When the newspaper ran a sports section column on Padres GM Jed Hoyer evaluating whether to bring in an outfielder who can actually hit major league pitching, I counseled patience--at least through the weekend. That would give us time to see how Kyle Blanks, Tony Gwynn, Scott Hairston and Will Venable did against the rival Dodgers and Giants.
The Padres swept SF but were in turn swept by LA. It's not time to hit the panic button but, with the wins at AT&T Park coming almost entirely because of pitching, the way to lean is obvious. Thinking time is over. Doing something should be the new mode. As has already been reported, AAA is basically devoid of outfield talent because they're all up here -- and hitting like minor leaguers. Ouch!
The options are to sign someone who is currently not on a roster, which comes down to former White Sox OF Jermaine Dye, or trade surplus pitching. Signing Dye might be a quick process but it would be several days to get him ready to play a game. A trade could take days or weeks, and it is something you'd rather get right than wrong.
Here are how the current four outfielders fared over those big six games against the rivals:
Blanks - 0-for-11, 5 strikeouts
Gwynn - 2-for-15, 3 strikeouts and just 2 runs scored
Hairston - 3-for-11, 1 RBI and 1 run
Venable - 2-for-10, 4 strikeouts and an RBI
Now, it is unfair to judge players based on one week's worth of games, but this is actually just a microcosm of what's been happening over the past month with these players. Blanks had no hits and struck out in nearly half his at-bats. Gwynn struck out more times than he was safe on a batted ball -- not exactly living up to the family name -- and as a leadoff hitter he scored only twice. Hairston scored just once. Venable's .200 mark looked pretty good in comparison.
If you fault my analysis, then you're not only seeing things differently than me but also with manager Bud Black. In the past week, he gave three outfield starts to backup infielder Oscar Salazar and one to aging pinch hitter Matt Stairs. In the Bay Area finale, Hairston played all three outfield spots as Black juggled his unproductive lineup during the game.
In all fairness, the rest of the lineup didn't produce, either. 3B Chase Headley was 3-for-24 over that period and 1B Adrian Gonzalez was 4-for-23 with just 1 RBI on Friday's home run.
If, indeed, Hoyer and the front office choose patience, then that could mean the baseball guys don't see anything seriously wrong with the outfielders other than they are in a slump and need seasoning. They could be right. Of course, they won't get much money from fans until they're proven correct, and their careers could be short-circuited if they're wrong.
The Padres host the Giants again and then go to LA, both for 2-game series. Then they go to Seattle against the equally punchless Mariners. After that it's crunch time: they face the Cardinals, surprising Nationals, Mets and Phillies in the following two weeks. The time to make changes maybe hasn't come, but the moment has absolutely arrived to get the ball rolling in that direction.
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The beginning of the WNBA season hasn't been easy on former San Diego State G Jene Morris -- and boy, is it sad to include the "former" in front of her. In Indiana's season opener against Washington Saturday, the first-round draft choice played for more than 14 minutes, but missed her only two shots -- both threes -- and committed three turnovers. She also had a rebound and an assist.
In a 66-62 loss to Atlanta on Sunday, Morris played 5 minutes and 36 seconds, scored a hoop on her only shot, turned the ball over once and committed three fouls.
BTW, Morris made the roster in part by beating out Joy Cheek, the Duke forward who helped eliminate the Aztecs from the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.
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