Padres Pitching Potential

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Like the morning fog, the marine layer, over on the coast, you wonder if it is really sunshine you will see coming this way for the San Diego Padres.  Or is the fog so thick, you cannot really make out what you are really watching.
 
And so as the 2014 season grinds to another disappointing, non-playoff end, we have another late season run, where the future has some fuel, while the current season seems burned to the ground.
 
There’s no doubt the Padres have put together an enormous pitching staff, some of it proven, some of it potential.
 
Tyson Ross has become an ace, tutored by Bud Black and Darren Balsley.  It is amazing to think this guy was (2-11) and designated for reassignment by the Oakland Athletics.  Claimed by San Diego, the 6-6 live arm became a reclamation project.  Almost a full year since getting into the rotation, his numbers are impressive.  The record is (11-10) pitching for a team that does not hit.  In his last 10-starts, he has a (1.64) ERA.
 
They fixed his mechanics, rebuilt his confidence, and he as rewarded them with a ‘tough as steel’ pitching mentality.
 
Andrew Cashner has shown us flashes of brilliance, 98-mile an hour fastball and all.  He has dominated in clumps of starts, and then he has gotten hurt.  He has had 6-different arm issues over a three year span, some with the Cubs, some with the Padres.  As dominant as he is throwing heat, and mastering all his other pitches, the tendency to breakdown must be of concern.  He might be a better closer with that velocity, where he would throw 20-pitches in the 9th inning, rather than risking him by asking for 100 pitches per start.
 
Ian Kennedy loves pitching at Petco Park.  The former 20-game winner is a bullodg, a workhorse, and a pros-pro.  He might not be your number one, but you know you will get competition everytime you give him the ball.  A pretty good acquisition from Arizona.
 
Jesse Hahn has hardly pitched at all, after torn elbow ligament shelved him coming out of Virginia Tech.  How-why Tampa Bay gave up on him is amazing.  A year ago this week, he was in the Florida State League-Class A ball.  Now he has an ERA just above 2.00, and has been the biggest suprrise of all, in a late summer of success on the mound.
 
No one quite knows for sure what to make of ‘Viva Havana’, Odi Despaigner.  He had three really dominant outings, but has been shelled his last three starts.  He doesn’t look the same since the 123-pitch near no hit effort a couple of weeks ago.  But he fools people, shows no emotion, doesn’t waver on the mound, and seems that he can handle this level with his different arm slots and variety of pitches.
 
Beyond that are the young arms on the rehab trail, all coming off elbow surgery.  Joe Wieland, Casey Kelly, Corey Leubke, Robbie Erlin,  and the warrior veteran Josh Johnson, coming off a 3rd operation, but who is resolute he can be the pitcher he used to be in Miami, a couple of years back.  Some of them will likely make it back.
 
In the midst of all this summer heat, and the constant frustration of a losing team, we always seem to get to August, with some type of winning streak, that makes you think ‘next year’ might be a good year.
 
As dreadful as the Padres have hit, at one point with a team batting average of (.214), good pitching keeps you in games.  And since the All Star break, some have started to hit, and close losses have now become close victories.  San Diego is (14-8) since the break.  Some turnaround for a team that was within a half game of last place a month ago.
 
This will be a critical off season to add select bats to backup this good pitching.  The Tyson Ross’s of the world have only so many bullets in the gun, on those arms.  Might there be sunshine here next year, if the pitching grows more, and somebody who can hit, arrives?
 
Looking thru the marine layer of fog, looking for a beacon in the batting order to make it a good season, not just some decent finish to another losing season.

 

NASCAR Nightmare

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It has been a horrifying 48-hours in NASCAR racing.
 
Tony Stewart, the heavy footed-hot head superstar, is dealing with the emotional trauma of killing another driver, Saturday night, in a dirt track sprint car race outside of Rochester, the day before he was supposed to race at Watkins Glen.
 
Stewart, as fierce a competitor as any of the so-called Good Old Boys, races all the time, not just on the big money NASCAR sprint cup circuit, but also on dirt tracks around the country.  He is heavily involved as a part owner of some tracks, and gives back to the roots of the sport from where he came.
 
