Of the ten two-game wonders in Padres history, Sean Mulligan had the briefest career. While two others eventually joined him in spending the only two games of their major league career in San Diego, he spent less time between the white lines than either of them. In fact, despite being on record as appearing in two games, Mulligan spent the least amount of time actually in action on a baseball field as humanly possible. That sounds convoluted, but everything will become clearer in a moment.
Sean Mulligan made his major league debut on September 1, 1996. Well, Sean Mulligan technically made his major league debut on September 1, 1996. In the top of the eighth inning of a game in Montreal, down 7-3 with no outs, and Tony Gwynn on third and Ken Caminiti on second, Padres manager Bruce Bochy called on Mulligan to hit in the pitcher's spot against Expos lefty Jeff Fassero. Expos skipper Felipe Alou countered by jogging to the mound, gesturing to his right arm, taking the ball from Fassero, and handing it to Mike Dyer to create a right-on-right matchup. In turn, Bochy called Mulligan back from the on-deck circle and sent left-handed batting Scott Livingstone to the plate. Despite not actually playing in the game, Mulligan was credited with an appearance because he was placed in the lineup and announced. This might remind baseball trivia fans of Larry Yount's career. As some of you recall, Robin's older brother was called in from the bullpen to make his major league debut with the 1971 Astros, injured himself taking his warm-up throws, and never made it back.
Mulligan got his second chance to make a first impression on September 6. In a road game against the Cardinals, Bochy once more tasked him with pinch-hitting for the pitcher. With one out in the top of the ninth, with Tony Gwynn and Ken Caminiti on base yet again, Mulligan stepped in against Danny Jackson. He grounded the very first pitch off Jackson's glove to shortstop Royce Clayton, whose only play at that point was to get the sure out at first.
That one pitch was the only major league action Mulligan would experience.
While Mulligan narrowly avoided being remembered as the position player version of Larry Yount, he did wind up becoming the answer to a more obscure trivia question a few months later. In a move that sounds straight out of one of the Major League movies, Padres general manager Kevin Towers traded Mulligan to the actual Cleveland Indians for $75,000 cash...
Baseball legend Jerry Coleman would have turned 90 years old today. There's no better time to celebrate his decorated past.
Earlier this year the baseball community lost one of its good eggs in Jerry Coleman. For nearly 65 years he made an impact on baseball fans across the country. Yet even if he had never set foot on a baseball field or in a broadcast booth, his life deserves to be celebrated.
Jerry Coleman signed with the Yankees organization as a 17-year-old free agent in 1942. After spending one season in the minor leagues, Coleman paused his baseball career in order to join the United States Marine Corps and fight in World War II. As a Marine Corps pilot he completed 57 combat missions during the war and was decorated with awards for his service. By 1946 Coleman returned to baseball and spent the next three years working his way up the Yankees' ranks. In 1949 he made the big league team out of spring training and would never return to the minor leagues again.
Coleman was the regular second baseman for three straight World Series winners from 1949 through 1951. As was typical of second baseman in the 1940's and 50's he was a good fielder with a relatively weak bat but was nonetheless a key contributor to those teams. He placed third in the Rookie of the Year vote in 1949 and made his first and only All-Star team a year later. The Yankees made it five straight World Series by winning again in 1952 and 1953 but did so without Coleman at second base. During those years he again put his career on hold, this time to fight in the Korean War. In his second tour of duty he completed 63 combat missions and added even more awards to his collection. He remains the only major league baseball player to see action in two separate military conflicts.
When Coleman returned to baseball full-time in 1954, injuries had taken their toll on him. Over the next four years he settled into a reserve role for the Yankees who would take home three more AL pennants and one more World Series championship over that span. With his playing days over, Coleman began broadcasting for CBS in 1960 as pre-game interview host. By 1963 he returned to the Yankees organization to call games with his former teammate Phil Rizzuto. He stayed with the Yankees for seven years and then returned to his home state to call games for the California Angels. In 1972, he moved further south to become the lead radio announcer for the fledgling San Diego Padres franchise. Coleman held this position until the day he died.
As a broadcaster Coleman could best be described to Yankee fans a mixture between the aforementioned Phil Rizzuto and Yogi Berra. He was chock full of stories from his colorful past and malapropisms that left the listener as perplexed as they were amused. Of course, this made him a fan-favorite and well-known around the country. In 2005 he was even given the Ford C. Frick award for his distinguished broadcasting career by the Baseball Hall of Fame. That alone would be the achievement of a lifetime, but six years later he was also inducted into the International Aerospace Hall of Fame for his service as a combat pilot. He may be one of the all-time overachievers.
So happy 90th birthday, Jerry Coleman, and cheers to a life well lived.
Arizona used two big innings and some impressively crappy San Diego play, to take the series finale against the Padres at Chase Field.
This was a typically Cahillesque start from Trevor Cahill. He only lasted four innings, but struck out seven batters - however, he also gave up five hits and two walks in that time, leading to four runs, all earned. He had only thrown 64 pitches, but Kirk Gibson decided that was enough: Zeke Spruill worked three scoreless innings, then Oliver Perez and Will Harris wobbled into a bases loaded, one out jam, then out again without damage. Addison Reed, in a non-save situation with a four-run lead, struggled, allowing two runs then putting the tying run on base. But he finally was able to close things out in the ninth, and clinch our first series win of the month.
