Bud Black interview with Darren Smith (MP3)

• Last night's win was one of the the best of the season "no doubt about it".
  
• The bullpen probably thought they had the night off. Sometimes when a starter is cruising, the bullpen may mentally check out. Black is careful to say that he's not talking about the Phillies bullpen.
• Black moved Chase Headley into the 4 spot of the line up to give him a different look. It was an attempt to break him out of his offensive funk. He doesn't know if it had any impact on the 2 hits that Chase got last night. It sometimes gives a player a different perspective on the game.
  
• Black is a little bummed that the Padres weren't able to take 3 of 4 from the Dodgers. He's real happy with yesterday's come back win, it was looking really bleak going into the 9th.
• Clayton Richard felt fine warming up in the bullpen prior to exiting the game after 2 pitches on Friday. Clayton is on the disabled list until his joint calms down. They'll keep their eye on him for the next 10 days.
• Black says they are going to pitch Robbie Erlin on Wednesday. Tyson Ross doesn't have the stamina right now to throw 100 pitches. Tim Stauffer just threw 70 pitches the other day and they want to have him for long relief. They like the way Erlin threw against the Blue Jays. They want to have a lefty pitch against the Phillies.
• Jedd Gyorko is on a flight to San Antonio. He's going to play two games on Wednesday and Thursday. He'll join the team on Friday in Florida, hopefully.
• It's a fair question if Black will use Huston Street differently. He has the best percentage in baseball when the team has the lead. He needs to work on hitting his spots and pitch selection. He's been giving up a lot of home runs. Luke Gregerson and Dale Thayer haven't had "crisp stuff" since May. They need consistency out of all three of those guys.
• Huston Street may not pitch tonight. He's been used a lot recently. "When you win games, your best guys pitch."
  
• Kyle Blanks is here to stay at this point. He's performing and playing pretty much every day.
  "He's doing all the things a Padres player needs to do right now."-Bud Black on Kyle Blanks
  
  The Padres have some decisions to make when Yonder Alonso, Jedd Gyorko, Everth Cabrera and Cameron Maybin come back.
• The coaching staff is going to talk about moving Andrew Cashner back a start to give him some extra rest.
• John Baker knows the Padres signs and plays. They had to change their signs when the Dodgers picked him up.

Adam Rubin reports that Mets outfielder Collin Cowgill has been dealt to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for minor league outfielder Kyle Johnson.

Headed into the season with few established options for the outfield, the Mets acquired Cowgill from the Oakland Athletics. The 27-year-old center fielder seemed as a good a bet as any to provide quality at-bats, and the team handed him the Opening Day job while anticipating that he would play every day. When the season opened, the faith in Cowgill seemed prescient as he hit a grand slam in the Mets' 11-2 thrashing of the San Diego Padres. But his first game with the Mets proved to be his high-water mark.

Despite overwhelming grission, Cowgill did not hold up his end of the bargain and posted a .208 on-base percentage in 63 plate appearances.

Johnson, 23, is currently playing in Single-A Burlington of the Midwest League, where he has hit two home runs, stolen 30 bases, and posted a .416 on-base percentage.

Fare thee well, Collin. We'll always have April 1, 2013. And the countless SNL references I made at your expense.

Sportsnet's Arash Madani was the first to report that the Blue Jays have optioned Munenori Kawasaki to the Buffalo Bisons of the AAA International League and will be activating Jose Reyes from the 60-day disabled list, a move that was announced right after the Blue Jays' loss to the Tampa Bay Rays Tuesday night.

Munenori Kawasaki has been sent down - the corresponding move for Jose Reyes's call-up tomorrow. Don't shoot the messenger, #Bluejays fans.

— Arash Madani (@ArashMadani) June 26, 2013

To make room on the 40-man roster, Ramon Ortiz was transferred to the 60-day DL from the 15-day DL, as reported by Mike Wilner on Twitter.

In a little over two months with the club, Kawasaki had become one of the most popular players in Toronto. His fun-loving and goofy personality shone a bright light on the club that had started so horribly. He did much better than most people expected, although still not well enough to warrant a big league roster spot. He was hitting .225/.337/.325 with a .300 wOBA and 86 wRC+ when he was optioned, having earned 0.8 fWAR in 60 games played.

Since Kawasaki still had options remaining, the Blue Jays do not risk losing him to other teams via waiver claims unlike Emilio Bonifacio, Juan Perez, and Dustin McGowan.

