Pretty good preview of San Diego State's football training camp in The San Diego Union-Tribune Sunday. Thorough, but here's a couple points to add:
1. A major position battle is brewing at safety, where Coach Brady Hoke has constantly mentioned the names of redshirt freshmen Gabe Lemon and Nat Berhe, who will push incumbents Darryn Lewis and Brandon Davis. He's also talked a lot about redshirt freshman Khalid Stevens, who is penciled in at the Aztec position on the latest depth chart behind presumptive starter Andrew Preston.
2. While the article stated the running game would improve with the presence of Ronnie Hillman, Hoke has been hyping true freshman Dwayne Garrett.
3. Jose Perez and Leon McFadden are listed as starters at cornerback, but I'm wondering if Josh Wade can finally break through in his third college season.
4. Hoke praised the conditioning of DE Jake Tauanuu, who is listed as second on the depth chart behind under-performing starter BJ Williams. That could be another position battle.
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Let me be the first to say I'm worried about the Padres all of a sudden. I can't, off the top of my head, think of a stretch of this season in which they've played more poorly. They really miss 2B David Eckstein, their sparkplug, and he's reportedly another week at least from being able to play. Ever since the Thursday afternoon 9th inning win over the Dodgers 10 days ago, they've gone downhill.
Maybe they angered the baseball gods by playing a little too fast and loose with the disabled list, which they've used since the All-Star break to keep their roster at 25.
Showing posts with label david eckstein. Show all posts
Showing posts with label david eckstein. Show all posts
Sunday, August 08, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Coryell Reminder, Padres at the Break
Just a reminder, the memorial service for former Aztecs and Chargers football coach Don Coryell is Monday at 2pm at Viejas Arena. Should be an interesting event with greats like John Madden, Joe Gibbs and Dan Fouts speaking.
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The Padres are more or less where I expected them to be at the All-Star break, contending for an NL West title behind strong pitching that carries a rather weak offense. That was a reasonable preseason prediction that I bet a lot of us made. However, I doubt any of us realized the won-loss record would be as good as the 51-37 mark that is just a game behind Atlanta as the best in the league, or that the pitching would be this strong or the hitting this bad.
Needless to say, with the Rockies heating up, I still think a hitter needs to be brought aboard, and pitching depth will be tested again because Mike Adams pulled on oblique muscle on Sunday. I don't know if we can expect the Friars to keep pulling out low-scoring games in the eighth or ninth innings the way they have so far.
Here are some quick mid-season grades:
1B Adrian Gonzalez gets an A for a .298-18-56 first half, powered by a month of June that saw him raise his batting average by 34 points.
2B David Eckstein also deserves an A for flawless fielding, literally, and clutch batting at the end of games that made the difference several times.
SS Everth Cabrera and Jerry Hairston rate a D, which mainly reflects the starters ineffectiveness at the plate and constant injuries. Hairston has actually done fairly well as a backup, but here might be a good position to add a hitter via trade. Yes, good luck with that.
3B Chase Headley gets a B- for his amazing April that had him hitting .340 by May Day and his solid fielding at the hot corner. However, he has only 6 HR and 29 RBI, numbers that need to be more than doubled if the Padres are to win the division.
In the OF, Kyle Blanks obviously gets an incomplete. I give a C to Scott Hairston, Tony Gwynn and Will Venable because of their defense and late contributions to a few wins. Gwynn will never hit better than he does now, while Venable is too in-love with his power swing. I love minor league call-ups Aaron Cunningham, who should now start every day, and Chris Denorfia. Both are gamers.
C Todd Hundley and Yorvit Torrealba bring an A home to mama because if the pitching is that good, the guys behind the plate are doing a fine job. Hundley has won several of those games late with the bat, and Torrealba has at times been the only guy besides A-Gon who has a clue in the batter's box.
Pitchers get an A. Duh. We've received far more than expected from Mat Latos, Wade LeBlanc and Luke Gregerson, probably not as much from the ill-fated Kevin Correia and Edward Mujica.
I was worried by the four-game losing streak before Sunday's 9-7 win in Denver that pushed the Rockies two games behind in the standings, but I think the Padres will hang in there well into September -- more so if GM Jed Hoyer brings in a bat. The Rockies, however, scare me. They've got the same mojo as the past couple of years, so this might not be just a race to the finish, but a very long sprint.