After the Diamondbacks had fallen into a 2-0 hole by the middle of the third, they roared back with a five-spot in their half of the inning. Two of the runs were unearned, thanks to a Padres error, and there was also some further hilarity as the Padres seemed bewildered by a relay throw from the outfield, allowing two runs to score on a Trumbo single. After some middle innings tenseness, with the score 5-4 to us, a three-run eighth broke the game open, on RBI singles by Didi Gregorius and Jordan Pacheco, plus a wild pitch, Gregorius and Chris Owings each had two hits, while Ender Inciarte, Mark Trumbo and Aaron Hill each had a hit and a walk.
Instead of collecting a series win in our final showdown with the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Padres instead collect their 80th loss of the 2014 season.
The Padres have been making the game difficult on themselves all season. It's hard enough trying to give a team with under-performing offense and air-tight pitching any momentum. But tonight it became even more difficult when the Padres offense broke the three-run curse yet still fumbled over themselves defensively in contrast to some amazing plays.
A dropped ball from an otherwise sparkling Cory Spangenberg that turned into two runs and a play that I can only pin as an ambitious Dodger-impression that stuck another run on the board for a crusty 5-run 3rd inning for the Diamondbacks. The Padres kicked back into things, scoring 4 of their own over three innings from a Jake Goebbert and Seth Smith ribby, as well as a Spangy sacrifice (followed by a wild pitch to get a run across the plate getting things to 4-5).
It almost seemed like it would be enough to put the Padres back into a winning position. Heck, it did. Even after a 3-run 8th from the Diamondbacks to evenly uneven things 4-8. Things started to formulate in the top of the ninth. A single from Yangervis Solarte followed by Jedd Gyorko made things tense. With one out Adam Moore smacked a double to plate Solarte, and Alexi Amarista ninja'd another run to get things at 6-8. Rene Rivera followed up with another single; and the winning run, Daddy Longlegs, was at the plate.
The ball was then crisply bonked into the ground and the game was over.
Things stayed fair. What with Despaigne's 5.2 innings pitched giving up 5 runs (3 earned) and only a collective 4 strikeouts between the pitching (as opposed to Arizona's 12) the win projections for the Padres were a lot more dynamic than they should have been.
This morning we turn to the New York Yankees in our series of 2014 farm system reviews. Remember, this is the PRE-SEASON list. This is not a new list. These are pre-season rankings and grades. This is a review of 2014, not a preview of 2015.
1) Masahiro Tanaka, RHP, Grade A.12-4, 2.51 in 18 starts for the Yankees, 135/19 K/BB in 129 innings. Obviously outstanding before the elbow injury.
2) Gary Sanchez, C, Grade B+: Hit .270/.338/.406 with 13 homers, 43 walks, 91 strikeouts in 429 at-bats for Double-A Trenton, threw out 39% of runners although error rate remains high. Not a bad year at age 21 but not dominant either.
3) Greg Bird, 1B, Grade B: Hit .277/.375/.442 in 274 at-bats for High-A Tampa, then .253/.379/.558 in 95 at-bats for Double-A Trenton. Still profiles as low-batting average hitter with good OBP and power.
4) Eric Jagielo, 3B, Grade B: Hit .259/.354/.460 in 309 at-bats for Tampa, 16 homers, 38 walks, 93 strikeouts. Defense was rough and he had to fight injuries but finished strong. Like Bird, a low-average hitter with power and hopefully OBP. Age 22.
5) Slade Heathcott, OF, Grade B-: Played just nine games due to knee injury.
6) J. R. Murphy, C, Grade B-: Hit .246/.292/.397 in 196 at-bats in Triple-A, .292/.311/.375 in 74 at-bats in the majors. Seems likely to have a career as a role player. Age 23.
7) Tyler Austin, OF, Grade B-: Hit .275/.336/.419 with nine homers, 36 walks, 80 strikeouts in 396 at-bats for Trenton. Production slightly above league norms at 110 wRC+. He had a bad wrist last year and it may have still been bothering him early this season; he had a slow start but hit .336/.397/.557 in his last month of action. Age 23, needs to get his momentum back in ’15.
8) Aaron Judge, OF, Grade B-: Hit .333/.428/.530 with nine homers for Low-A Charleston in 234 at-bats, then .283/.441/.442 with eight homers in 233 at-bats for Tampa. Combined for 89 walks, 131 strikeouts. Did a good job with power, only stole one base despite projecting as a steal threat pre-season. Age 22. Stock up.
9) Luis Severino, RHP, Grade B-: Dominant season in Low-A, High-A, Double-A, combined for 2.46 ERA, 127/27 K/BB in 113 innings, 93 hits. Scouting reports are as good as the numbers; this breakthrough candidate broke through. Age 20, at least a B+ at this point.
10) Ian Clarkin, LHP, Grade B-: Successful full-season debut for 2013 first-rounder, posted, 3.12 ERA with 75/23 K/BB in 75 innings for Charleston and Tampa, 71 hits. Age 19.
11) Gosuke Katoh, 2B, Grade B-: Hit .222/.345/.326 with three homers, 71 walks, 142 strikeouts, 20 steals in 383 at-bats for Charleston. Good patience, but lacks power at this point. Age 19.
12) Mason Williams, OF, Grade C+: Hit .223/.290/.304 with 21 steals, 47 walks, 68 strikeouts in 507 at-bats for Trenton. Second-straight disappointing season, reports remain good on glove but has made no progress with the hitting and is now 23. Stock declining.
13) Jose Ramirez, RHP, Grade C+: 5.40 ERA in 10 big league innings, 10/7 K/BB. Sent down to Scranton in July and went on the DL almost immediately. Good arm, can still be a good reliever if he stays healthy and improves his command. Age 24.
14) Dellin Betances, RHP, Grade C+: Incredible season in Yankees bullpen, 1.37 ERA with 128/23 K//BB in 86 innings, just 42 hits allowed. He’s found his niche.