This may come as sad news to many Jays fans (including me). I loved his contribution to the team on and off the field. I loved his energy. I loved his love for baseball, of the way he seems so happy playing the game. That's why I started the whole "#WriteInKawasaki" campaign. But then I knew, that this was the best move to make for the Blue Jays, one that prevents (or at least delays) the loss of potentially valuable assets. Just remember: should any middle infielder falter, Kawasaki will likely get recalled to the big club. Meanwhile, he can sell some tickets and merchandise for the Buffalo Bisons. If you live in the southern Ontario area, you can easily get down to see him up close in a game in Buffalo. And by the time rosters expand in September, you just might see ol' #66 back on the carpet of the Rogers Centre.

It's not like the players are happy about this either. According to Shi Davidi, manager John Gibbons made sure to gather all the players together to announce the move to allow everyone to give their hugs and good lucks to Kawasaki. Tonight's starter Mark Buehrle has been in the game for a while, but told John Lott that he does not remember any team gathering for the announcement of a move like this, and that he was very special to his teammates. He was special to all of us too.

Great job Kawasaki!! You will be back soon we're going to miss you

— Edwin Encarnacion (@Encadwin) June 26, 2013

Kawasaki, reached for comments after learning of his demotion, gave some quite poignant quotes:

"It's not as if I've died. I'm still a baseball player; it's just that tomorrow the field will be different." (via Brendan Kennedy)

"This one strange Japanese guy to come here and be accepted the way I have has really been an unbelievable experience." (via Shi Davidi)

As expected, righty Ramon Ortiz has been moved from the 15- to the 60-day disabled list, which removes him from the limits of the 40-man roster. Ortiz suffered from a strained right elbow after a pitch on June 2 against the Padres, and like Reyes, was removed from the field in tears. The earliest he can return to the mound for the Blue Jays will be August 2.

It's important to keep in mind that these two moves were made in order for the Blue Jays to bring a beloved All-Star shortstop back onto the team. Jose Reyes is a Blue Jay, guys.

Starting the year on a pitching staff containing Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay, Jonathan Papelbon, and Mike Adams at the start of the year, Kyle Kendrick is now the third-best pitcher on the team. In Survivor: Philadelphia, Herr Kendrick is doing well.

The San Diego Padres sent Jason Marquis out to duel on their behalf. Marquis, described by Larry Andersen as a "lefter" (at the plate), has bounced around Major League Baseball over the last 5 years, playing for nearly every team except the Phillies in that span. So of course, he was predestined to pitch like Matt Harvey tonight against a Phillies team that is sure to never score another run until 2021 at least, if you believe the worst elements of Phillies fans.

Digressing briefly, conduct a thought experiment for a few moments where you imagine what the result would be of crowd-sourcing the management of the Phillies by the baboons inhabiting the Philly.com message boards, whom I imagine as angry, red-assed simians flinging dung at one another in sexually frustrated alcoholic rages. Replace their beloved "Ruin Tomorrow" (Ruben Amaro, in their lingo) with...their, uh, collective...wisdom. It would be so funny it would almost be worth it. I can usually read about ten comments on any given article before I can feel the brain damage starting, forcing me to stop.

In any case, there was a game tonight. And first blood occurred in the second inning when the Padres strung together a single, a double, an RBI ground out and another single for the 2 runs. Domonic Brown went after a ball hit by Yasmani Grandal during that sequence and just missed it, allowing the double that put Kendrick in some hot water.

The Phillies did not lie down and die, though. They fought back.

Jimmy Rollins walked. He stole second and went to third on a single by Michael Young. Ryan Howard struck out swinging after taking a ball for strike two on a pretty bad call. Domonic Brown came to the plate, much to the chagrin of Franchise1234, who spake thusly earlier in the game:

"Does anyone think dom will be a good player or just an average like he is showing besides his one month of may

"I have been saying this for the last two weeks..he hits singles here and there now he won’t hit more then 25 hr this year..crazy how he can’t adjust to how he’s getting pitched to now

BOOM. Three run bomb and a Phillies lead. Yolacrary did yeoman's work on this prior to the homer:

Still, feel free to welcome Franchise1234 to the hivemind of Domonic Brown Apologists in your own special way. To be fair, I have written some pretty dumb things, and you don't have to look too hard to find them. Still, with all the abuse Brown has received over the last few years, it was nice that Fortune allowed a critic to be answered so clearly so promptly. Way to go, Dom.