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The Padres are more or less where I expected them to be at the All-Star break, contending for an NL West title behind strong pitching that carries a rather weak offense. That was a reasonable preseason prediction that I bet a lot of us made. However, I doubt any of us realized the won-loss record would be as good as the 51-37 mark that is just a game behind Atlanta as the best in the league, or that the pitching would be this strong or the hitting this bad.
Needless to say, with the Rockies heating up, I still think a hitter needs to be brought aboard, and pitching depth will be tested again because Mike Adams pulled on oblique muscle on Sunday. I don't know if we can expect the Friars to keep pulling out low-scoring games in the eighth or ninth innings the way they have so far.
Here are some quick mid-season grades:
1B Adrian Gonzalez gets an A for a .298-18-56 first half, powered by a month of June that saw him raise his batting average by 34 points.
2B David Eckstein also deserves an A for flawless fielding, literally, and clutch batting at the end of games that made the difference several times.
SS Everth Cabrera and Jerry Hairston rate a D, which mainly reflects the starters ineffectiveness at the plate and constant injuries. Hairston has actually done fairly well as a backup, but here might be a good position to add a hitter via trade. Yes, good luck with that.
3B Chase Headley gets a B- for his amazing April that had him hitting .340 by May Day and his solid fielding at the hot corner. However, he has only 6 HR and 29 RBI, numbers that need to be more than doubled if the Padres are to win the division.
In the OF, Kyle Blanks obviously gets an incomplete. I give a C to Scott Hairston, Tony Gwynn and Will Venable because of their defense and late contributions to a few wins. Gwynn will never hit better than he does now, while Venable is too in-love with his power swing. I love minor league call-ups Aaron Cunningham, who should now start every day, and Chris Denorfia. Both are gamers.
C Todd Hundley and Yorvit Torrealba bring an A home to mama because if the pitching is that good, the guys behind the plate are doing a fine job. Hundley has won several of those games late with the bat, and Torrealba has at times been the only guy besides A-Gon who has a clue in the batter's box.
Pitchers get an A. Duh. We've received far more than expected from Mat Latos, Wade LeBlanc and Luke Gregerson, probably not as much from the ill-fated Kevin Correia and Edward Mujica.
I was worried by the four-game losing streak before Sunday's 9-7 win in Denver that pushed the Rockies two games behind in the standings, but I think the Padres will hang in there well into September -- more so if GM Jed Hoyer brings in a bat. The Rockies, however, scare me. They've got the same mojo as the past couple of years, so this might not be just a race to the finish, but a very long sprint.
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Coryell, Padres All-Stars
Don Coryell epitomized nostalgia in San Diego. The legendary football coach, who died Thursday at 85, took both San Diego State and the Chargers to great heights that, years later, left fans crying out for a return to the good old days.
Chargers fans had two waits of about a decade each, from Coryell's glory years of the beginning of the 1980s to coach Bobby Ross' Super Bowl season, and then again until coaches Marty Schottenheimer and Norv Turner along with GM AJ Smith, brought about the relative success of recent seasons. Both waits through seasons of 1-15, 4-12 and 5-11, were extraordinarily frustrating.
It's been even worse for the remaining few SDSU fans who can remember undefeated seasons in the 1960s. Coryell turned over the reigns of the Aztecs in 1972 to Claude Gilbert, who mostly continued his predecessor's methods and took the program to arguably greater heights against far superior competition. But after SDSU football turned south in 1980, the nostalgia has gone mostly unrequited, save for a few bowl games and the Marshall Faulk excitement. SDSU frequently capitalized on Coryell's popularity by having him make special appearances at football games. If you can't win, bring back the coach who could, at least to say hello.
At both places, Coryell set the bar high, and his successors will always be measured against him. It is a blessing the Chargers are back at such levels. I worry that SDSU fans will sit on their hands and make coach Brady Hoke prove the Aztecs are back before they'll start coming to games again. I feel that way myself, even though I attend the home contests.
Now that he truly is Saint Don, we should all be thankful that he gave us such high standards to aspire to.
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The Padres will have more than one member on the National League All-Star team. Who deserves to go?
1B Adrian Gonzalez is a no-brainer pick for manager Charlie Manuel. But the Phillies' boss' selection of Padres skipper Bud Black as a coach could be a signal that a couple other players are under consideration.
If I were Manuel, my picks would be 2B David Eckstein and P Luke Gregerson.
Eckstein is simply the heart and soul of the roster that claims first place in the National League West and the best record in the senior circuit. Throw out his pedestrian numbers. He's the guy who makes this team go. It doesn't hurt that he's played 68 games at second base and has not made an error. Defense is a big reason why the Friars have been successful so far in 2010.
Gregerson's statistics are mind-boggling. He has thrown in 37 games as of this writing, allowing 16 hits in 39-plus innings, mostly the seventh. The ratio for hits to innings pitched for most pitchers is usually in the neighborhood of 1-to-1. Gregerson's is less than half. Another stunning ratio is 51 strikeouts to four walks. That's four (4)! Needless to say, batters are hitting .121 against Gregerson, who has compiled an ERA of 1.60.
The numbers of eighth inning regular Mike Adams are nearly as good, although I have to admit whenever he comes in when I'm watching, he gets popped. Closer Heath Bell has also done well and is certainly the most nationally-recognizable GAB member, but he might be responsible for too many gray hairs.
I would also consider Mat Latos, he of the sterling 8-4 record and 2.85 ERA, but in this Year of the Pitcher, Manuel won't have any shortage of starters to choose from.
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I had a couple of other items to throw in here today, but nothing else seems worthy all of a sudden, you know? Enjoy your July 4 weekend.
Chargers fans had two waits of about a decade each, from Coryell's glory years of the beginning of the 1980s to coach Bobby Ross' Super Bowl season, and then again until coaches Marty Schottenheimer and Norv Turner along with GM AJ Smith, brought about the relative success of recent seasons. Both waits through seasons of 1-15, 4-12 and 5-11, were extraordinarily frustrating.
It's been even worse for the remaining few SDSU fans who can remember undefeated seasons in the 1960s. Coryell turned over the reigns of the Aztecs in 1972 to Claude Gilbert, who mostly continued his predecessor's methods and took the program to arguably greater heights against far superior competition. But after SDSU football turned south in 1980, the nostalgia has gone mostly unrequited, save for a few bowl games and the Marshall Faulk excitement. SDSU frequently capitalized on Coryell's popularity by having him make special appearances at football games. If you can't win, bring back the coach who could, at least to say hello.
At both places, Coryell set the bar high, and his successors will always be measured against him. It is a blessing the Chargers are back at such levels. I worry that SDSU fans will sit on their hands and make coach Brady Hoke prove the Aztecs are back before they'll start coming to games again. I feel that way myself, even though I attend the home contests.
Now that he truly is Saint Don, we should all be thankful that he gave us such high standards to aspire to.
---
The Padres will have more than one member on the National League All-Star team. Who deserves to go?
1B Adrian Gonzalez is a no-brainer pick for manager Charlie Manuel. But the Phillies' boss' selection of Padres skipper Bud Black as a coach could be a signal that a couple other players are under consideration.
If I were Manuel, my picks would be 2B David Eckstein and P Luke Gregerson.
Eckstein is simply the heart and soul of the roster that claims first place in the National League West and the best record in the senior circuit. Throw out his pedestrian numbers. He's the guy who makes this team go. It doesn't hurt that he's played 68 games at second base and has not made an error. Defense is a big reason why the Friars have been successful so far in 2010.
Gregerson's statistics are mind-boggling. He has thrown in 37 games as of this writing, allowing 16 hits in 39-plus innings, mostly the seventh. The ratio for hits to innings pitched for most pitchers is usually in the neighborhood of 1-to-1. Gregerson's is less than half. Another stunning ratio is 51 strikeouts to four walks. That's four (4)! Needless to say, batters are hitting .121 against Gregerson, who has compiled an ERA of 1.60.
The numbers of eighth inning regular Mike Adams are nearly as good, although I have to admit whenever he comes in when I'm watching, he gets popped. Closer Heath Bell has also done well and is certainly the most nationally-recognizable GAB member, but he might be responsible for too many gray hairs.
I would also consider Mat Latos, he of the sterling 8-4 record and 2.85 ERA, but in this Year of the Pitcher, Manuel won't have any shortage of starters to choose from.
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I had a couple of other items to throw in here today, but nothing else seems worthy all of a sudden, you know? Enjoy your July 4 weekend.
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Strasburg, Padres Notes
The dearly departed Washington Nationals announced Monday that former San Diego State P Stephen Strasburg will make his long-awaited major league debut against Pittsburgh on June 8, barring rainouts. The timing of his first big league start has been the subject of considerable discussion, and this date has been rumored for about a week. Now it’s as confirmed as it ever will be. Kind of funny that now only an act of God could derail the debut of someone the good Lord has so gifted.
