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“Padres-What I Like–What I Don’t”

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Playoffs baby.

I like the sound of that, not that the Padres are earning their way into the postseason the conventional way.

The fact it is a 60-game limited season helps the Friars alot.

The fact the owners and union agreed to expand the playoffs from 10-to-16 teams means there is an ample chance for the Friars to actually play in October.

I like the six starters they have in the San Diego rotation.  Chris Paddack takes the next step to stardom.  Garrett Richards looks as fierce as he did winning double digit games for the Angels.  Zach Davies is an innings eater and we shall see if he can do what he did in Milwaukee.  Joey Luchessi is proven.  Cal Quantrill is established as a spot starter or long reliever with quality stuff.  Dinelson Lamet showed electric stuff at the end of last season, a year removed from surgery.

I like the bullpen anchor, the 44-saves guy in Kirby Yates…the pugnacious Craig Stammen..the role playing status of Drew Pomeranz..the versatility of Matt Strahm.  And waiting in the wings are utility arm Luis Perdomo..an established Emilio Pagan…and Pierce Johnson and Tim Hill seem trustworthy pieces..

Beyond that look who is on the taxi squad, Michel Baez, Gerrardo Reyes and the kids, Adrian Morejon, Mackenzie Gore and more.

You see anyone in AL or NL West, the teams they will play, have those numbers, that depth, and proven guys, aside from the Dodgers and maybe Houston?

I like the left side of the infield, Fernando Tatis and Manny Machado.

I need to see a bounce back statistical season from Machado and the same from Eric Hosmer.  And a need of 60-games of quality defense in that infield.  Last year was messy.

2nd base seems to be a utility man’s position.  Don’t know if Jurickson Profar can hit back to the way he did early in his Texas career.  Greg Garcia can play lots of roles, but can he hit?  And then there is Ty France and his bat, without a true position to play.

I like Austin Hedges glove and leadership, not his bat.  I like Francisco Mejia’s bat but not so much his glove.

All the outfielders are pretty much gone, aside from Wil Myers and his erratic bat.

No more Hunter Renfroe, Manny Margot, Franchy Cordero.

We see now if Tommy Pham can hit in San Diego after hitting in the tiny confines of Tampa Bay.  Trent Grisham has a glove, and has hit in the minors-not so much in the majors.  His chance now.

The other pieces in the puzzle, let’s see if Jake Cronenworth and Edward Olivares are spring training phenoms, who flame out when pitchers start throwing real heat.

The Padres are now a playoff team.

How far they get remains to be seen.

The Dodgers have bats, but have an under the weather Clayton Kershaw and an MIA-David Price.

Hated Houston has Verlander and Grienke but questions after that.

Better start quick with all these games against LA and Arizona.

Looks good on paper.  See if it is good on the field.

Best chance the Friars have had in a long time, thanks to a short season and an expanded playoff format for this one summer.

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“Baseball–1st Pitch–60 Games”

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Baseball starts hours from now.

It will look different, feel very different, but it will be a pennant race-pennant chase.

If you had told each team they’d be tied for first place on opening day, people would be excited.

Here’s a look at storylines with each club here in Southern California.

PADRES….They have the pitching, at least six starters deep, as many as 10-established relievers…and young phenom arms waiting in the wings if they need them.  They are healthy, though their top 3-in the rotation have all had elbow surgeries.  Chris Paddack, Garrett Richards, Zach Davies, Joey Luchessi, Dinelson Lamet and Cal Quantrill.  I’d take that rotation any day of the weak.  That and a load of setup guys before you ever give the ball to Kirby Yates.  The big question, will Manny Machado-Eric Hosmer-Wil Myers-Tommy Pham  produce big numbers to match the big contracts (97M) combined they are getting?  A possible wildcard team but may have to be better than (30-30) to make this happen.  If Fernando Tatis and Francisco Mejia hit, it makes everyone else in the lineup dangerous.  They will get pitching.  Do they get hitting is the issue?  And what kind of gameday manager will Jayce Tingler be?  And the schedule, pretty tough, 17-of-first 23-games against Dodgers-Diamondbacks.  If your are going to the best, you better beat the best, and that starts right out of the gate.  If they can win their share early against the NL-West big boys, they are in this thing.  If not a likely long-short summer of disappointment…Hoping (35-25)

DODGERS…They shelled out a ton of money (385M) in that 12-year contract extension to take Mookie Betts off the free agent market, but a lifetime (.300) hitter, with power and MVP talents, he earned it.  But Dodger Blue baseball is more than Betts.  It’s Cody Bellinger, Justin Turner, Corey Seager, Max Muncey.  It’s Kershaw-Beuhler-Urias-May-Jansen on a strong pitching staff.  Not having David Price is a setback.   It could be a (40-20) season though they do play some big boys in the West Coast schedule they have.  But they have so much hitting, so much star talent, you can understand why people think they are headed back to the World Series again.  The schedule makers love the Blue…They play 24-of-33 against the Giants-Mariners-Rockies and “the prove-yourself-to me” Padres in the first month..