In the fifth inning, the Phillies struck again. Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley both singled, giving the Phillies first and third with nobody out when Rollins went first to third. Michael Young whiffed, and Ryan Howard walked. Up came Dom Brown with the bases loaded. He walked on four straight pitches, driving in his fourth run of the night with the walk. This brought John Mayberry to the plate and brought Brad Brach in to replace Marquis for the Padres. The fifth pitch to Mayberry was in the dirt, and squirted away from Grandal, allowing Utley to score and the other runners to move up. On the next pitch, Mayberry hit a hard liner to the outfield, allowing Howard to score on a sacrifice. Brown had to stay at second, and Ben Revere came to the plate with the Phillies up 6 - 2. Revere was walked after running the count full. Carlos Ruiz was next up, and he popped out to end the inning with the Phillies scoring 3 runs on just two hits and not one run scoring as the result of an RBI from a ball hit into play safely. Telling the tale of this game to Ruben Amaro, one might be tempted to note that the Phillies, to this point of the game with a 6 - 2 lead, had accumulated 6 walks. But whatever.

Meanwhile, Kendrick was cruising like a Republican Senator in an airport men's room. After hitting Carlos Quentin in the third, he retired the next 8 batters on one strikeout, one pop up, one fly ball, and 5 ground outs. His pitch count was a relatively economical 62 (44 for strikes) after five innings. Could he and the Phillies maintain the pace and avoid too much any Bullpenning?

In the sixth, Carlos Quentin ended Kendrick's roll with a single, reaching the third time on the night. Kendrick found himself in some trouble when the next batter, Chase Headley, worked the count to 3 - 1, but Kendrick came back to get Headley looking on a call that Headley did not care for. A ground out and another K, looking, and Kendrick was out of the inning at just 78 pitches, reducing the exposure to the soft underbelly of the Phillies' bullpen.

The Phillies went in order in the seventh inning. Kendrick had some trouble again in the bottom half of the inning, giving up back-to-back singles after getting a ground out to start the inning. A strikeout (looking) of Logan Forsythe helped Kendrick edge closer to getting out of the inning, but after a visit from Rich Dubee, Kendrick faced Mark Kotsay. The count went full, and Kotsay belted it to center where Ben Revere ran it down for the last out allowing Kendrick and the Phillies to escape with another scoreless inning, but Kendrick, having chucked 97 pitches, was clearly starting to struggle.

The prospect of bullpenning loomed menacingly as the Phillies headed into the eighth with Kendrick due to be the third batter in the inning, but Kendrick remained in the game to hit. Other than a Carlos Ruiz single, the Phillies managed to mount no substantial threat. The Phillies entered the home half of the eighth with Carlos Quentin and Chase Headley to face Kendrick though Charlie Manuel was already warming JC Ramirez and Antonio Bastardo in case of any trouble.

Kendrick got the troublesome Quentin on a check-swing strikeout, to the chagrin of Padres fans and, honestly, to the chagrin of fans everywhere who like good calls. A flyball by Headley generated the second out, followed promptly by Kyle Banks with a pop out to Jimmy Rollins. Kyle Kendrick solved the eighth inning tonight by doing it himself, wrapping it up in 7 pitches and with a game total of 104. He was welcomed into the dugout and congratulated on a great night, his night over after those 8 innings, 7 hits, 0 walks, 6 strike outs, and 2 runs allowed. An excellent performance, filled with ground ball outs and resulting in a FIP of 1.600.

The Phillies did not score in the ninth, mustering only a walk and a steal by Chase Utley.

With the Padres having a win expectancy of 1.6%, Antonio Bastardo came into the game to face a right-handed batter, a lefty, and another right-hander. Not the way you draw it up, but the bullpen is apparently in "all hands" mode now. Bastardo promptly ran the count full before giving up a single to Grandal to lead things off. Jesus Guzman pinch-hit for the lefty, and hit a ball solidly to Ben Revere in center, but for an out. Jonathan Papelbon began to stir in the Phillies pen during this at bat. Pedro Ciriaco hit a ball past Brown in left and the Padres had second and third with one out and Chris Denorfia coming to the plate.

Rich Dubee made a social call on Bastardo at this juncture, presumably to stall for Papelbon to get loose. All the while, I stared into the darkness of the void. Bastardo, guided by the Hand of God, dealt a slider to Denorfia that caught him looking for the second out. To the plate strode Logan Forsythe, who was 0 - 4 with 3 strikeouts on the evening. The light at the end of the tunnel beckoned, or rather taunted. Surely Logan Forsythe could not jack one here, especially down 0 - 2 in the count. Surely that could not happen...and it didn't. Whew. Got him on a check swing to end it.

Fangraph of Kendrick the Stopper:

Source: FanGraphs

Baseball has been around for a very long time, so when you're the second player to accomplish anything in baseball, that's quite a feat. Matt Moore's start on Tuesday, though, felt fans were not a look of amazement on their face but pure bewilderment.

Moore went 6 innings allowing 1 run on 4 hits, earning his 10th win as the Rays beat the Blue Jays 5-1. And in the process, he struck out 11 and walked 6. Moore became just the 7th player since 1916 to strike out 11 and walk 6 in 6 or less innings, the first since Johan Santana on 5/27/09. And he became just the second player, after Russ Ortiz on 5/27/00, to make a start like that and allow less than 3 runs. That's a pretty crazy stat, but that's only where the insanity begins.

When Alex Cobb had his remarkable 13-strikeout game on May 10th against the Padres, Cobb lasted just 4.2 innings despite only walking 2 batters. How in the world did Moore manage to go 6 innings if he struck out a ton of batters as well, 11, but also walked 6? Over at Rays Colored Glasses, I broke down how that happened.

We generally associate strikeout pitchers with working very deep counts and Matt Moore is certainly no exception. Against the Blue Jays, though, Moore wasn't working deep count after deep count and proceeding to strike out some and walk some. Instead, his strikeouts came when he was locked in and his walks came when he couldn't buy a strike. Just one of Moore's 11 K's came in at-bat of five pitches or longer as it seemed like he could force a swing-and-miss whenever he wanted. His whiff rate on the day was 18.3%, almost double his 9.3% mark overall on the season, and that's bizarre considering his control was so bad. Why didn't the Jays stop swinging if the knew Moore couldn't throw strikes?

It was almost as though Moore's strikeouts and walks were totally independent. Three of Moore's walks came on at-bats of five or fewer pitches and none of them exceeded six pitches. When Moore was walking hitters, he was just completely losing the zone. When he was making his pitches look anything like a strike, though, hitters didn't stand a chance. Take those quick strikeouts and walks and add in some weak contact early in the count, and Moore certainly wasn't efficient but he had enough in the tank to get through six innings. Now if only he could get rid of the lapses of control and make the dominance that he exhibited with his strikeouts something that doesn't come and go nearly as much as it has for him this season.

On Tuesday, Matt Moore looked like a force of nature. Hitters couldn't do anything against him and the only thing that could beat him was himself with the walks. Moore's stuff is electric and it's incredible how dominant he looks when he is right. He has a long way to go in his development as a pitcher and he was luck to allow just 1 run with all those walks, but the promise is there and you have to hope the control clicks.

Here are your links for today:

-From Marc Topkin: Alex Torres is getting a bigger role in the Rays' bullpen, Alex Colome will start Friday, and David Price will throw 70 pitches in his rehab game tonight.

-Alex Rodriguez tweeted that he had gotten the green light to start rehab games. Brian Cashman told him to shut up.

-Manny Acta (who apparently works for ESPN Insider now) discussed the dangers of rushing prospects. Rays fans can laugh and say "yeah, the Rays don't do that."

-With an Insider subscription, you can also read how Nick Markakis is apparently the most average player in baseball. Scroll down to the comments to make fun of people still believing that batting average is the end-all stat.

-B.J. Upton has forgotten how to hit a fastball. The Braves hope that changes.

-Brendan Ryan's defense is something independent of time and place.

-Baseball isn't working in Las Vegas.

-Baseball Prospectus assigns movie endings to 10 MLB teams. If you didn't already know, Arte Moreno is the wrath of God.

Every other Wednesday, I will be taking a quick look at some of the top prospects at the AA level, including their stats for the season so far. All statistics are courtesy of Fangraphs.com, and are through the games of Monday, 6/24/13. Have a question about a specific prospect or player? Post it in the comments and we'll discuss it.

• The numbers are usually not the most important part of reviewing and analyzing prospects, but it's becoming more difficult to ignore what Mike O'Neill is doing for a second straight season. It's really hard to tell how this translates into a major league regular, but at a certain point the numbers do mean enough to outweigh the things you can tell by looking at a prospect.
• Craig Goldstein took a look at Padres (and former Red Sox) farm hand Reymond Fuentes last week.
• Sam Evans of Fish Stripes took a look at the top five future hit tools in the Marlins' minor leagues right now, with no major surprises at the top in Christian Yelich, the currently unsigned Colin Moran, and Jake Marisnick leading the way.
• We saw a number of top prospects arrive in Miguel Sano, Gregory Polanco, and Garin Cecchini, while George Springer was promoted to AAA following the AA All-Star Game.