Saturday night saw him in a tire-to-tire battle for first place at Canandaigua Speedway.  He touched wheels with young driver Kevin Ward, spinning his car into the outer wall.  As the caution came out, Ward came out of his car, walked into the middle of the track as to confront Stewart while the yellow caution was out.
 
Cars were not doing their 120 miles an hour under yellow, but rather 50.  As Ward shook his fist at the cars coming around, he was nearly hit by one car-which veered left.  Stewart trailing right behind, veered right, and clipped the 20-year old driver under his back wheels,  flipping him 50-feet into the air. 
 
Stewart’s high powered engine was heard to rev just before contact was made. 
 
No one knows if Stewart did that to take a run at Ward; did that to try and pull out of his path.  But as he revved, the back end spun and the rear tire caught Ward.
 
Stewart was devastated at the impact, and pulled up to the wall, knowing what happened.
 
Race car drivers are the ultimate macho breed.  The speed, the daring, the danger is all part of their DNA.
 
Stewart is the ultimate marathon man, a racing junkie.  A year ago he caused a 15 car wreck at the same track.  Last summer he shattered his leg in a horrific flip in another dirt car accident.
 
Stewart has been a big winner of the circuit; he’s also been involved in big wreck, and big temper tantrum issues.  He also gives enormous amounts of money to charity work, in addition to giving back to all the tracks that help young drivers grow the sport they love.
 
Ward had developed a fast-guy reputation in just three years.  He might have been the next Tony Stewart, racing and acting on the edge..  
 
But on this sad night, he died doing something stupid-going on the track to confront a driver who had clipped him.
 
Stewart will not be charged by police for the ‘racing accident’ but you have to believe he will be scarred for life by it.

Chargers Win

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It might have been a meaningless game in the standings, but it meant alot in terms of evaluating talent, that (27-7) trashing of America’s team last night..
 
The Chargers offense went up and down the field with the ball, hitting big play after big play, to serve notice how dynamic and diverse they are.
 
The Bolts defense has alot of work to do, and still seems to be the weak link it was last year, eventhough the team got to the postseason and won a playoff game.
 
They beatdown a bad Dallas Cowboys defense last night, a team missing what few quality veterans they had on what was a 32nd ranked unit from a year ago.  Injuries and inept are the two words to describe what Dallas puts on the field now.  Dangerous and dynamic describes San Diego’s offense, after they put up (395Y) in offense..
 
But preseason games are all about grading individual talent and their assignments, and a number of newcomers really stood out.
 
CFL-import wide receiver Donnie Inman caught passes short, went deep for a 70-yard score, and blocked out people on big catches and runs.
 
Brandon Oliver, from the University of Buffalo, looking like, and wearing Darren Sproles number, was a force running up and inside, and to the edge too, and now merits a much longer look.  Tough as a block of cement.
 
Colts free agent acquisition running back Donald Brown ran hard, and ran quick in a second period series or two, and is truly a quality added ingredient.
 
And second year wide body defensive tackle Kwame Gaethers merits more time now, clogging up the middle and showing some burst for someone north of 335-pounds.
 
Philip Rivers was typically good; the lst team unit caught balls, as did young developing tight end Ladarius Green.
 
Of course the film sessions will show how really poor the Chargers defensive front was against the run when it was starters vs starters.  And it will show there is a lot of work to be done by cornerback Stevie Williams, safety Darrell Stuckey and others in the secondary.
 
There was no sighting of Manti Te’o making any defensive plays, and safety Jaleel Addae got hit with a penalty and got beat on passes too.
 
But for a coming out opening preseason game, it was a strong offensive showing, and new people now will get longer deeper looks.
 
If I’m a Bolt fan, be happy with the explosiveness of the offense, but be worried, this defense, with lots of starters back didn’t do so well.
 
If you’re a Cowboys fan, they may not be a playoff team again, with virtually no talent on defense, and a quarterback coming off two back surgeries.
 
Mike McCoy and Tom Telesco are making great progress.  Jerry Jones’ franchise looks as if it’s headed in the wrong direction, again.

 

Padres New GM

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He won the press conference.  Now we will see if he can get players to San Diego so they can win more baseball games.
 