ANGELS…So much hope now sidetracked again by injury, this time the oblique issue with 3B-Anthony Rendon, who won’t be ready opening day.  The lineup would be scary with Rendon, Pujols, Trout, Simmons, Upton and maybe rookie Jo Adell.  But the pitching is suspect with health issues lots of places.  Andrew Heaney must make all his starts.  Griff Canning has looked good coming off elbow issues end of last season.  Will ex Oriole Dylan Bundy stop serving up home run balls?  How long will it take Julio Teheran, coming off the Covid virus issue, to get ready to join the rotation?  And is there enough in the bullpen?  They do have Joe Maddon in the dugout, and that might make a difference, but you need healthy players, and he has too many question marks as opening day looms for the Halos.  Maybe a (32-28), if they outscore everyone, but maybe not enough to be a wildcard team.   Who they play…7-out of the gate with the Astros-A’s, and some 9-games against the threadbare Rangers-Mariners.

It’s time…let’s PLAY BALL…

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“Aztecs Football–Great Unknown”

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Walking down a blind alley, that’s what it feels like.

For San Diego State, head coach Brady Hoke, and the 85-players he brings to camp on Friday.

Unknown if there will be a virus outbreak among his roster.

Unknown if the Mountain West Conference will allow teams to play just a league schedule or a full schedule.

Unknown, if this gets worse out West, weather spring football might be a better time to play.

Brady Hoke-answered lots of questions on Tuesday:

..Excited for fall camp to open
..Players have been fully involved in Zoom meeting-conditioning
..We have had great leadership from training staff and players
..I am confident we will play a full season
..Confident in MWC leadership
..Confident in our training staff and doctors
..Our 85-players have been tested-no one has failed
..Senior class working thru pandemic-social issues-academics
..We met with Pastor Miles McPherson to understand the message
..Friday-we begin walkthrus
..August 7th-full practice
..2-plans for camp…practice 1-vs-2s…3-vs-4s
..No players have opted out with health issues
..We have educated their families twice
..Met with parents freshman July 6th to update them protocols
..Players health-safety is a premium
..We explained distancing-flow charges-safe environment
..We have provided mental health help on campus to players
..Next two weeks-we will learn plan how to isolated if positive test
..We would likely quarantine 1-player…test the others again
..Waiting for conference to tell us how to replace UCLA game
..We are holding meetings outdoors..may set up virtual screens too
..We are lifting outdoors
..Team is totally healthy
..Big 10-Pac 12 have figured it out
..Full face shields and masks-still discussing that
..We are following science-they are telling us
..This has been learning curve-we have great communication

So all the plans are in place, but no one really knows.

Walking down a dark tunnel.  SDSU is like everyone else.  Will there be trouble in that tunnel, or will it lead them onto the football field for their home opener against Sacramento State.

Okay today, what about tomorrow, what about 3-weeks from tomorrow.

The next six weeks for the Aztecs and Brady Hoke, a great unknown.

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“High School Sports–Had to Happen”

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If you are an Oceanside Pirate, a Poway Titan, a Carlsbad Lancer or a Rando Bernardo Bronco, you feel disappointed.

You might play at Helix or San Ysidro or Mira Mesa, but you won’t be playing this fall.

LaCosta Canyon and Torrey Pines, Escondido to St Augustine’s, Ramona and Eastlake..you have an empty feeling.

It’s everywhere, affecting everyone, and it is sad.

The CIF, the governing body of high school sports, had to do it, and they did it.

There will be no fall sports at any high school in the state of California.

This had to happen, and the reality is Governor Gavin Newsome made the decision for them last Friday, when he announced schools would not open this fall in California.

Virtual learning will take place via computers starting in September and going forever however long it takes to tamp down the raging spread of the virus.  Classrooms will be closed and so will stadium gates.

The scary spread of the virus triggered all this.  So did the cost of testing athletes multiple times a week.  And the very real risk of an outbreak.

The CIF’s decision doesn’t solve the virus, and it creates alot of other issues, for every high school athletic department in the state.

The big money maker is high school football.  No camps opening up next week, no games to be played on Friday night, until January.

The CIF calendar shows football camps opening December 14th.  Games starting on January 8th.

The playoffs will roll out in early April, and the state finals will be April 17th.