• We saw a number of pitchers make their AA debuts in the past two weeks, with Nick Kingham starting out strong, Noah Syndergaard pitching well, and Drew Granier pitching effectively for 7 innings.
• We also saw a number of pitchers moved up to AAA, including Taijuan Walker, Rafael Montero,
• Jason Parks released his midseason top 50 update on Tuesday ($), and includes 9 players currently at the AA level. He also had a two hour chat about the list as well.

For more information on the minor leagues and the draft, check out SBNation's Minor League Ball. You can follow me on Twitter @jasonsbaseball.

This was a game with too many strikeouts and not enough contact for the Colorado Rockies. The largest such situation was in the sixth when Tyler Colvin struck out swinging with only one out and runners on first and third. Even a productive out would have made this game get very close. It also included another bad first inning for a Rockies pitcher, this time with Roy Oswalt giving up three runs. Not sure how to fix this problem, but the Rockies have had difficulties coming back when the other team scores in the first inning.

In all, the Rockies struck out 15 times. The first twelve were to John Lackey, who threw a lot of strikes early in the count and got ahead of Colorado hitters. The final two strikeouts came against new Red Sox closer Koji Uehara when the home plate umpire apparently had a hot date to get to. There was no such thing as borderline in the last inning and both Red Sox and Rockies seemed upset with some of the questionable calls.

Highlights for the Rockies include: Oswalt doing everything except for limiting runs pretty well (he went over 100 pitches for the second game in a row and his arm didn't fall off), good defense from Rutledge in the sixth inning (throwing home has been a problem for the Rockies), and the aforementioned two home runs by Michael Cuddyer.

Colorado now sits at 39-40, three and a half games behind the Diamondback with the Padres half a game in front of them as well. They return home tomorrow to play a make-up game with the Mets before starting their NL West show downs prior to the All-Star break.

Graph:

Source: FanGraphs

Rowcall:

CentralCaliRox, DAWNMARIE01, DomP, ES46NE10, Goeldfinger, Junction Rox, Lou Hebert, Nephelimdream, Northsider1964, Rockies7935, RockyMountainWay91, Rosenort, SDcat09, Sjamb, The Lodo Magic Man, Thnikkaman, TomCat009, WalkInRight, WanderingRoxFan, WhiskeyDrinkingMan, barroz, bekdemir, chickenfoof, evers44, holly96, prettyinpurple, rippapality, rockiesfan4ever, steakman, uncgobears, wolf213

After reports throughout the week that the Miami Marlins are working aggressively to trade starter Ricky Nolasco in the coming days, it looks as though talks with multiple teams are heating up and that a deal could happen very soon. While more than six teams have shown interest in acquiring the righty, reports surfaced late Wednesday night that Nolasco's most serious suitors may be rivals in the NL West.

According to Jim Bowden of ESPN.com, the Marlins and San Diego Padres are in talks regarding multiple players including Nolasco, although no deal is close or imminent. The Padres are known to be looking for starting pitching, and Nolasco, a southern California native who is a free agent after the season, could possibly be willing to re-sign with his hometown team this winter, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com.

Ricky Nolasco is on the block and he knows it

The 30-year-old starting pitcher likely won't be with Miami for long.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are "deep into trade talks" with Miami about Nolasco, according to Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com, although it is unclear if a trade is close at this time.

While the disappointing club wants to add a starter and a reliever by the trade deadline, they may also be willing to trade veterans to add prospects, according to Saxon, which complicates talks with the Marlins.

Saxon's report comes one day after Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the Dodgers are "on blitzkrieg" to acquire Nolasco, re-assuring that the team is one of the 30-year old's most serious suitors.

Early on, the San Francisco Giants seemed like the favorite to land Nolasco, but general manager Brian Sabean said today that the team is not planning to make trades soon because of the high asking prices for players this early in the trading season. The Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Baltimore Orioles, and New York Yankees have all been linked to Nolasco in the last few weeks as well.

With all five NL West teams within seven games of first place, it is expected that they will all be very active as the deadline approaches. The bidding war is beginning with Nolasco, who all five teams have shown interest in, and will likely also impact Chicago Cubs' starter Matt Garza, who is already drawing interest from the Padres and Dodgers, according to Rosenthal.