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It was interesting reading the letters to the sports editor in the San Diego Union-Tribune Sunday, which expressed opposing views on whether the local baseball franchise was interesting to watch. One writer claimed the punchless Padres were boring, and another stated that Little Ball was fun to see.
My take is somewhere in the middle. I think Little Ball is indeed a lot of fun if executed well. The Friars execute Little Ball terribly. Except for David Eckstein and, in some cases, Tony Gwynn, these guys are only good on the basepaths. But it's more than running to execute Little Ball. Part II is at the plate, where they can't bunt or execute the hit-and-run. Sure, the guy on first might steal second, but the hitter can’t put wood on the ball for hit-and-run plays, sac flies or grounders to the right side of the infield.
I like the basic idea of Little Ball, but it's only fun if well-played.
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Before LF Kyle Blanks got hurt there was a lot of talk about whether he should be returned to AAA to regain his swing. My choice for a ticket to Portland after the weekend is RF Will Venable, who refuses to take the outside pitch the other way. He tries to pull EVERYTHING. In Sunday's game, he came up with runners on second and third and one out, and the National's pitcher fed him a steady diet of baseballs on the outside part of the plate and he was totally unable to poke anything toward left field. Sure, a grounder that direction might not have scored a run, but it could have.
Since that 4-for-5 game at LA that made such a big splash, he's 6-for-35, just under .200, with no extra base hits.
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My favorite Padre now, behind Eckstein, is OF Chris Denorfia. This guy is a gamer -- and a keeper. In about the same time period, he has three more hits than Venable, including a pair of doubles, and three more RBI. With Scott Hairston possibly coming off the DL in a couple of days, the Padres are going to have a big decision to make.
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Nick Hundley and Yorvit Torrealba are the co-MVP's of this team, by the way.
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Yes, I wrote that I wanted GM Jed Hoyer to start working to bring in an outfielder who can actually hit, and that remains the case. But it should also be noted that scoring and hitting is way off all around the major leagues, from the Phillies being shut out by the Mets three games in a row to the Padres doing nearly the same to the Giants every series and the two perfect games in about three weeks.
---
It was interesting reading the letters to the sports editor in the San Diego Union-Tribune Sunday, which expressed opposing views on whether the local baseball franchise was interesting to watch. One writer claimed the punchless Padres were boring, and another stated that Little Ball was fun to see.
My take is somewhere in the middle. I think Little Ball is indeed a lot of fun if executed well. The Friars execute Little Ball terribly. Except for David Eckstein and, in some cases, Tony Gwynn, these guys are only good on the basepaths. But it's more than running to execute Little Ball. Part II is at the plate, where they can't bunt or execute the hit-and-run. Sure, the guy on first might steal second, but the hitter can’t put wood on the ball for hit-and-run plays, sac flies or grounders to the right side of the infield.
I like the basic idea of Little Ball, but it's only fun if well-played.
---
Before LF Kyle Blanks got hurt there was a lot of talk about whether he should be returned to AAA to regain his swing. My choice for a ticket to Portland after the weekend is RF Will Venable, who refuses to take the outside pitch the other way. He tries to pull EVERYTHING. In Sunday's game, he came up with runners on second and third and one out, and the National's pitcher fed him a steady diet of baseballs on the outside part of the plate and he was totally unable to poke anything toward left field. Sure, a grounder that direction might not have scored a run, but it could have.
Since that 4-for-5 game at LA that made such a big splash, he's 6-for-35, just under .200, with no extra base hits.
---
My favorite Padre now, behind Eckstein, is OF Chris Denorfia. This guy is a gamer -- and a keeper. In about the same time period, he has three more hits than Venable, including a pair of doubles, and three more RBI. With Scott Hairston possibly coming off the DL in a couple of days, the Padres are going to have a big decision to make.
---
Nick Hundley and Yorvit Torrealba are the co-MVP's of this team, by the way.
---
Yes, I wrote that I wanted GM Jed Hoyer to start working to bring in an outfielder who can actually hit, and that remains the case. But it should also be noted that scoring and hitting is way off all around the major leagues, from the Phillies being shut out by the Mets three games in a row to the Padres doing nearly the same to the Giants every series and the two perfect games in about three weeks.
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