We can do that because we live in San Diego.  You might have trouble doing that in parts of Northern California, where winter weather is in full force that time of the year.

In essence, the CIF is going to schedule 3-seasons of sports, into 2-seasons on the calendar.

Basketball will start camp in January, and will play into spring with the state tourney June 19th.

Baseball will open later, and play till June 26th.

The big issue will be the crunch on high school facilities.  High school football fields also serve as the home of the soccer team at many schools.  Ditto for field hockey or lacrosse.  How to make all that fit.

The basketball court serves as home for volleyball and wrestling and more.

Baseball, track, cross country, swimming, are more than often operating out of their own facilities.

And then there is the wear and tear on athletes, some who excel and star in a couple of sports in a given school year.

And there are issues now with coaches, some of whom work for a couple of sports, crossing over from one season to the next.

And for the star athlete, the star quarterback or running back, does he even play in the spring football season, or try to graduate early, and head to college early, where he might take place in spring football.

CIF incoming Commissioner Joe Heinz will have his hands full now, trying to develop an all-encompassing calendar, to fit all the teams onto fields and in practice facilities.

Maybe teams play a reduced ‘conference only’ schedule in the marquee sports.  Maybe there are more quad track meets to give everyone a chance to get competition in.  Maybe basketball pares down its holiday tourneys and out of league schedules.

It will be different, it will be for one year, but it still presents challenges, especially if the US cannot put a lid on this virus.

Maybe as high school athletes get to play games in January, we will have a vaccine in time, that might change the course of our lives.

But for now, no football in Oceanside, delayed wrestling in Poway, a different schedule  for Torrey Pines basketball and all the other schools.

800,000 student athletes up and down California won’t be in class in the fall, and won’t be on the field, on the court, or in the gym, at least in September.

We are losing a part of our community for the next couple of months, on top of all the other things we have lost, jobs, family time, friends.

Would have never thought a ‘stay at home’ order would last this long, spill this deep into other facets of our lives.

The CIF, with an impossible task ahead of them, did the only thing they could.

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“NFL–And So It Begins…Right-or-Wrong”

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It is supposed to start today, these large gatherings of people in one place, despite the terrible virus outbreaks in Florida, Texas, Arizona, California.

These large gatherings are called NFL training camps.

The Zoom meetings continue between the NFL and the Union over the safety protocols.

Testing, distancing, masks, training camp protocols.

Monday, the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans are supposed to open camps.

The NFL schedule says rookies report on July 21st….Quarterbacks and injured players on July 23rd…Full rosters on July 28th.

All this despite the fact the Union has not been able to agree on the structure of camps with the NFL, the league says ‘BEGIN’.

The NFL Medical head approved the emergency response plan each team put into effect, in case there is an outbreak in camp.

But the league said ‘START’.

No-one knows if it will be a 90-man roster in camp or an 80-man roster.

Neither side has agreed on the argument, no preseason games, one preseason game, two preseason games?

They are still arguing over money, and what happens to salaries, bonuses and option clauses, if camps have to be shutdown, or the season has to be cancelled after it starts in September.

They disagree on the structure of opt-out clauses for players.

They are at odds over testing 2800-players per day or do it on an every other, or every third day testing sequence.

But Roger Goodell and the owners say ‘PLAY ON’.

The spike numbers go up daily in Florida, where the Dolphins and Tampa Bay are supposed to open came.

The tragic numbers rocket in Texas, home of the Cowboys-Texans.

The Rams-Chargers-49ers camps will open with California recording historical numbers of deaths, hospitalizations and ICU unit fill-ups.

But the NFL said ‘REPORT’ and the players will have to.

How scarey are the next 24-hours, 48-72 hours, 7-days, the next month.

Consider this.  Rams Pro Bowl left tackle Andrew Whitworth confirmed.  He, his wife, and children all became ill, all tested positive, after having lunch with a relative.  3-days later that person got sick, and then so did Whitworth’s entire family.  And this from a family member.

Think about what an outbreak can look like in an NFL locker room…where 90–players will be situated.  Think about full team meetings.  Think about positional meetings with a coach.

Consider the reality all 90-Chargers players may test clean at the intake medical visit before camp opens.  What happens if 3-days later, players inside the locker room test positive, after already having been with teammates.  That word is ‘EXPOSURE’

The Rams have to be thinking of Whitworth’s family situation and be concerned that could happen inside their locker room, once opened to everyone.  That word would be ‘CONTAGIOUS’.

There’s a new word no one is using in the NFL dictionary, ‘FEARFUL’, and everyone should be at this hour, going forward.

And so it begins, NFL training camps.
So it might begin a real bad outbreak because camps have begun.

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