In the next few days, the Marlins will field offers from many teams for the talented Nolasco, who is 4-7 with a 3.68 ERA, 6.9 K/9, and 1.196 WHIP on the season. With every team in one division after him, they will likely be able to sell high.

More from MLB Daily Dish:

• Ricky Nolasco trade rumors: Marlins shopping, Giants favorites

• Yankees rumors: Robinson Cano likely headed for free agency

• Phillies trade rumors: Cliff Lee, Jonathan Papelbon priced VERY HIGH

• Marlins trade rumors: Giancarlo Stanton not up for trade, supposedly

• Join the MLBDD community and write a fanpost!

Robbie Erlin pitched well in his second major league start but the Padres' bullpen didn't fare so well in Wednesday night's 13-inning loss to Philadelphia. Philadelphia got off to a 2-0 lead and it looked like it was going to be one of those classic 2013 Padres comebacks by the time it was 5-2 in favor of San Diego. But it was not to be. Here, see for yourself:

1st inning:
Their Chase got a single and then Michael Old doubled him in. Not the best way to start out but it could have been worse. Carlos Quentin walked with two outs in the bottom half of the inning but our Chase struck out and left him there.
Padres 0, Phillies 1

2nd inning:
Some anti-semite doubled to start the inning, moved to third on a fly ball out by John Mayberry to Chris Denorfia in center, and scored on another one by Carlos Ruiz. Their Dodger-loving pitcher then struck out to end their half of the inning. He then retired the Padres 1-2-3 in the bottom half.
Padres 0, Phillies 2

3rd inning:
Erlin got his first 1-2-3 inning, striking out Utley and Michael Young. Pedro Ciriaco broke up Hamels's fledgling no-hitter Ben Davis-style to lead off the bottom of the inning and Erlin moved him over to second with a sacrifice bunt. Logan Forsythe then broke up the shutout with a double to score Ciriaco, and came across to tie it on a single by Chris Denorfia aided by a Delmon Young error.
Padres 2, Phillies 2

4th inning:
Robbie put up his second 1-2-3 inning in a row, striking out two more batters to bring his total to five. Unfortunately, Hamels also sat down all three hitters he faced.
Padres 2, Phillies 2

5th inning:
Carlos Ruiz ended Erlin's stretch of ten straight batters retired with a one-out walk, and noted jerkface Cole Hamels bunted him over to second for the second out. Pedro Ciriaco then made a great stop and throw to save a run and make the third out.

Logan Forsythe hit his second double of the night with two outs in the bottom of the inning and then OH MY GOD! DENO TO THE RESCUE! Chris Denorfia unevened the score with his sixth homer of the season. This game is sooooo 2013 Padres.
Padres 4, Phillies 2

6th inning:
Hey, there's the ol' 1-2-3 inning again! Nice work, kiddo.
Hamels had no such luck, giving up doubles to Headley and Blanks, allowing a run before getting his first out of the inning. Blanks would be stranded at second as Hamels got two outs, intentionally walked Ciriaco, and struck out Erlin.
Padres 5, Phillies 2

7th inning:
Domonic Brown led off the inning with a single, and Erlin responded by striking out Delmon Young for his seventh K. Bud decided that 98 pitches were enough for the youngster and brought in Nick Vincent. Vincent struck out Mayberry for the second out and allowed a single to Ruiz. It seemed like he was out of the inning but Kyle Blanks dropped a foul pop by pinch hitter Kevin Frandsen; Frandsen promptly singled in a run. Vincent proceeded to walk Jimmy Rollins to load the bases and got the hook in favor of Joe Thatcher. Thatch thatched the hole in the dam and prevented a flood of runs by, of course, getting a groundout.

J.C. Ramirez came in to pitch for the Phillies and retired all three batters he faced.
Padres 5, Phillies 3

8th inning:
Thatch stayed in the game and got a groundout from Michael Young and struck out Ryan Howard before allowing a double to Brown and giving way to Luke Gregerson, who hung a slider to Delmon Young. Said hung slider promptly left the park and took the Padres' lead with it.
Ramirez returned for his second inning of work and again retired the side.
Padres 5, Phillies 5

9th inning:
Dale Thayer got the call and retired all three batters he faced, putting the Padres in prime position for a walk-off win.