15) Manny Banuelos, LHP, Grade C+: Tommy John recovery season, pitched High-A, Double-A, Triple-A combining for 4.11 ERA, 71/31 K/BB in 77 innings, 64 hits. Age 23, now needs to show how he handles larger workload next year.
16) Rafael De Paula, RHP, Grade C+: Traded to San Diego Padres, posted 4.92 ERA with 145/55 K/BB in 132 innings between Tampa and Lake Elsinore in the California League, 135 hits. Age 23, no question about the arm strength but still working on consistency.
17) Luis Torrens, C, Grade C+: Hit .270/.327/.405 with two homers, 14 walks, 41 strikeouts in 185 at-bats for Staten Island in the New York-Penn League. Threw out 42% of runners but gave up 14 passed balls in 39 games. Age 18, good reports on his defensive potential.
18) Jose Campos, RHP, Grade C+: Missed season with Tommy John surgery.
19) Miguel Andujar, 3B, Grade C+: Borderline C. Hit .267/.318/.397 with 10 homers, 35 walks, 83 strikeouts in 484 at-bats for Charleston. League-average production from a 19 year old, but hit .319/.367/.456 in second half of the season; breakthrough candidate for 2015.
20) Nik Turley, LHP, Grade C+: Borderline C. 4.62 ERA with 44/43 K/BB in 60 innings for Scranton, 55 hits. Disappointing slippage in K/BB ratio with increase in walks and decline in strikeouts compared to his previous standards. Age 25.
This is a farm system in a transitional phase, both in terms of talent turnover and imminent changes in the Yankees front office. While the farm system has been criticized frequently over the years, the fact is that several key members of the pitching staff are home-grown, including bullpen stalwart David Robertson, Adam Warren, David Phelps, rookie relief sensation Dellin Betances, and a pair of 15th round rookie sleepers who’ve proved useful in Shane Greene and Chase Whitley. The organization has shown the ability to find useable pitchers in later rounds of the draft and that’s a good skill to have.
Shane Greene, photo by Jim McIsaac, Getty Images
Pitching is also present on the farm, with Ian Clarkin and Luis Severino solidifying their standing among the better pitching prospects in all of baseball. Manny Banuelos and Bryan Mitchell could be ready for larger roles next year. Austin DeCarr and Jacob Lindgren from the 2014 draft add additional depth.
Lack of impact bats is an issue. The "future stars" outfield trio of Tyler Austin, Slade Heathcott, and Mason Williams that got so much hype a couple of years ago disintegrated due to injuries and general ineffectiveness in Double-A. They could still be role players, but the strongest hopes for regular bats now rest on Greg Bird, Eric Jagielo, and Aaron Judge. Jake Cave and Robert Refsnyder are also moving up the prospect lists quickly. There are no certain stars in that group, either, but this summer’s massive investment in Latin American talent may change that in a few years.
Our Padres are back home for the final time this season. They'll kick off this last homestand with a four-game set against the Phillies, who have been a tough opponent at home. San Diego has dropped 19 of the last 23 to Philadelphia at Petco Park.
Andrew Cashner gets the ball in the opener tonight to try to get the Friars back in the win column after a frustrating road trip. The right-hander's 2014 season has been hampered by injury and a lack of run support, but he's been solid as always on the mound for the Padres. Tonight he looks to build on his last outing, which resulted in his first winning decision since April. Cashner kept the division-leading Dodgers to two runs through seven innings of work last Tuesday. Cashner was also on the winning end of the Phillies' most recent defeat at the hands of SD. Last September, in his only career start against Philadelphia, he gave up only two runs on four hits and a walk while collecting seven strikeouts through 7 2/3 frames.
Phillies starter, Jerome Williams, will be making his seventh career start against San Diego, but first since 2005 when he was with San Francisco. He'll be looking to take advantage of the Padres' recent struggles. Over his last two starts, Williams gave up a combined nine runs through ten innings of work.
Head downtown or tune in to FSSD at 7:10 PT when action gets underway at Petco Park.
Andrew Cashner blanked the Phils and helped drive in the only run in the Padres victory.
The Padres' first game of their last homestand of the season paralleled their first game of their first homestand of the season in that Andrew Cashner took the mound in both games. Unlike that earlier game this was not a hyped matchup with the team to beat in the division, instead it was with a fellow below .500 team the Philadelphia Phillies. The game did start with another thing in sync with opening day: Cashner retired the side in order to start the game. Fortunately the Padres found a good way to stay out of step when they scored first in this one. Rene Rivera's second inning leadoff double resulted in a run when after Alexi Amarista moved him to third with a groundball to the right side, pitcher Andrew Cashner struck a ball that 3B Cody Asche couldn't handle.
Cashner was on a roll for this one. He retired the first 9 batters of the game in order before giving up a walk. Still, no hits allowed for 4 1/3 innings pitched. A bunt against the shift by Domonic Brown did in the chance for anything historic. The Phils still managed to go 3-up-3-down that inning on a kind of wonky play. The hit and run was on and the next batter batter popped up to second baseman Jedd Gyorko. Brown had to hustle back to first. Gyorko tried to flip the ball to first base as he caught it, but wasn't able to get anything on the toss. After the ball rolled on the ground and was picked up by Cashner, after a pause, he threw to second base where Brown was ruled out by virtue of not touching the base on his way back. Whacky double play.
The game hummed right along the rest of the way at pretty much breakneck pace. Both teams went baserunnerless from then on until the top of the 8th, but even that guy was retired when he tried to tag up on a fly ball to the outfield and was subsequently thrown out at second base. The bottom of the 8th began after only an hour and forty-five minutes had passed. Will Venable would become the Padres' first baserunner since the second inning when he drew his second walk of the game. He too would be a part of an unorthodox double play when on a hit and run Cashner popped out to second and Venable was doubled off of first base. A Yangervis Solarte single, a couple of walks and a couple of pitching changes later and the game slowed to a glacial pace with 2 outs already recorded, however the Padres weren't able to turn the Phillies' sudden pitching struggles into a run.
With only 77 pitches record through his first 8 innings, Cashner would get a chance for his second shut out of the season (and third in his career). We would whiff the first, but would need some help on the second. Alexi Amarista had to backhand a ball at short and hurry a strong throw to first. Yasmani Grandal dug it out of the dirt to get out number two in the final frame. A liner to left field and a running one-handed grab by Seth Smith got the last out. The 3rd shutout of Cashner's career (all with Padres) matched Jake Peavy for most shutouts by a Padres pitcher in the Petco Park era.
Relying equally on the Phillies' offensive ineptitude and the dominance of their starter, the Padres silenced the Phils in the first of a four-game late night west coast series.
The Phillies' newfound ace Jerome Williams pitched well into the eighth, but he was outdueled by Andrew Cashner, who outright owned the Phils. An unearned run in the second inning was the only scoring, driven in by Cashner himself on an error by third baseman Cody Asche.
Williams finished with seven and two-thirds innings, scattering three hits and a pair of walks, around six strikeouts, continuing his surprisingly good run. Cesar Jimenez and Luis Garcia combined to finish the game for the Phils, each with a walk.
For his part, Cashner finished with a complete game shutout, allowing only two hits and a single walk, while striking out seven. I japed about this above, but Cashner is a legitimately good pitcher, and the crappiness of the Phils' offense of late shouldn't detract from his performance, which was outstanding.
There's not much else to say. The Phils' two hits came from Domonic Brown and Marlon Byrd. Brown's, the first of the game, came in the fifth, as he bunted against the shift to break up the no-hitter. The Petco Park fans responded with a hearty chorus of boos, because, of course, actually trying to get on base should take second fiddle to allowing your opponent his no-hitter...
Brown, unfortunately, was promptly doubled-up off first, when Wil Nieves popped up to second. I'm not sure what his thought process was, but running on the pitch, he passed second base and didn't re-touch it. Poop.
The remainder of the Phillies' offence came from a Chase Utley walk and a couple harder hit balls, none of which made it through. The game was, chronologically, the shortest of the season for the Phils, which should tell you something, though I'm not sure exactly what that would be.
The Phillies are now at 69-81 (nice) on the season, and are mathematically unable to finish above .500. The Padres are 69-80 (nice), so they still have a chance. Game two of this four-game set is tomorrow evening (or today, depending on what timezone you're in), when the Phils will send A.J. Burnett to the hill against the Pads' Ian Kennedy.
I best remember Bud Black the player as a member of the Giants and Indians, although I do have some cards of him now from his days with the Royals which, like his two games for Seattle as a rookie, were before I got into baseball. One team I don't really associate with him is the Blue Jays; probably because he was only a member of the team for a couple weeks.
The middle of September isn't a time one generally associates with trades. As this Bluebird Banter article from 2012 points out, there have only been eight such trades in Blue Jays history, and this was the only one made to bolster a playoff push. While Black was amidst a good season and would be an upgrade in the fifth spot of the rotation for two crucial games, that was not the primary reason they acquired him.
Black, at that point, had an 11-5 record against Toronto and was scheduled to pitch against the Jays a few days later. The Jays had enough rest days to only need two 5th starters after the September 16, so Black was placed first in the bullpen, making one relief appearance, before making those two starts. He was really acquired so that the Jays didn't have to face him and for some insurance in case Jimmy Key, who was nursing a tender hamstring at the time, did not get better.
The Indians, out of the race since pitchers and catchers reported in February, were just happy to get something for the pending free agent. Toronto sent minor league pitcher Mauro Gozzo and two players to be named later. The second player, named five days later, was another pitcher, Steve Cummings. Three days after that, the Blue Jays fulfilled their obligations by sending yet another pitcher, Alex Sanchez.
Ultimately, the trade was of little consequence for either team as Toronto lost the division to Boston despite Black pitching well, and none of the fringe pitchers panned out for Cleveland. Black went 2-1 with a 4.02 ERA in 15.2 innings over three games; five of those runs were in his one loss. As for the trio of arms he was swapped for, only one saw action in the majors after the trade. Gozzo pitched in exactly two games in each of the 1990, '91, and '92 seasons before getting a chance with the Mets, making 33 appearances between 1993 and '94, his final season.
After the season, Black signed a four-year deal with the Giants for $10,000,000 in a move that befuddled some fans and had others demanding a salary cap. That contract has been pointed to as the one that opened the floodgates for players other than stars to obtain some financial security and then some.
This afternoon we continue with our farm system reviews with a look at the Seattle Mariners. Remember, this is the PRE-SEASON list. This is not a new list. These are pre-season grades and rankings. This is a review of 2014, not a preview of 2015.
1) Taijuan Walker, RHP, Grade A: Fought injuries, posted 4.81 ERA with 74/25 K/BB in 73 innings, 68 hits for Triple-A Tacoma. In the majors, 2.96 ERA with 21/15 K/BB in 24 innings for the Mariners. No change in opinion for me; there’s no question about his ability but the key will be health. Age 22.
2) James Paxton, LHP, Grade A-: Borderline B+: In between nagging injuries, posted 1.83 ERA in 59 major league innings, 46/19 K/BB, 45 hits. I think he is completely genuine; like Walker, it all depends on his health status. Age 25.
3) D.J. Peterson, 3B, Grade B+: Hit .326/.381/.615 in 273 at-bats for High Desert in the High-A California League, then .261/.335/.473 in 222 at-bats for Double-A Jackson in the Southern League, combined for 31 homers, 45 walks, 116 strikeouts. No questions about his power, but we will have to see how OBP and batting average pan out. Age 22.
4) Victor Sanchez, RHP, Grade B: 4.19 ERA with 97/34 K/BB in 125 innings for Jackson, 128 hits. Just 19, tends to mix dominant outings with poor ones. Need to study more detailed scouting reports before knowing how his grade will slot for 2015. It won’t go up, but I don’t know if it will go down to B- or stay the same.
5) Edwin Diaz, RHP, Grade B: Solid year for Low-A Clinton, 3.33 ERA with 111/42 K/BB in 116 innings, 96 hits, age 20. On course.
6) Austin Wilson, OF, Grade B-. Hit .291/.376/.517 with 12 homers, 26 walks, 65 strikeouts in 261 at-bats for Low-A Clinton. Very good numbers for league context, but at age 22 that should be expected for a college guy with a strong pedigree.
7) Chris Taylor, SS, Grade B-: Hit .328/.397/.497 with 14 steals, 35 walks, 74 strikeouts in 302 at-bats for Tacoma. Promoted to majors, hit .290/.368/.360 in 100 at-bats so far. Looks like he’s going to be a solid player. Age 24, great find in the fifth round.
8) Jin-Man Choi, 1B, Grade B-: Hit .283/.381/.392 in 237 at-bats for Tacoma, 36 walks, 42 strikeouts. Suspended 50 games inApril after testing positive for PEDs; continued to show good plate discipline on his return but with little power. Hmm. Geez that’s not suspicious at all. Age 23.
9) Tyler Marlette, C, Grade C+: Borderline B-: Hit .301/.351/.519 with 15 homers, 24 walks, 61 strikeouts in 344 at-bats for High Desert. Sharp home/road split, .971 OPS at home, .771 on the road. Age 21. Pop looks real but uncertain about OBP and average. Threw out 33% of runners but with excessive passed ball and error rates.
10) Gabriel Guerrero, OF, Grade C+: Borderline B-. Hit .307/.347/.467 with 18 homers, 18 steals, 34 walks, 131 whiffs in 538 at-bats for High Desert. Home/road splits are .861/.768 OPS.Age 20. Reports on tools are good but bat needs more polish.
11) Luiz Gohara, LHP, Grade C+: Posted 8.20 ERA with 37/24 K/BB in 37 innings for Everett in the Northwest League, 46 hits. Stats terrible overall but he did have a handful of excellent outings and retains high upside, age 18.
12) Patrick Kivlehan, 3B, Grade C+: Hit .282/.331/.563 in 142 at-bats for High Desert, then .300/.374/.485 with 11 homers, 44 walks, 78 strikeouts in 377 at-bats for Jackson. Huge reduction in strikeouts compared to where he was two years ago. Age 24 but football background earns him some slack there.
13) Tyler Pike, LHP, Grade C+: Very disappointing season, 5.72 ERA with 57/46 K/BB in 61 innings for High Desert, 7.35 ERA with 33/34 K/BB in 49 innings for Jackson. Large increase in walk rate compared to last year. Age 20.
14) Roenis Elias, LHP, Grade C+: 28 major league starts, going 10-12, 3.81 with a 142/63 K/BB in 161 innings, 146 hits. Was rated as a sleeper entering 2013 and has certainly woken up. Age 26.
15) Abraham Almonte, OF, Grade C+: Traded to Padres, hit .232/.278/.333 in 198 at-bats combined between Seattle and San Diego, also .267/.333/.390 in 277 at-bats for Tacoma. Age 25, fourth outfielder type.
16) Jabari Blash, OF, Grade C+: Hit .236/.387/.449 with six homers for Jackson in 127 at-bats, .210/.312/.481 with 12 homers for Tacoma in 162 at-bats, overall .221/.347/.467 with 18 homers, 45 walks, 92 whiffs in 289 at-bats. Needs to improve at age 25, power is real but average/OBP are problematic.
17) Tyler O’Neill, OF, Grade C+: Age 19, hit .251/.326/.468 with 13 homers, 21 walks, 85 strikeouts in 231 at-bats for Clinton. Good pop, good scouting reports, young, but strikeout rate is quite high.
18) Carson Smith, RHP, Grade C+: Age 24, 2.93 ERA with 45/13 K/BB in 43 innings for Tacoma, 13 saves.Has thrown 4.2 shutout innings in the majors with five whiffs so far. Ready for a middle relief trial at age 24 and could close someday.
19) Dominic Leone, RHP, Grade C+: Fine season in Mariners bullpen at age 24, 2.20 ERA with 65/24 K/BB in 61 innings, 48 hits. No reason to think this isn’t real in my view.
20) Ketel Marte, SS, Grade C+: Age 20, hit .302/.329/.404 with 23 steals, 19 walks, 65 strikeouts in 443 at-bats for Jackson, then .313/.367/.450 in 80 at-bats for Tacoma. Extremely impressive at age 20, stock moving up.
The Mariners received several important contributions from the farm system this year. Although injuries kept James Paxton and Taijuan Walker from contributing as much as they could have, both are obviously enormously talented and Paxton, in particular, has been a huge asset when healthy.
Cuban signee Roenis Elias eased some of the injury disappointment by winning 10 games and helped anchor the rotation with 161 innings of solid work. Dominic Leone has been a valuable reliever and Carson Smith can follow in his footsteps next year.
There wasn’t as much help from the hitting prospects, although infielder Chris Taylor has played well and outfielder James Jones has swiped 25 bases in 26 attempts. I retain faith in sophomores Mike Zunino and Brad Miller despite some glitches this year.
James Jones photo by Rich Lamb, Getty Images
In the minors, there is considerable depth among position prospects, with Peterson, Guerrero, Wilson, Marte, Kivlehan, and O’Neill all showing the potential to be regulars. 2014 draftees Alex Jackson and Gareth Morgan add additional upside, though Morgan will need a lot of time. First baseman Jordy Lara hit 26 homers between Jackson and High Desert at age 23. Jabari Henry added 30 more for High Desert at age 23 but will need to repeat that against better pitching.
Andrew Cashner pitched a pretty good game last night. If Ian Kennedy can be even a fraction as good tonight in game 2 against the Phillies, our Padres can clinch at least a series split and continue their quest for a perfect final homestand.
Ian Kennedy looks to rebound from back-to-back losses and get a winning streak going against a team that's been especially tough to beat at Petco Park in recent history. Kennedy has already been on the losing end against them once this season. Back in June he allowed five runs on five hits in seven innings for his seventh loss of the season. His 12th and 13th losses came against division rivals Arizona and L.A. his last two times out. He gave up a combined seven runs on 20 hits in 11 1/3 innings of work.
On the mound for Philadephia will be A.J. Burnett, in a rematch of that game in June. Burnett got the win against Kennedy in that meeting, keeping our Friars to two runs in 7 1/3 frames. The righty is 2-7 over his last nine starts while posting a 5.68 ERA
Game time is set for 7:10 PT.
And don't forget to check out today's SB Nation Fantasy Baseball league on FanDuel. It's $2 to join and first prize is $2,000. There's also an MLB Squeeze (Late Night) league with a first prize of $1,200 if you miss the first one. You can join at this link.
But mostly just too late. The Phillies offense came alive, relatively speaking, but was tied down in the late innings, as the Padres "cruised" to a 5-4 win.
A.J. Burnett pitched five strong innings, after a Kendrickian first, but was unable to turn away the Priests in the sixth, and was ultimately tied with his seventeenth loss of the season.
Burnett, incidentally, now leads the National League in losses, for what that's worth.
In any event, Burnett started off in the Kendrick style, allowing a leadoff triple to Cory Spangenberg, an RBI single to WIll Venable and a fielder's choice RBI to Yasmani Grandal. Also, who the fuck is Cory Spangenberg?
Burnett was solid, though, for the next five innings, limiting the Catholic Church to a few scattered hits, and keeping them off the booooooooooooard...... YES! YEHAW! /HawkHarrelson. In the sixth, though... after two quick outs, he walked Jake Goebbert, and allowed a two-run homerun to Alexi Amarista. Welp; 4-3 Padres. Two quick singles later, and Burnett's night was done. Unfortunately, Cesar Jiminez allowed an RBI single to Jedd Gyorko, for an insurance run. Also, did you know Gyorko's name is pronounced Jerko? Like a dimunitive of Jerkoff or something?
The Padres would score no more, but no more would be needed, for the Phils managed only four. One run came in the second, on a solo homerun by Domonic Brown. This homerun, by the way, was called by Franzke thusly: "Swung on and blasted to deep right field, and you can forget about that one." It was, in other words, a no-doubter. Narrativists might describe this as payback for yesterday's kerfluffle over his bunt.
The Phils would get two more in the top of the fifth, when, with Cameron Rupp on first, Freddy Galvis drove one into the right field seats for a two-run home run. His third of the year, in 32 games, if anyone's counting. That would be it, though, even with two more walks in the inning, as Tony Gwynn Jr. struck out and Chase Utley lined out to end the inning.
Speaking of Gwynn, I want to talk about him for a second. Here is a guy who's been released and managed to re-sign a minor league contract not long before the end of the season, a season which saw the death of his father, no less. He's not got a lot, baseball-wise to look forward too, and certainly isn't expecting to be playing in San Diego, his hometown, and the home field of his Hall-of-Fame father, any time soon.
Welcome home, kid.
The Phillies would rally late, scoring a run in the ninth on an RBI single by Darin Ruf, but the Padres' bullpen held the line at that point, forcing the 5-4 final.
One other thing worth mentioning: Luis Garcia, who has been... bad... this year, pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout, and Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, the enigma personified, pitched a clean inning around a weak hit and a walk, with another strikeout. And was hitting 98 mph on the gun. Ninety Eight Miles Per Hour. That's actually good.
For reference:
Boom. If he can keep this up... and we've got "100 Mile Giles" and "100 Mile Lefty Dieky," that's one hell of a bullpen. I don't care who you are, facing a quartet of high-90s relievers is not gonna be fun.
In any case, the bullpen doesn't usually score runs, and certainly didn't tonight, as the Phils fell 5-4.
With the loss, the Phillies are at 69-82 (nice), and mathematically eliminated from a .500 finish. Which isn't, like, a surprise, but whatever. Game three of this four-game series is tomorrow night (or later this evening, depending on your timezone), as the Phils send Cole Hamels to the mound against the Pads' Eric Stults. Who the hell is Eric Stults? Tune in tomorrow to find out!
Postscript: A Phillies' recap posted on 9-16-14 would be remiss if it didn't mention the fine work done on twitter by noted Coal Hammels hater @FanSince09, who went way out of his way to expose and identify the homophobic assbaskets who attacked a gay couple in Center City recently. Props to you, my friend. You did good.
Ian Kennedy had a decent start, but for a while there it looked like it would all be for naught. But little Alexi Amarista came up big in the sixth inning to guarantee the Padres a series split against the Phillies.
Cory Spangenberg got the game started nicely with a leadoff triple. Will Venable brought him home immediately with a single to right. An error on a pickoff attempt sent Will all the way to third, allowing him to score easily on a ground out by Yasmani Grandal. Domonic Brown got one of those runs back for the Phils in the top of the second by taking Kennedy deep to right field.
IPK settled down after that and held his lead into the top of the fifth. Unfortunately, a walk to Cameron Rupp set up Freddy Galvis for a go ahead homer. With the Padres recent offensive woes, it seemed like that might secure the loss for Kennedy. Alexi Amarista had other plans, though. After Jake Goebbert drew a two out walk, the little ninja caught a mistake from A.J. Burnett. With a little help from the hot and humid air, the ball carried just far enough to land on the Jack Deck and put the Friars on top. Rymer Liriano and Tommy Medica kept the rally going with a pair of back to back singles. Jedd Gyorko added one more single to the chain, bringing Liriano home for a little insurance.
Nick Vincent and Frank Garces combined for a pair of shutout innings, bringing Kevin Quackenbush in to try for his fourth save of the season. Quack retired Cesar Hernandez on a grounder to third, but Galvis battled back from a 1-2 count bring the tying run to the plate with one out. Undaunted, Quackenbush struck out Ben Revere on three pitches. With two outs in hand, the closer ignored Galvis as he took second base. The defensive indifference stung a bit when he came around on Darin Ruf's RBI single, but Cody Asche popped out to Yangervis Solarte in foul territory to wrap up a solid win on a stormy night.
Eric Stults will go for the series win tomorrow when he takes on Dodger-lover Cole Hamels at 7:10 PM.
Coming off back-to-back victories, our Padres will try to secure the series win tonight in the third of four games against the visiting Phillies. They'll give the ball to Eric Stults, who hopes to avoid his 17th loss of the season. Stults has been pitching better in his recent starts, going 4-3 with a 2.81 ERA in his last eight. Last Friday he allowed five runs (only two earned) in six innings as the Friars went on to win with Stults getting the decision to snap a three-start losing streak. The lefty is still looking for his first career win against Philadelphia. In three prior starts against them, he's gone 0-1 with a 4.00 ERA. That includes a loss on the road back in June, when he yielded four runs on eight hits through five innings of work.
Pitching opposite Stultsy will be San Diego native Cole Hamels, who's had a dominant career against his hometown team. In 15 career starts against our padres, he is 8-2 with a 2.21 ERA, including a 4-1 mark and 1.85 ERA at Petco Park. His last loss to San Diego dates all the way back to July of 2010. Hamels has had a great season with the Phillies so far, but has been especially successful lately. He's gone 20 straight starts without allowing more than three runs, posting a 1.89 ERA and 7-4 record in that span. The Phillies are looking to him to help them avoid a four-game losing streak, which would tie their season-long.
Once again our Padres will get things started at 7:10 PT tonight.
San Diego can turn its eyes toward 2015 after being mathematically eliminated from postseason contention.
The San Diego Padres were officially eliminated from postseason contention on Wednesday night with a 5-2 loss at home to Cole Hamels and the Phillies.
The Philadelphia ace left-hander struck out nine and walked one in his seven innings, allowing only one run for his ninth win of the season.
The loss dropped San Diego to 70-81 on the season. The Pirates (81-70) currently lead the second Wild Card spot, but with Pittsburgh's three-game weekend series against the Brewers (79-73) the second Wild Card winner is assured of having at least 82 wins, one more than the maximum possible for the Padres.
A disastrous year for the team's offense proved costly in the win column and now it will need to start considering how to address those issues going into 2015.
The Padres were baseball's worst offensive team in practically every way imaginable this season, on pace to finish last in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and runs scored, averaging just 3.24 runs per game. Playing in Petco Field hasn't helped, but the team's wRC+ of 81 is still several points worse than the next-best team in the game.
There's simply no combination of pitching and defense that could've made up for such ineptitude at the plate, and the Padres proved that true. They're currently 15½ games behind first-place Los Angeles in the NL West, and have failed to take advantage of strong performances on the mound from the likes of Tyson Ross, Andrew Cashner and others.
The bright spots in the lineup for San Diego were limited, with Seth Smith being the only regular providing anything resembling good production and Yangervis Solarte and Rene Rivera adding some solid performance once they earned bigger roles. Guys like Everth Cabrera, Jedd Gyorko, Yonder Alonso and Will Venable were all disappointing, however, and that was enough to sink the team's hopes.
Solid pitching from Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman and Ken Giles, and an offense led by Freddy Galvis is enough to power the Phillies past the Padres in yet another West Coast Special.
So, how about Cole Hamels, guys. Seven innings, seven scattered hits, one walk, one earned run and nine strikeouts. All on 108 pitches, and all without his best stuff, in front of his hometown fans, no less.
Actually... hang on a second. I want to think about Hamels some more...
...
Ed Note: Phrozen?
...
Ahem!
Oh, right, sorry. Where was I?
Oh, right, Hamels is awesome. Hamels was, initially, matched blow for blow by the Padres' Eric Stults. Until the fifth, that is, when the wheels came off. Darin Ruf led off the inning with a single, Domonic Brown singled to center and Carlos Ruiz singled to left loading the bases, bringing up Freddy Galvis. Galvis, the offensive star of yesterday's game, came through big again, with a two run single up the middle.
This brought Hamels to the mound, who gave Stults his first out of the inning, with a successful sac bunt, moving the runners up in what turned out to be a fortuitous play, as Ben Revere followed with a ground-rule double, driving in two more, and chasing Stults.
That would be all the Phils needed, but they added some insurance in the sixth, when Ruiz drive in Ruf from third with a sac flu off Joe Wieland. The Padres' bullpen held the line the rest of the way, but the damage was sufficiently dealt.
For the Phils' part, after Hamels, who better than Jake Diekman in the eighth and Ken Giles in the ninth. Diekman allowed a hit and a walk, but struck out one in an otherwise clean inning; and Giles was tagged for his first hit and run since August 27th and 23rd respectively, but got the job done with two strikeouts.
Full disclosure: I wrote the headline before the run. But still.
Maikel Franco, starting at third, made the hot corner look easy, including kicking the tires on a fantastic double play.
Kid's got something there. Depending on how he looks in the Spring, of course, I'd be totally fine giving him the job to start next year. Not sure what to do with Asche, who I think has earned more than a benching, but that's one of them good problems.
With the win, the Phillies are no longer able to finish with 69 wins, but still improve to 70-82. Game three of this four-game series is tomorrow night, as the Phils send Kyle Kendrick to the hill against the Padres' Robbie Erlin.
The Padres were eliminated from postseason contention today. While it would have been fitting if tonight's loss had come from an anemic offense, the real trouble came from Eric Stults. The southpaw lasted just 4.1 innings, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits.
Stultsy didn't look so bad for his first 4 innings, though. After giving up a leadoff single to Ben Revere, he retired 12 Phillies in a row. That was good enough to put the Friars on the board first. Tommy Medica opened the bottom half of the fourth with a single up the middle. He stole his way into scoring position before coming home on a Cameron Maybin single. Having a lead must have unsettled Stults, because he fell apart as soon as he got it.
The fifth inning started with three singles in a row, loading the bases for Freddy Galvis. The shortstop would make it four singles in a row with a 2 RBI grounder to center. Dodger lover Cole Hamels laid down a bunt to put runners on second and third, which worked out nicely for the Phils when Revere followed up with a ground rule double. They would score one more run off Joe Wieland in the sixth, but it didn't really matter. The Padres would only eke out one more run in the bottom of the ninth.
Robbie Erlin will take the mound in tomorrow's series finale. First pitch is at 6:10 PM.
A couple days ago I wrote about Bud Black being traded to Toronto back in 1990. I have one card picturing him with the Blue Jays, so I dug it out to scan and pair with that post, but two things stopped me. Firstly, it was already written and tacking on a paragraph about a card would have been clunky. That in and of itself probably wouldn't have derailed me, but then something on the card caught my eye and convinced me it deserved a post of its own. Thanks to the headline, you already know what I'm talking about.
On the front of Black's 1991 Donruss card he is shown in his Blue Jays threads, although they did make note that he was a member of the Giants by that point. The glove he is wearing clearly has the number 21 written on it in black marker- a number Black never wore. Since it was a posed photo, not an action shot, I figured Buddy borrowed a glove from one of his new teammates for the picture. I looked up the Jays' full 1990 roster to see who hooked him up, and it turns out that the only player to wear 21 for Toronto that year was Greg Myers. You may recall Greg Myers from his days with the Padres. If so, you remember that he was a catcher. Strike one; on to the next.
From there, the next logical guess was that he got it from a former teammate, so I checked Cleveland's roster from that year. Sure enough, 21 was worn by a fellow left-handed pitcher, Greg Swindell. That seemed to answer the question but I wanted to make sure, so I did a Google Image Search. The first shot of Swindell showed him wearing a Mizuno glove and I thought I hit a dead end. However, as I scrolled down, shots of him wearing Wilson gloves started showing up. None of them were the same model or color, but it was enough to keep me on the case. I started narrowing it down by year and card brand; after a couple fruitless queries I hit paydirt.
There it is. That's Swindell's 1990 Donruss Best of the American League card, and on it he's wearing the glove in question. While the question of "Who?" has been answered, the "Why?" of it all is still up in the air. Next time one of you is talking to Bud Black, do me a favor and ask him how he ended up with Greg Swindell's glove.
Today is former Padres outfielder Jody Gerut's thirty-seventh birthday, and since I was always a big fan of the guy, I thought I'd write a quick post about him. After I was about two paragraphs deep, I searched for an article about his retirement and accidentally came across a post I wrote about Gerut on his birthday two years ago and forgot about. It hit all the points I was going to make here, so I scrapped my intended post. It wasn't a complete loss, though. At the end of the two-year-old post was this brief paragraph:
Also celebrating a birthday today is former reliever Roger Mason. I might write about him later; I do have a pretty good anecdote about him...
See, I'm a man of my word. I said I might write about him later, and I did write about him later. Two years later. So, before 730 more days go by, here it is:
Roger Mason had quite an eventful Independence Day weekend in 1993. On Friday, July 2, he made his thirty-third and thirty-fourth appearances of the season for the Padres, earning holds in both games of a doubleheader in Philadelphia. The next day he was traded, but didn't have to travel very far; he headed from the visitor's clubhouse over to the home side, where he presumably took the locker of Tim Mauser, the guy the Phillies traded him for. Mason was back in action the next day, Sunday, the fourth of July, pitching against the guys he'd spent every day of the last several months with.
Having to face guys who were your teammates the day before has to add a whole extra layer of weird to the already chaotic situation of getting traded. I always think back to this trade whenever somebody switches dugouts in the middle of a series; Ichiro is the most high-profile example I can think of.
