of a love-me..love me not career in Las Vegas.

Carson Wentz seems to be regressing in Philadelphia.
One fears Matthew Stafford is wasting away in Detroit.
Ryan Fitzppatrick is minding the store in Miami for the time being waiting for Tua.
Alex Smith got hurt, robbed of greatness at the top of his career..

Gardner Minshew seems like a gunslinger, but can he win in Jacksonville.
It might be too early to determine Dwayne Haskins future with Washington.

Matt Ryan seems to be a man left behind by the collapse of his Atlanta Falcons.
Teddy Bridgewater is trying to hold onto his career, now in Carolina
Kirk Cousins has played poorly in Minnesota, and that’s alot of money he makes.

Who knows what to make of the ups-downs of Cleveland’s Baker Mayfield.
Josh Allen seems to have arrived now that he has good people around him in Buffalo.
And Kyler Murray is wowing everyone in Arizona.
Justin Herbert was pretty flashy in his Chargers debut.
Joe Burrow is a big game player on a low talent grade Cincinnati team.

This season may be the last for three future Hall of Famers.
Philip Rivers still wants to make big plays for the Colts, but is not the same he was before.
Sadly Drew Brees looks to be the middle of the road aging veteran in New Orleans.
Tom Brady has not dominated yet in his debut games in Tampa Bay.

The NFL is all about quarterbacks.
You got one good for you.
You have an old one-good luck this year
You don’t have one, you better draft one soon.

The most important position in the NFL, quarterback, undergoing a changing of the guard.

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“Padres Playoffs…Who-Where-Why?”

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They will play meaningful games in October, the Padres, something they have not done since 2006.

They hope to do something they haven’t done since 1998-win a playoff series.

They have a legitimate chance to win and play deeper into October, not just show up for the Wildcard round, but move to the Divisional playoffs, and who knows, maybe to the NLCS.

PITCHING…..You need starters,you need relievers, you need strength in numbers.  And the Padres have developed that.  You can pick your lead starter from Mike Clevinger, a former World Series starter with the Indians, or Dinelson Lamet, the strikeout artist, who has dominated in the short season.  Unsung hero is Zach Davies, a steady, former 16-game winner in Milwaukee.  Waiting in the wings is Chris Paddack, the ex-Angels ace Garrett Richards, and even third year starter Joey Luchessi if need be.  The key is that the Padres have starters who can be turned into long relievers in post season, guaranteeing you innings if starters have a shaky start.

RELIEVERS…A select group to choose from when the phone rings in the bullpen.  Trevor Rosenthal is hot as the closer right now.  Drew Pomeranz now has closer qualities in his portfolio.  Lefthander Matt Strahm is trustworthy in a setup role.  Craig Stammen has provided  similar results from the right side.  There is no Kirby Yates because of elbow surgery, but look at the depth.  Look around the other teams, you don’t see this kind of strength in numbers.

BATTING ORDER….They are dangerous, because they can all get hot and hit.  They get on base, they work at bats deep into the count, they drive in runs, and they hit homers, lots of homers with the bases loaded.  A strong bounceback season for Manny Machado, positioning himself as a true MVP candidate.  Wil Myers has ended three years of misery with a strong season.  Trent Grisham has proven dangerous at the top of the order.  Fernando Tatis, despite a late season slump, continues to be dangerous and dynamic.  Jake Cronenworth has pushed himself into the ‘Rookie of the Year’ conversation.  Eric Hosmer is back healthy.  Catcher-Austin Nola has given the team quality work with the glove and is hitting.  Add in off the bench bat Greg Garcia’s productivity, and the experience of Mitch Moreland, and this is a good team.

GLOVES….They play the shift exceptionally well.  The left side of the infield is spectacular.  They chase down balls in the alleys, thanks to the tenacity of Grisham and the speed of Jurickson Profar.  This is an under-rated chunk of this success story.

THE OPPOSITION…With the final week upon us, who knows whom the Padres will get to play in the best of three opening round at Petco Park.  It might be the Cardinals, plagued by the Covid outbreak and nagging injuries.  The Phillies have bats, but an ailing Bryce Harper and JT Realmuto,plus a really thin pitching staff.  Somehow Miami, and all those kids, are still in the race, despite being the epicenter of the baseball outbreak at the start of the season.  Cincinnati has had injury after injury to its lineup.  If healthy, they could get hot and starting hitting.  The Giants are still in the chase with a patchwork batting order and a strange starting rotation.

THE SCOUTING REPORT….Regardless of who qualifies for the final 4-playoff spots in the NL race, none of those teams shapes up equal to what the Padres can put on the field, in the batters box, or on the mound.  The Padres are positioned to go deep into October.  How does a showdown series vs the Dodgers feel?  Looks good to me.  And you?

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