Phillippe Aumont dragged his 4.15 ERA out to the mound and got started by walking Yasmani Grandal. Ciriaco followed with a bunt but Aumont was able to force Grandal at second. Pinch hitter Mark Kotsay grounded out, moving Ciriaco into scoring position. Aumont then walked Logan Forsythe to face Chris Denorfia, who already had a big home run to put the Friars ahead earlier in the game. No such luck this time, as Deno flew out to send the game to extras.
Padres 5, Phillies 5

10th inning:
Oh, hey, it's Stauff. 'Sup, buddy? Lookin' good with the ol' naked face. Think you could do me a favor and get these next three guys out? You will? Thanks, Tim, you're the best!

Aumont came back out and fared better than his last inning, retiring Quentin, Headley, and Blanks in order.
Padres 5, Phillies 5

11th inning:
Another 1-2-3 by Stauffer. Heck of a guy. He should totally get a reward for the fine work he's done tonight. Like, a W. Make that happen, guys with bats.

Charlie Manuel decided not to press his luck by sending Aumont out for a third inning so he brought in Jake Diekman. Diekman allowed a single to Nick Hundley but Ciriaco grounded into a double-whammy and pinch hitter Alexi Amarista lined out.
Padres 5, Phillies 5

12th inning:
Huston Street came in and gave up a single to Carlos Ruiz, who was forced out at second on Freddy Galvis's bunt for the first out. Street then got Jimmy Rollins to roll into an inning-ending twin killing.

Joe Savery came in as the Phillies' fifth picture of the night and got Forsythe and Denorfia to ground out, putting the game in Carlos Quentin's hands. Those hands struck out.
Padres 5, Phillies 5

13th inning:
Another inning, another pitcher. Tommy Layne got the nod for the lucky thirteenth and started off by plunking their Chase. Michael Young lined out to Blanks in right field for the first out and Ryan Howard lofted a ball to Q in left for the second. Domonic Brown worked a walk to move Utley into scoring position and allow a force at any base. After a called first strike, Ben Revere fouled off the next three pitches, took a ball, fouled off another, took another ball, and then hit a ball to second base that should have ended the inning. It didn't. Logan Forsythe pulled off the ol' double error, allowing both runs to score and putting Revere on second. Mayberry singled but Chase cut Revere down at the plate to mercifully stop the bleeding.

Jonathan Papelbon came in for the save and, unlike on Monday, got the first two batters out. Jesus Guzman singled and took second on defensive indifference, but it was for naught as Nick Hundley struck out to end the game.
Padres 5, Phillies 7

The series loss puts San Diego one game below .500 with a day off to recuperate tomorrow. Luckily, everybody else in the NL West lost. Well, except for the Dodgers but they don't even matter.

Game thread roll call:
460 comments from 26 different commenters-
A huevo, All Things SD, Axion, B Cres, Back2SD2006, Drama, Dubsco, Faith Keeper, Friar Fever, Furtle, Hormel, Ivan Verastica, JWilhite, Sam (sdsuaztec4), TheThinGwynn, Timmah73, Zen Blade, abara, chris.callahan.7777, jodes0405, london_balling, podpeople, recorddigger, sdchicken, todd.crevoiserat, turbopan

Friar Fever's 88 comments were twice as many as second place Sam's total of 44, with jodes finishing third. Of course she finished third.

If you don't remember Alex Cole, nobody can really blame you. He actually never played a regular season game for the Padres but-- like Harold Reynolds, Mike Scioscia, and Mark Prior after him-- managed to find his way onto a gen-u-ine major league baseball card as a member of the team.

It's fitting that this card features Cole carrying an equipment bag, because he was on the move fairly often around this time. After spending five years in the minors with the Cardinals organization, Cole was traded to San Diego for Omar Olivares right before spring training for the 1990 season. He was assigned to AAA Las Vegas and did fairly well, hitting .290 with 32 steals in 90 games before he was traded yet again, this time to Cleveland for catcher Tom Lampkin on July 11, 1990. After two weeks with AAA Colorado Springs, Cole finally made his major league debut with the Indians.

Cole had his most productive season in that abbreviated rookie campaign. He hit an even .300 in 227 AB, stealing 40 bases and finishing ninth in AL ROY voting. The 40 steals would prove to be his career high; his next highest total would be 30 with Colorado in 1993, in exactly twice as many games. He stole 29 more in 1994 with Minnesota but that was just about the end of the road for him. Injuries limited Cole to only 28 games with the '95 Twins and he played his final 24 major league games with the Red Sox the following season. Cole played 39 games at AAA for the Marlins in 1997 and spent the next four years playing independent ball in the U.S. and Mexico.