The Padres hired AJ Preller as their new General Manager, a five year deal, coming from the Texas Rangers.
 
The next generation of Whiz Kid execs, super scouts, big on saber-metrics, and with a track record.
 
Preller is given much credit for helping flip the woeful Texas Rangers, from high priced underachievers, to young and talent laden.  This year they look terrible in the standings, but losing over 1400-man games to injuries, and virtually your entire pitching staff, will do that to a team.
 
But when you look at the Texas Roster, the first thing that strikes you, aside from the $130M payroll and Prince Fielder’s name, is where they come from.
 
Preller’s reach has been far and wide. Yu Darvish, the Japanese pitching sensation.  Players from the Dominican, Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico and the Pacific Rim.
 
People call him ruthless in his pursuit of talent.  He was on the road for 320-days scouting last year.  He laughed when he talked about the 3-million miles he has on his flight cards.
 
Some think he is a recluse; others say pushy; some think too edgy.
 
The Padres think all those things factor into what the Rangers became, with the players he scouted and recommended they sign or draft.
 
The press conference was full of flowery phrases.
 
Owner Ron Fowler called him an “unknown diamond” in the Texas organization.  He was an encyclopedia of knowledge about the players in the Padres organization.  They expect him to lure some Rangers scouts with him.
 
Owner Peter Seidler said he was blown away in the first 9-hour meeting the ownership group had with Preller, about what he knew and what he thought of the franchise he would inherit.  .  .
 
CEO Mike Dee said he was the “best of the brightest minds’ they interviewed from all the young guns they brought in.
 
The Padres estimate they spent 100 hours over a five week span, interviewing Preller, talking to other people about him, and then meeting amongst themselves.
 
They had three interviews with him and believe he is the right guy.  Some of the same phrases have been mentioned with the last two GMs hired here, Jed Hoyer and Josh Byrnes.  Of course the people who said that, and who hired them, are all in the Padres rear-view mirror.
 
He’s been called a ‘maverick’, and the Padres better be right, for they have just eaten the contracts of 3-different front office people to get this guy on board.
 
But maybe doing things differently will work, for what has been done in shaky drafts, wasted money in the Dominican, and the failure to explore and sign Cubans-Mexicans-or Pacific Rim players, have hurt San Diego over the last decade.
 
2-winning seasons since their last World Series experience have led us to this point.
 
AJ Preller starts on the job today, with tons of information on players, a strong track record, and an attitude.
 
They flipped the Texas Rangers.  He believes they can flip the Padres, not to be just .500, or be a wild card team, but to play in October, hopefully soon than later.
 
He may be a bright light.  His energy in that meeting with the media lit up the room.
 
He won the press conference.  Now the real challenge.  Make the team win.

Baseball Drugs

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So you thought it was over huh?
 
Bud Selig is headed towards retirement, but the steroid scandal that blighted his run as Baseball Commissioner may not be over.  No not, after the Biogenesis suspensions, upgrades in drug testing, and a cleansing of the game.
 
Now batting, the DEA, and they have their own sets of rules for this game.
 
Alex Rodriguez is sitting out this  season in his 162-game suspension.  The other 13 in the Biogenesis scandal have severed their penalty, but there is seemingly more coming.
 
Tony Bosch, the Miami drug dealer, who turned state’s evidence to help MLB, has been arrested and plead guilty last nite to dealing steroids for 5-years in South Florida.  Yuri Sucart, the uncle of A-Rod, has been arrested for doing the same in the Dominican.  8-others were also nabbed in raids.
 
Case closed, no not at all.  Now the rumors are the DEA will hand out more indictments, and that may include the players who were caught-trapped in the Biogenesis probe.
 
The DEA wants more names, not of players, but of dealers.  They want players to sing or squeal under the threat of indictments.
Drug dealing is like a chain link fence, there’s always another connection, and a web of other people, buying or dealing. 
 
Hope you enjoyed the 2014 season, because their might be more suspensions coming for somebody in 2015.
 
Bud Selig will be leaving shortly, thinking he cleaned up the game.  He is excited about the financial state of the game.  Peace with the Union.  Drug Testing.  The Wildcard and Pennant Races.
 
But the Steroid era is obviously not over.  So says the DEA.