Random Notes After a Quick, Vicious Beating.

by Drama on Apr 17, 2008 7:37 AM PDT Comment 8 comments

Fifteen games...fourteen quality starts. Fourteen out of fifteen...yet a record of 8-7. That really worries me. We've gone through the rotation three times now. Take a look at the ERA's of our starters:

Jake: 1.64

CY: 5.17

Mad Dog: 2.00

The Wolf: 1.42

Mi Hermano: 1.35

I look at those numbers and I just cannot believe we're sitting a game over .500 right now. It just doesn't even seem possible.

Is it too early to call the Jim Edmonds signing a mistake? He's been a liability on the basepaths and in the outfield. Edmonds was brought here in the hopes that he was healthy enough to regain some of his Gold Glove form of seasons past. He has not. Far too often we're seeing balls landing beyond his reach, over his head, etc. Daniel Ortmeier's game winning double off of Heat? Loney's double off CY in the first inning on Saturday? Tulowitzki's double last night? Those are balls Jim Edmonds was brought here to catch. He can't. I'd rather have Hairy in center and Chase learning his way in left field right now. At least we're doing something for our future with that outfield. Instead we're stagnant with a guy that has no chance of being in the same position in 2009.

Someone mentioned in the open thread last night that Cla had problems when he was brought out for a second inning of work. He's had seven appearances so far in '08. In five of them he worked an inning or less and didn't give up any runs. In the other two where we tried to extend him he has given up runs. Not sure what his career numbers are in that situation, but I did notice these career stats for Cla concerning his pitch count:

Pitch 1-15: 1.44 ERA

Pitch 15-30: 9.00 ERA

But my question is this: With us carrying seven relievers, why was Cla being brought back for the ninth to begin with? Heat hasn't pitched since Sunday. Thatch hasn't pitched since Sunday. Why not throw one of those guys just to show them something different? It was a one run game!

Josh Bard had a tough play at the plate last night. It seemed that he should have caught that throw from Giles and made the tag on Atkins to keep the game tied in the top of the sixth. To quote Matty V, I can't help but wonder if Josh is a man in need of a blow. Since Barrett got hurt in that game against the Giants on April 7th...the Padres have played a total of 69 (giggidy) innings and Josh has caught 62 of them. I'm not saying it has had a negative effect on him yet, but eventually it's going to. If Buddy doesn't trust Colt with a start, isn't it time to bring in a vet that we can trust?

Other than that, things are pretty good. Jack's getting big, smiling a lot. Riley kicked ass in her Trike-A-Thon on Tuesday. WG promised to take me dancing tomorrow night. Pretty quiet at work. You?

This FanPost was written by a member of the Gaslamp Ball community and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Gaslamp Ball managers or SB Nation.

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Edmonds

It’s not even the missed balls that bother me. It was that hard single up the middle last night that really bothered me. He didn’t charge the ball, was slow to get to it and then when he still had a shot (I thought) at throwing to the plate…he just kind of held it and looked around. I don’t fault him if he didn’t think he could get the guy at the plate, but he looked ridiculously indecisive about how to play a routine single.

by Winfield's Ghost on Apr 17, 2008 7:52 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Edmonds has been woefully

inadequate in the OF. I didn’t expect him to do anything offensively, but I thought he’d be able to catch a flyball or two.

I agree, lets get Hairy in CF. Put Huber or Headley in LF. Ship Edmonds off somewhere. If we’re not going to make those plays in CF, we might as well get someone with some pop.

And yeah, Bard needs like 8 days of rest. I’ve never been a big Bard fan myself, and his play over the last few games had kind of reinforced that. They brough Morton up (presumably) for a reason. Why not give him a shot? What’s he gonna do, K with RISP. Oh wait, I think I’ve seen one of our other catchers do that a few times this year…

by Phantom on Apr 17, 2008 7:56 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I won't say it's too early

I’ve been out on him since… last week. He needs to be a better hitter than Brian Giles (no knock against Gillies, he’s producing) to justify him being on the field if he’s gonna play defense like that.

I gotta place the blame on our offense or tip the cap to the Rox pitchers. Being ahead going into the 7th is our forte, and we need to get back to it.

The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world.

by Axion on Apr 17, 2008 9:37 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree on most counts

There’s an obvious disconnect between our starters’ numbers and our W-L record which seems to fall squarely on the bullpen (and possibly on Buddy’s usage of them).

Cla’s ERA given his pitch count could be deceiving. It’s not necessarily the case that “extending” him causes a drop in performance, but more likely that a drop in performance causes him to forces him to stay out on the mound longer. Obviously, pitch count is correlated with of how many batters a pitcher faces. And how many batters a pitcher faces is in turn correlated with ERA (the batters have to go somewhere, if not back to the dugout).

Josh Bard is need of a blow? Get in line, buddy. I think I’m done working for the day. In fact, I think I’ll take a field trip to the Goose Island Brewery.

"All the big fellas in baseball are gonna get scrawny and weak like those stat geeks that nobody likes." -- Roger Clemens

by TheGrandHatching on Apr 17, 2008 10:02 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Totally agree on the pitch count thing.

by Drama on Apr 17, 2008 10:08 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

i agree

on absolutely everything Drama said here.

i am not going to convince myself that there’s somebody out there that wants Edmonds. i think he would make a tremendous 4th OF (can play all 3 OF spots, can probably PH, has some power). i know that would make him a grossly overpaid 4th OF, but with a gigantic OF most teams like to be as young and speedy as possible (partly for defense, partly because there’s more opportunity for triples) and putting Edmonds out there every night is not the way to pull that off.

by John (obviousman) on Apr 17, 2008 1:09 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

catch question

why aren’t we even thinking about Todd Hundley’s kid? he’s been a slow-rising phenom for years now and is hitting .324 in triple A.

i’d love to know a legitimate answer to this. are they holding him back as the “catch of the future”? seems ridiculous if they are that they’d be so scared to give him a start or two up at the big league level.

by John (obviousman) on Apr 17, 2008 1:14 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Have I mentioned that I hate Purple Dinosaurs?

And, I'm still waiting for Meredith or Bell to come in the seventh inning of April 4's game with the bases loaded, the score tied and Thatcher struggling.

by Wonko on Apr 17, 2008 2:11 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs