SAN DIEGO -- The Dodgers look for both their third straight win and their first victory in a week as they restart their season on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. The starting lineup is the expected regular group with a few changes against the right-handed Andrew Cashner.
Starting Lineups
Dodgers
Padres
LF
Crawford (L)
SS
Cabrera (S)
RF
Puig
RF
Denorfia
SS
Ramirez
3B
Headley (S)
1B
Gonzalez (L)
2B
Gyorko
CF
Ethier (L)
1B
Alonso (L)
3B
Uribe
LF
Medica
C
Ellis
CF
Venable (L)
2B
Gordon (L)
C
Rivera
P
Ryu
P
Cashner
Location: Petco Park Time: 5:05 p.m. PT TV: ESPN
Dee Gordon gets the start at second base, owner of the highest batting average (.750) in baseball. Gordon batted leadoff in the one game he started in Australia, but with Carl Crawford back from paternity leave Gordon is now lower in the order, batting eighth on Sunday night.
Crawford bats leadoff with Yasiel Puig hitting second, the opposite of what has been happening against left-handed pitchers. Andre Ethier, 3-for-8 in his career with a double against Casher, moves up as well, hitting fifth. The Dodgers' 4-5-6 hitters are a combined .414 (12-for-29) with four doubles against Cashner.
Rookie Tommy Medica, who hit .290/.380/.449 with three home runs in 19 games in his first taste of major league action last September, gets the Opening Day start for the Padres, batting sixth and playing left field.
A year ago, Andrew Cashner was starting the season in the bullpen after injuring himself in a freak hunting accident. Today, he is the starting pitcher for our season opener.
Cashner is coming off a fantastic 2013 campaign that, despite having to start with some time in a relief role and being put on an innings limit, saw him become one of, if not the most exciting player on our team. In 2013 we saw him hit his first major league home run and face the minimum 27 batters in a one-hit complete game shutout. We saw him help lead the Padres in their second-half push with a 2.14 ERA over his final 11 starts. All of those things and more made him the unanimous choice for the BBWAA's Clyde McCullough Pitcher of the Year Award, which is an ACTUAL REAL AWARD unlike the 2011 SB Nation Cy Young Award.
Combine all of that with Cashner's strong Spring (minus one sketchy start) and you have the obvious choice for the 2014 Opening Night starter. Tonight he will take the mound to open up the 2014 season against a team he pitched very well against last year. Cashner made three relief appearances and three starts against L.A. in 2013, allowing only five runs (four earned) through 26 2/3 innings. He went 1-0 and the Padres lost all three of those starts, but by scores of just 1-0, 2-1, and 3-1.
As for the rest of the lineup today, you'll see some obvious names and some more surprising ones. Everth Cabrera, Chris Denorfia, Chase Headley, Jedd Gyorko, and Yonder Alonso make up the top five batters in the lineup. Then Tommy Medica will bat in the 6th spot and patrol left field. America's Finest City's Sweetheart, Will Venable, will hit 7th in his first attempt at the cycle this season. And finally, Rene Rivera will be Cashner's battery mate behind the plate.
Going opposite Cashner and our Padres will be Hyun-Jin Ryu, who is taking the place of Clayton Kershaw as the Dodgers' Opening Day starter. Kershaw is hitting the disabled list for the first time in his career due to a swollen back muscle. The Dodgers are already two games into their season, having played a series against the Diamondbacks last week in Sydney, Australia. The Dodgers swept the series and the lefty Ryu pitched the second game. He threw five scoreless innings of two-hit ball to get the win, striking out five Arizona batters along the way. Ryu pitched only one game against San Diego last season, giving up one run on eight hits and a walk while collecting six strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.
First pitch is set for 5:05pm and you can catch the Nationally-televised broadcast on ESPN or tune into the radio broadcast on The Mighty 1090.
I am working on the San Diego Padres prospect list. Through brutal attrition I have cut this back to 34 players since I have to find a way to accelerate the grading process. This means that some Grade C guys are going to get cut out of the book, but there's nothing I can do about that unless I want to still be writing a month from now.
Anyway, here is the current breakdown.
Three Grade B+ One Grade B 12 Grade B- Nine Grade C+ Nine Grade C
You know you want a game thread for the first ESPN game.
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona -- The Cubs will start their 2014 season Monday afternoon, but the eyes of the baseball world will be on Petco Park in San Diego tonight for the first ESPN Sunday night telecast of the year, featuring the Padres hosting the Dodgers. Of course, the Dodgers already have two regular-season games under their collective belts, having swept the Diamondbacks in their two-game set in Australia.
Nevertheless, it's Opening Night for baseball in the USA... enjoy this game preview, which will also serve as a game thread.
Hello, and welcome to Opening Night of the 2014 MLB regular season. Of course, we've already seen two games in Australia. And only one game is going on today and everyone else plays tomorrow. Except for the Yankees, who don't play until Tuesday. So, Happy Opening Week? Whatever, real-life baseball is happening.
Tonight, the Dodgers face off against the Padres and because of stupid things like physical bodies, Clayton Kershaw will not be starting because he's going on the disabled list. Instead, Hyun-Jin Ryu will face off against Andrew Cashner.
SAN DIEGO -- Hyun-jin Ryu was magnificent for a second straight start but got nothing to show for it. The Padres rallied against Brian Wilson in the eighth inning for 3-1 win at Petco Park in San Diego.
Ryu struck out seven in his seven scoreless innings, and allowed three hits and three walks. But after retiring 16 of his last 17 batters faced, Ryu was pulled after just 88 pitches. With six outs left and a 1-0 lead, manager Don Mattingly opted for the setup man Wilson in the eighth.
"It's what we want, we'll take it every night. We'd like to have a few more runs and don't leave them on the edge where you can't give up one," Mattingly said. "If your starter gives you a good seven like that, and your back end is as good as ours, you're going to feel pretty good at that point."
"With the guys we have in our bullpen, we feel great with any lead going into the late innings," said catcher A.J. Ellis.
Wilson did not record an out.
Seth Smith hit Wilson's third pitch into the right field seats to tie the game, then everything completely fell apart. After a walk, Wilson made an error on a sacrifice bunt. Then, with third baseman Juan Uribe charging in, catcher Yasmani Grandal stole his first career base, followed by Everth Cabrera taking second on defensive indifference one pitch later. Chris Denorfia made Wilson pay with a two-run single to center to put the Dodgers behind for the first time in 26 innings this season.
Wilson allowed just one run all of last season including the playoffs, totaling 19⅔ innings.
Ryu became just the fifth Los Angeles Dodger to open his season with two straight starts of five innings or more with no runs allowed, joining a list that includes teammate Clayton Kershaw, the man Ryu replaced for Sunday's start.
Ryu, who gave up 17 runs in 30 first innings in 2013 for a 5.10 ERA compared to his 2.61 ERA in all other innings, looked like he might allow an early score again on Sunday.
Cabrera walked and then, with Ryu paying extra attention to the runner, Denorfia singled to right field, advancing Cabrera to third. Denorfia took second on the high throw from right fielder Yasiel Puig that was dropped by leaping cutoff man Hanley Ramirez. One out later a walk loaded the bases, but Ryu escaped the jam thanks to a comebacker by Yonder Alonso for a 1-2 -3 inning-ending double play.
After allowing runners to reach second and third base in both the first and second innings, Ryu settled down to retire 15 straight into the seventh frame. But even when the streak was broken by a one-out walk to rookie Tommy Medica, Ryu recovered with by inducing a 3-6-3 double play on the very next pitch to end the frame.
"All four pitches were working for me tonight. I had some problems early in the game but I was able to overcome them, and that was a big confidence boost for me," Ryu said through a translator. "My curve ball and my slider, I was able to control them better today. It made my other pitches better."
But at 88 pitches, as good as he was, Ryu's night was done.
"We were kind of at our limit with him there tonight," Mattingly said. "We didn't feel like we could ask anything more of him. Maybe three or four starts more starts into [the season] maybe we'd go farther, but tonight we weren't willing to go any farther than that."
The decision was made even easier by a conversation with Ryu after the seventh.
"I noticed in the seventh inning that my ball was slowing down a little bit and I was getting a little tired, so I went up to Donnie and told him it was probably better than I come out of the game," Ryu said. "I trust our bullpen all the time."
A single and a walk set up the game's first run, in the top of the fifth inning. Carl Crawford, in his first game of the season, scored Dee Gordon from second base with a single to left field. A walk by Yasiel Puig loaded the bases with two outs, but Hanley Ramirez grounded to short to end the threat.
Though the Dodgers didn't score, they were patient enough to get starter Andrew Cashner's pitch count up, to 89 through five innings. But they never saw the benefits from that, as Cashner retired the Dodgers in order on just seven pitches in the sixth inning, followed by four Padres relievers shutting the Dodgers down. In all, San Diego pitchers retired 13 of the final 14 Dodgers batters in the game.
"It's always nice to get some breathing room. I guess that's that luxury that we feel like we have with the strength of our bullpen," Ellis lamented. "It would have been nice to have a little more separation, a little more room for error."
Record crowd
Sunday's attendance was 45,567, setting a new record for Petco Park, which opened in 2004. The previous record was 45,496 fans on April 6, 2009, also an Opening Day won by the Dodgers.
Up next
The Dodgers are off on Monday but will hold a simulated game at some point. Josh Beckett is scheduled to throw roughly 45-50 pitches, what Mattingly called a tune up. Beckett, currently on the disabled list with a right elbow contusion, is a candidate to start Saturday against the Giants. Matt Kemp, Chone Figgins and some other players will hit against Beckett on Monday.
On Tuesday, the Dodgers and Padres are back at it again with a 3:40 p.m. PT start. Zack Greinke makes his 2014 debut for the Dodgers, facing Ian Kennedy for San Diego.
In 2014, Fake Teams will be giving one game each week a bit more attention than the others. It's the Game of the Week, fantasy style.
Happy Opening Day, fantasy baseballers! Welcome to a new feature at Fake Teams: The Game of the Week. The purpose of Game of the Week is to provide a thematic framework for choosing players to highlight in articles and to give Fake Teams readers a voice in choosing which players will be featured. Don't worry - Fake Teams has plenty of writers and all of our regular coverage will continue.
Each week on Monday, I'll post an article briefly previewing the two teams. Their recent results will be examined, the home ballpark will get a treatment, and we'll highlight some players to watch. The comments section in that article will be dedicated to nominating players to be analyzed throughout the week. Hitters and relievers will be profiled during the mid-week, and on Friday we'll take a look at the probable starters for the game. The Game of the Week will be the Sunday night game, and Fake Teams will host a live game thread. I hope to provide a variety of themes during these threads - for example, from time to time, I may ask somebody from the fantasy community to come guest host and do an All Questions Answered thread while we watch. At the very least, it will be a great time for people who love fantasy baseball to come together and enjoy watching the game.
This is a new feature for us, so it has the potential to develop organically. If something is not working - or working! - please let us know. Let's hit the ground running with this week's preview. The first Fake Teams Game of the Week will feature the Los Angeles Dodgers hosting the San Francisco Giants on Sunday, April 6.
Recently: Los Angeles had an atypical Spring Training, thanks to a regular season two-game set with the Arizona Diamondbacks last weekend in Australia, which they swept. Last night, they featured in ESPN's Opening Night against the San Diego Padres, taking a 1-0 lead into the 8th inning before setup man Brian Wilson melted down and allowed 3 runs without retiring a batter. The loss marred an efficient outing for Hyun-Jin Ryu (7 IP, 7 K, 3 H, 3 BB, 0 ER), who was making his second start of the season before almost every other major league team even took the field.
The Dodgers are the odds-on favorite to win the division this year, and every projection system I've seen have them winning the most games in the league as well. Most teams that take the international trip to start the season in the short history of such openers have struggled a bit when the season proper gets underway, but they will have two days off this week that may offset that potential slump somewhat.
Fun with Fantasy: Ryu is the pitcher we have the most 2014 data on, so he's the natural choice to lead off this section. He was the 22nd starter taken in drafts this spring, according to Mock Draft Central, so fantasy players are expecting big things out of him this year. It's understandable, given his strong "rookie" season. A workhorse who actually got stronger in some respects in the second half (6.10 second-half K/BB!), Ryu looks like a solid option as a fantasy SP2. Last night, he took advantage of his five-pitch repertoire, effectively changing speeds and causing Padres hitters to whiff 14% of the time. He was more efficient than he was in Australia, finishing 7 innings with 86 pitches after taking 87 pitches to get through 5 in his first outing. Head-to-head players in weekly matchups will no doubt be thankful for Ryu, who is also slated to go on Friday, but given his home park, durability, and favorable peripheral statistics, all players should have every reason to continue to expect consistent, upper-tier performance from Ryu again in 2014.
Recently: Here's where we'll normally talk about the team's recent results. The Giants had a spring training. They won a few games more than they lost. None of it means much of anything. Not many people expect San Francisco to threaten to return to the World Series for the third time in five years, but that was the case each of the other two times as well. If the Dodgers falter, it's more likely that the Giants are there to take advantage than any of their other divisional rivals. Madison Bumgarner will take hill today in Arizona for the opener.
Fun with Fantasy:Brandon Belt should be a fun one to watch this year. He was the 16th first baseman taken in drafts according to Mock Draft Central (98th overall), and I'm betting he'll finish higher than that. Last season, his contact percentage shot up (79.6% vs. career 77.1%, and check out that O-Contact% on FanGraphs: 62.9% vs. 57.3% career) and so did his overall numbers. What's interesting is that there are plenty of people buying what he's selling - check out the fan-sourced projections on FanGraphs relative to the major projection systems (141 wRC+ vs. 133, 128, and 125 for Oliver, Steamer, and ZiPS, respectively).
The Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
Like almost every other NL West ballpark, Dodger Stadium suppresses scoring. Last season, it was the 28th-ranked park in terms of runs, but was a bit easier for home run hitters, ranking 15th. As a symmetrical field, it doesn't favor hitters or pitchers of either handedness, and since it sits in a recessed bowl, the lack of wind is ultimately a positive for pitchers. Pinched-in corners and an almost non-existent foul ground means that hitters produce very few triples.
Because home runs aren't suppressed nearly as much as total runs, hitters can thrive at Dodger Stadium, but we're likely in for a classic low-scoring National League game on Sunday. These two played each other 10 times in LA last season, and only twice did the scoreline eclipse the MLB average of 8.34 combined runs per game. To be fair, one of those two was a 19-3 Giants win, so who knows?
This Week
The Dodgers (2-1) have two more with the Padres before the Giants come to town on Friday. LA will have both Monday and Thursday off. San Francisco (0-0) starts a four-game set with the Diamondbacks on Monday.
Your turn: What Dodgers and Giants players would you like to see profiled this week?
The return of baseball season is always exciting, but today was full of mixed emotions as the Padres honored Jerry Coleman in the pre-game ceremonies. Petco Park fell silent as the Colonel's contributions to his country, his sport, and his family were remembered. There were plenty of teary eyes in the stands (mine included), on a day usually reserved for such joy. Cheering up a crowd of over 45,000 after a memorial to an icon like Coleman is no easy task. Thankfully, the Padres were up to the challenge.
Andrew Cashner came out of the gates strong, striking out the first two Dodgers he faced on 9 pitches. He got Hanley Ramirez to fly out to wrap up the first inning. The offense started strong, too, as Everth Cabrera worked the count for a leadoff walk before going to third on Chris Denorfia's single. With one out, Jedd Gyorko drew another walk to load the bases, but Yonder Alonso grounded into a double play to kill the rally.
That was pretty much the way the game went until the fifth inning, when the Dodgers finally managed to scratch a run out of Cashner and his magnificent mullet. A.J. Ellis hit a single, then Cashner walked Dee Gordon, bringing up pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu. Ryu laid down a bunt, but some great fielding from Cashner caught Ellis at third, and it looked like he was about to escape the inning unscathed. That's when Carl Crawford hit a single to score Gordon. As good as the pitching had been on both sides, it seemed like that was going to be enough to win the game. And then Don Mattingly put in Brian Wilson to start the eighth inning.
Seth Smith wasted no time in taking advantage of Mattingly's mistake. After watching a pair of fastballs miss the strike zone, he launched an 87 mph slider deep into right field, and it was a whole new ballgame. Yasmani Grandal pinch hit for Dale Thayer and drew a walk, then went to second on a sacrifice bunt from Cabrera. Except it wasn't much of a sacrifice; Cabrera reached first when Wilson bobbled to ball. As long as the Dodgers defense was screwing up, Grandal figured he might as well steal third, and then Cabrera moved to second on defensive indifference. Then Denorfia picked up his second single of the night and his first 2 RBI of the season.
Huston Street entered in the ninth to some new music, trading Ted Nugent's "Stranglehold" for Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir". No word on why he changed it up, but it worked. He retired the Dodgers in order. While the day might have started in tears, it ended in joyous celebration.
It seems cruel after such a win, but tomorrow is an off day. Ian Kennedy will take on Zack Greinke at 3:40 PM.
Identifying risers and fallers in head-to-head points leagues for Week 1, including Padres OF Chris Denorfia and Blue Jays RHP Sergio Santos.
Every Monday morning, I'll highlight two risers and two fallers in head-to-head points leagues. The general idea here is to unearth players whose contributions are either a) increasing or b) decreasing in head-to-head formats, but that doesn't necessarily preclude them from having positive or negative value in rotisserie formats as well.
I'll do my best to stay away from the obvious names, so, generally, the "risers" will have ownership rates south of 10 percent -- but, for clarity, that's not set in stone. The "fallers," meanwhile, are more or less the players that I'm down on compared to the majority.
Denorfia quietly led the Padres in runs scored (67) last year, and he recorded his first 10/10 season across 520 plate appearances. However, it's hard to imagine Denorfia receiving that many at-bats again without an injury opening things up in the outfield. Enter -- and then exit -- Carlos Quentin. The oft-injured outfielder will start the season on the 15-day DL (shocker, I know), but it could be an even longer absence, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune's Dennis Lin. With Cameron Maybin also sidelined, Denorfia immediately becomes a prime target in points leagues as a high-contact hitter. For comparison, Pirates outfielder Starling Marte -- considered a low-end second tier outfielder in roto leagues -- scored just one more point than Denorfia in 2013. The Friars outfielder can approach 60 runs and double-digit home runs and steals once again if Quentin is sidelined indefinitely.
If I'm going to mention a reliever in this white space, it's only because I think he has real staying power. On Sunday, it was announced that Blue Jays closer Casey Janssen would start the season on the 15-day DL with a lower back strain. I should also mention that Janssen dealt with shoulder issues as recently as this spring, so he's no guarantee to come back ready to go when his 15 days are up. This creates a huge opportunity for Santos, who hasn't been a clean bill of health himself, having thrown only 30-plus innings since 2012. Last year, the 30-year-old recorded a 1.75 ERA and 0.58 WHIP to go along with 28 strikeouts while holding opposing batters to a .128 BA in 29 relief appearances. He's not going to be that good again, but he could put up big strikeout numbers if healthy -- last year, his swinging-strike rate was 17.7 percent. I'd gamble on Santos in any and every league I'm in; it's possible he runs with the job should Janssen require a longer stint on the disabled list.
I love the way Hart plays (when he plays, that is), but it's getting hard to justify owning him outside of deep or AL-only leagues. He's already out of the lineup for tonight's season opener, and manager Lloyd McClendon has already said that Hart will sit against right-handed pitchers early on. Sit against right-handed pitchers? That's a giant red flag right there. His spring numbers were atrocious (.132 BA, one extra-base hit and 18 strikeouts in 38 at-bats), and the Mariners have a logjam at first base/designated hitter with Justin Smoak and Logan Morrison also deserving of plate appearances. Hart is still owned in 96 percent of ESPN leagues, but I would almost rather own Morrison, who is still available in 99 percent of leagues. You don't have to make that switch, but it's not looking good for Hart, who missed the entire 2013 season with two knee surgeries. It's fair to wonder if Hart will receive consistent playing time at any point this year.
It might surprise you, but Jay was a top-45 outfielder in points leagues last season, outpacing Yoenis Cespedes and Josh Hamilton in the outfield. He did it on the heels of a career-high 628 plate appearances, batting .276 with seven home runs, 10 steals and 142 R+RBI. That's not going to happen again, not with defensive whizkid Peter Bourjos coming over from the Angels to roam center field. Additionally, the emergence of first baseman Matt Adams pushes Allen Craig out of the infield and into right, so playing time will be hard to come by for the versatile Jay. Left field, of course, is manned by Matt Holliday. Barring injury, Jay is the odd man out.
Predictions abound while Terry Francona finalizes the Opening Day lineup card.
Opening Day. Enough said. The whole, long winter has all been building up to this. No more speculation. No more unanswered questions. It's finally here - my Monday morning news & notes. Enjoy:
Francona still sorting out opening day lineup | Cleveland.com - With Michael Bourn starting the season on the DL, the leadoff spot is up for grabs. Asdrubal Cabrera and Nick Swisher have been mentioned as potential, if unconventional, candidates, but Nyjer Morgan is expected to be the "regular" leadoff man. The one sure thing in the Indians lineup is that nothing is for sure - Tito loves his versatility.
Terry Pluto's 20 predictions for 2014 | Cleveland.com - A handful of fun little tidbits, but I was hoping for something a ittle more from Pluto. Maybe I've just been spoiled by the LGT community predictions. There's nothing bold here, or at least nothing as bold as Pluto's 2013 prediction that Mark Reynolds would hit 30 homers. Wahoo's On First also has a staff roundup of their 2014 predictions, which seem pretty optimistic. My favorite line:
Carlos Santana will be the team’s best hitter, regardless of where he plays, as he kinda has been since he came up to the big leagues in 2010. Cleveland fans will still think he sucks.
Celebrating Opening Day | Sports on Earth - SoE looks at the top story for each team going into Opening Day. Jason Giambi and his gold thong inexplicably make the cut for the Indians.
After experiencing some soreness and problems with his forearm, young pitcher Max Fried's future team is up for speculation.
Extremely talented pitcher and first round draft pick of the San Diego Padres, Max Fried, has a promising baseball career, but after experiencing problems with his forearm in Spring Training, the young gun is unsure where he'll land in 2014.
It was speculated that Fried would be moving up from Fort Wayne, where he spent last season, to double-A San Antonio. But since his injury the TinCaps have made statements alluding to the possibility of Fried missing the beginning of the 2014 season and progressing more slowly within the system. Not too much of a set back, but I'm sure it's not what Fried wants to hear. Nonetheless, hopes are high for the 20-year-old pitcher, sore arm and all.
The Dodgers setup man allowed more runs on Sunday night (three) than he did in his 24 total appearances in 2013, including the playoffs (one).
SAN DIEGO -- It was bound to happen at some point. The Dodgers called on Brian Wilson 18 times in 2013, 24 counting the postseason, and he never really had what could be classified as a bad game. But on Sunday night in San Diego, he turned a 1-0 lead into a 3-1 Dodgers loss.
"It was definitely unlike him. It seems like with Brian, he's always on the edge and always painting. Tonight it seems like he must have been missing that edge out there," manager Don Mattingly said. "He seemed to be missing his spots a bit, and just wasn't as sharp as we're used to seeing him."
Wilson faced five batters in the eighth inning and didn't record an out. Two of the five did reach via error, one by Wilson himself.
"He has made a living, especially coming off the bench, with a tremendous approach as a pinch hitter," catcher A.J. Ellis said of Smith, hitting .315/.413/.554 with six home runs in his career as a pinch hitter entering Sunday.
The Dodgers had a plan for Smith, but Wilson didn't execute on his 2-0 pitch.
"He's a tremendous middle, middle-in fastball hitter," Ellis said. "We know that, and we were trying for the corner but the ball leaked back over the middle of the plate."
Ellis set up on the outer half of the plate.
The pitch did not end up on the outer half of the plate.
"I was trying for a strike on the outer half, and caught too much of the plate," Wilson said.
"[Smith] let it fly in a 2-0 count, which is what you need to do in those situations. Give him credit, he put a great swing on it when his team really needed him," Ellis said. "You just have to really execute on that guy and get the ball to the outer half if you can, make him use the big part of the ballpark."
The home run to pitch was 87 mph, classified by Gameday as a slider, though it was probably a cutter. Wilson threw 25 pitches Sunday night, between 85-92 mph and averaged 89.2 mph on the night. But neither pitcher nor manager were concerned about Wilson's velocity.
"I saw a couple that were 91-92," Mattingly said. "He's kind of an add and subtract guy. He can pitch around there and add on to it."
Wilson hit 92 mph four times, 91 seven times and 90 once.
"I don't worry about velocity," Wilson said.
Wilson was behind in the count to all five batters. He had Chris Denorfia down 0-2 but ran the count full before giving up the two-run single that gave the Padres the lead. Of his 25 pitches, 13 were balls.
"I just wasn't able to get ahead in the count," Wilson said.
A new grip has given the Dodgers left-hander a new weapon in his arsenal, used with great effectiveness on Sunday night.
SAN DIEGO -- Hyun-jin Ryu broke out a new toy on Sunday night, using his improved curveball to great effectiveness his final five innings against the Padres.
Ryu has been working on his curveball all spring, but when Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt suggested a new grip last week the southpaw saw immediate results. But in the first two innings Ryu found himself in jams, with runners on second and third base in both innings, not the best time to debut his new pitch.
"Warming up in the pen he had a really good [curve]. Those first couple of innings weren't really situations to break out a new pitch, or his new grip," said catcher A.J. Ellis. "He showed flashes last season, and it seemed like his best games were when he had his curveball going."
Ryu escaped the first two innings unscathed, and threw 32 pitches, including no curveballs.
In the third inning Ryu threw four curveballs: two balls, a swinging strike, and a groundout by Chris Denorfia.
The fourth inning saw three Ryu curves: one ball and two fouls.
In the fifth inning, Ryu threw three curveballs, all called strikes.
"The breaking ball he threw Chase Headley to punch him out was the best curve ball he's thrown in the last couple seasons," Ellis said.
Ryu threw no curves in the seventh inning, but from the third through the sixth 13 of Ryu's 50 pitches were curveballs. He retired all 12 batters in those four innings, part of a stretch of 15 straight batters retired into the seventh.
"When he started throwing it tonight in the game, I could immediately tell on my end this pitch was different than he's thrown in the past," Ellis recalled. "It was an elite pitch for us those four innings, when he really cruised."
Ryu said the weather conditions in San Diego helped him break in the new pitch.
"My curve ball and my slider, I was able to control them better today," Ryu said. "It made my other pitches better."
In 2013, batters hit .306 with a .486 slugging percentage against Ryu's curveball, per Brooks Baseball. He was at 1.91 runs created below average per 100 pitches, per FanGraphs. It was easily his worst pitch.
The normal Pitchf/x data isn't available for Ryu's start in Australia, but on Sunday night batters were 0-for-2 against his curve. His vertical movement was 8.95 inches, an increase from 7.17 inches in 2013, per Brooks Baseball.
A.J. Ellis noted the difference in Ryu's new curveball.
"It doesn't have that loop in it coming out of his hand. It stays on the plane of his other three pitches, which just adds deception," he explained. "A hitter can't really give up on it or sit on it."
All of these grades are preliminary and subject to change.
QUICK PRIMER ON GRADE MEANINGS:
Grade A prospects are the elite. They have a reasonable chance of becoming stars or superstars. In theory, most Grade A prospects develop into major league regulars, if injuries or unanticipated problems don't intervene. Note that is a major "if" in some cases.
Grade B prospects have a good chance to enjoy successful careers. Some will develop into stars, some will not. Most end up spending several years in the majors, at the very least in a marginal role.
Grade C prospects are the most common type. These are guys who have something positive going for them, but who may have a question mark or three, or who are just too far away from the majors to get an accurate feel for. A few Grade C guys, especially at the lower levels, do develop into stars. Some end up as role players or bench guys. Many don't make it at all.
Also note that there is diversity within each category. I'm a tough grader; Grade C+ is actually good praise, and some C+ prospects (especially at lower levels) turn out very well indeed.
Finally, keep in mind that all grades are shorthand. You have to read the full comment in the book for my full opinion about a player, the letter grade only tells you so much. A Grade C prospect in rookie ball could end up being very impressive, while a Grade C prospect in Triple-A is likely just a future role player.
1) Austin Hedges, C, Grade B+: Excellent defender by all accounts. Reports remain positive on his bat, although there is a disconnect between the reports and his actual performance last year, perhaps due to a hand injury. Glove will get him to the majors, offensive production will determine if he’s a star or merely a decent regular.
2) Matt Wisler, RHP, Grade B+: Rated as a sleeper prospect entering 2013, he broke out with an excellent season in Double-A and looks like a textbook case of a cold-weather high school pitcher gaining both stuff and polish in pro ball, solid command of four pitches should make him a number three if not a two.
3) Max Fried, LHP, Grade B+: Ultra-projectable lefty already throws in the 90s with good mechanics and promising curveball/changeup secondaries. Command needs some tightening but overall pitching aptitude looks good. Future number two starter if the universe unfolds as planned.
4) Rymer Liriano, Grade B-: Tough grade since he missed the entire ’13 season with Tommy John surgery.20/20 potential, batting average and OBP projection remain in question based in past track record.
5) Hunter Renfroe, OF, Grade B-: Enormous power potential, could become a 30-homer hitter. Looked like he made good progress with the strike zone last spring in college, but Midwest League pitchers found more holes in his swing and aggressive approach. I believe in the power but want to see how his other hitting skills hold up.
6) Jace Peterson, SS, Grade B-: Good athlete who does something in every category: steals bases, shows gap power, controls the strike zone, has made progress calming down his defense. A little old to just be reaching Double-A as a top prospect, turns 24 next month, though college football background was a factor. I like him, should be good fantasy producer.
7) Burch Smith, RHP, Grade B-: Sleeper pick that panned out with strong upper-minors performance, flashed his ability in the majors late. At worst should be fine reliever with fastball/changeup combo but I wouldn’t give up on him as a mid-rotation starter if he can get the curveball working more consistently.
8) Keyvius Sampson, RHP, Grade B-: Like Smith, he’s got plenty of fastball but his secondary pitches sometimes lack consistency and I think the chance that he winds up in the bullpen is higher. I could see him becoming a very good closer eventually.
9) Jesse Hahn, RHP, Grade B-: Acquired from Rays. I love his stuff (mid-90s heater, good breaking stuff, good changeup) and he’s always been effective when healthy. Still unproven if Tommy John survivor can hold up under a starter’s workload, but on a per-inning basis he was excellent last year (2.15 ERA, 63/18 K/BB innings in High-A, 55 hits).
10) Franchy Cordero, SS, Grade B-: Hit .333/.381/.511 in rookie ball, dominated Arizona League, also went 11-for-11 in steals, reports indicate he has a chance to stay at shortstop. Sounds like a good prospect to me, surprised he’ s not ranking higher on other lists. I want to see him above rookie ball but he could be ranked much higher next year.
11) Casey Kelly, RHP, Grade B-: Waiting to see how he comes back from Tommy John. Could be a number three or four starter but his hype often outpaced his performance even before he got hurt.
12) Tommy Medica, 1B-OF, Grade B-: I know he’s old for a prospect at age 25 and not toolsy, but he just hits and hits and hits. You can make a case to rank him several spots higher. . .or several spots lower if you are focused on pure tools and youth rather than present hitting ability. If he avoids further injury problems I think he will continue to hit.
13) Alex Dickerson, OF-1B, Grade B-: Acquired from Pirates for Jaff Decker. Less defensive ability and a more aggressive approach than Decker, but I suspect he has more usable power.
14) Dustin Peterson, 3B, Grade B-: Second round pick hit .293/.337/.344 with nine walks, 33 strikeouts in 157 at-bats in rookie ball. Approach was likely less refined than advertised, but scouts project he will hit for power and average once he settles in.
15) Zach Eflin, RHP, Grade B-: Part of all-prospect rotation down at Low-A Fort Wayne last year, posted 2.73 ERA with 86/31 K/BB in 119 innings. Upside not quite as high as Fried’s, but still very respectable with a shot at being a mid-rotation arm.
16) Joe Ross, RHP, Grade C+: Borderline B-.Lively arm but results did not match hype in Low-A, oddly hittable with mediocre K/IP and H/IP ratios for a pitcher whose fastball and slider reportedly move so well. Would rank higher in a system with less depth, physical upside is still attractive and he’s only 20.
17) Reymond Fuentes, OF, Grade C+: I had given up on his bat but he proved me wrong last year, improved contact ability and thrived in Double-A/Triple-A. I wouldn’t expect him to hit .330 again but I think he can be a good fourth outfielder with defensive skills, speed, and occasional offensive contributions.
18) Donn Roach, RHP, Grade C+: Ground ball expert has earned spot in Padres bullpen. Held his own in Double-A after a rough start but was sharp in second half. Normally I don’t care for pitchers with such low strikeout rates but I have liked Roach since he was in college and if he maintains his command I think he’ll be successful.
19) Leonel Campos, RHP, Grade C+: Older prospect at age 26 but with just one full season under his belt since he was pursuing a soccer career in Venezuela before turning to baseball. Throws hard, all pitches have excellent movement, fanned 106 with only 33 hits in 67 innings last year, finished strong in Double-A, 1.61 combined ERA. Very, very interesting relief arm. 20) Franmil Reyes, OF, Grade C+: Tools to rank higher, particularly in power potential department, but I want to see him succeed above Arizona Rookie League. He hit .315/.387/.467 there in 45 games but just .205/.222/.295 with poor strike zone judgment in brief Northwest League action. Big 6-5, 240 pound potential slugger, age 18.
There were at least 10 other players I could have mentioned in this deep farm system.
While the Padres don’t have a top-of-the-scale Cubs-like group to lead the system, they have a very wide array of B/B- type prospects, some of them with the potential to rank higher with another year under the belts. Pitching is particularly strong: Wisler, Fried, Smith, Sampson, Ross, a healthy Kelly, most of the Fort Wayne starting rotation, there are a lot of arms here who could become above-average big league starters, with Wisler and Fried having the most potential I think. Any starters that don’t fit could become relievers but there are also arms already assigned to bullpen roles who can help, too. I’d have to believe that any organization would be happy with the amount of pitching the Padres have collected.
Hitting is more problematic. Hedges will be a big league starter due to his defense but whether he’s an All-Star or not will depend on his hitting, which in my mind is still somewhat questionable. Power bats like Renfroe, Liriano, and the young kids down in rookie ball/A-ball have high upsides but doubts that need to be answered, too. On the other hand, Tommy Medica may lack high-profile tools but I think his bat is for real and he’ll wind up being a lot more useful than many players who are faster in the 60 and look better in uniform.
I was looking for a different card and came across this pair of Lance Zawadzki cards I had forgot about. I remembered Zawadzki's brief time with the Padres in May and June of 2010, along with the fact that he is a San Diego State alumnus; I just forgot that I owned any cards of him. Another thing I forgot was the interesting bit of trivia on the back.
That's a pretty good trivia question. It's a little tricky, since some people might instantly think the answer is Brian Giles, but Giles was about a month late. Zawadzki's hit was a first-inning double in a 4-0 Aztecs win over Houston on March 11, 2004. In addition to his historic hit, Zawadzki was also the only SDSU player in that game to reach the majors; the losing Cougars also had one future major leaguer. Pinch-runner Rob Johnson went on to catch seven years in the majors, including one with San Diego, and is now reinventing himself as a pitcher in the Padres organization.
The reason the back of the card is blurry in the middle is because these cards won't lay flat on the scanner due to the dreaded "Chrome curl". That's nerd-talk for saying that Topps Chrome cards tend to bow out toward the middle due to the process used to put the thick plastic-like coating on them. That's not as interesting as the first hit in Petco Park history, but you never know when it might come up in conversation.
After parts of five seasons in the low minors, 2009 second-round pick Everett Williams has been cut loose by the Padres organization. The news was first reported by Mad Friars.
Padres cut 2009 second round draft pick OF Everett Williams.
Like his first-round counterpart Donavan Tate, Williams missed a good deal of time due to injury and didn't develop as expected when he did make it onto the field. Coincidentally, the most serious of the injuries was the result of an outfield collision with Tate in 2011. Tate hobbled away with a bone bruise while Williams suffered a torn ACL and missed the season. Williams managed to stay healthy the majority of the next season, posting a career-high 397 at-bats, but produced a paltry slash line of .242/ .288/ .363 with 112 strikeouts for Lake Elsinore. He got the bump up to AA San Antonio last season, but posted an even lower OPS in just 89 games.
Williams is pictured here on his 2010 Topps Pro Debut card, number 72, from back when the sky was still the limit.
One thing that stands out to me on the back of this card is his date of birth. He's been kicking around the organization for so long that it's hard to believe he's still only 23 years old. There's still plenty of time for him to turn a corner and get his once-promising career back on track. It seems quite unlikely at this point but hey, stranger things have happened.
Aside from Smith, there isn't a lot to write home about. Denorfia, Headley, and Hundley are batting .400 against Greinke in the fewest possible at-bats one can do that in, but that is balanced by the combined 3-for-26 (.115) mustered by the trifecta of Venable, Gyorko, and Amarista.
That's quite an oh-fer by Uribe, but it's overshadowed by Ethier's impressive line. One can only imagine that Greinke, Puig, and Ramirez won't be getting too comfortable. Not only is the trio a combined 3-for-28, there's a history of unpleasantness between them and Kennedy, which is reflected in the 'HBP' following each of their names.
SAN DIEGO -- The Dodgers look to rebound from Sunday's stunning loss by sending Zack Greinke to the mound for his 2014 debut in the middle game of its series against the Padres on Tuesday afternoon in San Diego.
Greinke allowed just three runs in 18 innings in his three start at Petco Park in 2013, all Dodgers wins. He struck out 15 and walked just three in those road games against the Padres, and outside of his broken collarbone suffered last April 11 Greinke wasn't hit hard in any of the games.
Starting Lineups
Dodgers
Padres
LF
Crawford (L)
SS
Cabrera (S)
RF
Puig
LF
Smith (L)
SS
Ramirez
3B
Headley (S)
1B
Gonzalez (L)
1B
Alonso (L)
CF
Ethier (L)
2B
Gyorko
3B
Uribe
CF
Venable (L)
C
Ellis
RF
Denorfia
2B
Gordon (L)
C
Grandal
P
Greinke
P
Kennedy
Location: Petco Park Time: 3:40 p.m. PT TV: SportsNet LA
That collarbone was broken in the first of two major brawls for the Dodgers last season, both involving Greinke. He also started June 11 against the Diamondbacks, a game that featured a brawl which resulted in eight players or coaches getting suspended for a cumulative 29 games.
The opposing starter last June 11 was Ian Kennedy, who received a 10-game suspension for throwing at Greinke's head. But he was traded to the Padres at the trade deadline, allowing for today's brawl consolidation reunion of sorts.
Kennedy had a 5.23 ERA at the time of the trade and in two months in San Diego put up a 4.24 ERA and also struck out 22.4 percent of his batters faced, in line with the 22 percent rate when he finished second in Cy Young balloting in 2011. The former USC right-hander allowed two or fewer runs in five of his six starts at Petco Park after joining the Padres.
Andre Ethier is 10-for-28 (.357) with two home runs, two doubles and two walks against Kennedy in his career. Hanley Ramirez is 2-for-13 (.154) with a walk.
Against Greinke, Seth Smith is 5-for-13 (.385) with three doubles, while Will Venable is 1-for-13 (.077) with a triple and a walk.
Greinke has allowed 19 runs in his last 16 regular season starts.