Strangely, Cole's 1990 Upper Deck card picturing him as a member of the Padres is not even his first "zero year card". Earlier in the year, before his first trade of the season, Fleer issued a card picturing him as a member of the Cardinals.

You have to appreciate the man's commitment to the MC Hammer glasses. And lest you think this was just a passing phase for him, no, he wore them to the very end. And speaking of the end, that is where this post has found itself.

San Diego Padres second baseman Jedd Gyorko suffered a minor setback Wednesday in his recovery from a groin injury. The rookie infielder removed himself from his rehab game with Double-A San Antonio after feeling tightness in his right leg while attempting to stretch a first-inning hit into a double, report Corey Brock and Jamal Collier of MLB.com.

Gyorko, 24, stayed in the game following the initial discomfort in his leg, but opted to remove himself from the game two innings later as a precaution. It is unclear at the moment whether Wednesday's injury is related to the one that put him on the disabled list three weeks ago.

Digging into an Unwritten Rule

Are the "neighborhood" play's days numbered?

The Friars second baseman has been on the DL since June 10 with a right groin strain. He was scheduled to play two games with San Antonio and rejoin the Padres in Miami on Friday, but now it appears that will not be the case.

Gyorko was off to a solid rookie campaign before his groin started acting up on him earlier this month. The West Virginia native is batting .284/.341/.461 with eight home runs in 255 plate appearances on the year, more than living up to his top-prospect billing.

Utility man Logan Forsythe has taken a bulk of the playing time at second base in Gyorko's absence. Forsythe, 26, is batting a solid .283/.338/.433 with two big flies in 16 starts at the position, helping push San Diego into second place in the NL West.

More from SB Nation:

• Brian Cashman: A-Rod should "shut the (bleep) up"

• Kemp makes game-winning catch, is awesome

• A brief history of Carlos Marmol and the Cubs

• MLB trade deadline basics

• Alex Gordon attacked by moth

• Brisbee: Should Puig make the NL All-Star team?

This week was very different than almost every other week this season. The teams in first and last didn't move in the standings despite having weeks that don't reflect their records, while the other three teams switched spots in the standings way to many times to count.

TEAM RECAPS:

Diamondbacks: Arizona was 2-3 this week. The DBacks won their first two games over the Reds before dropping the series finale. The Diamondbacks then flew to Washington D.C. where they lost the first two games of a three game series against the Nationals.

Arizona averaged 4.8 runs per game this past week thanks in part to an 11-5 victory over Cincinnati on June 21. The fact that the DBacks were 2-3 and averaged more runs per game (4.8) than they gave up (4.4) is surprising. But if you don't include that 11-5 victory, the Diamondbacks averaged 3.3 runs per game while allowing on average 4.3 runs per game.

Rockies: Colorado was 2-4 this week. The Rockies had a win/loss sandwich this week. They lost their first two games to the Nationals before winning the final two games of the four game series. Colorado then traveled to Boston where they lost both games.

The Rockies are now 11-13 this month due to inconsistent pitching and hitting. This past week, Colorado scored only a single run in each of the their first two games before scoring seven runs in each of their next two games. In Boston, the Rockies scored four runs in the first game and three in the second.

Giants: San Francisco was 1-6 this week. The Giants nearly got swept by the Marlins, losing games 1,2, and 4 of their four game series. San Fran then traveled to LA where they were swept by the Dodgers.

This week was not good at all for the Giants' offense. They averaged just 2.3 runs per game while the pitching staff gave up an average of 4.1 runs per game. San Francisco scored either one or two runs five times this week. The poor offensive performance pushed the Giants below .500 and from second to fourth place in the division.

Padres: San Diego was 3-4 this week. The Padres won their first two games of the week before dropping two in a row to the Dodgers. SD then won the first game of a three game series with Philadelphia before dropping the last two. The Padres had a shot at finishing 4-3 this week when they were up 5-3 in eighth over the Phillies on June 26, but San Diego blew the lead and eventually lost in the 13th inning.

San Diego's pitching staff had an interesting week due to Clayton Richard. The lefty was pulled from the team's game against the Dodgers on June 22 after just two pitches. As a result, Bud Black had to go to the bullpen for nine innings. This wore them out for the next couple days, and put a little added pressure on the team's starters.

Dodgers: Los Angeles was 5-2 this week. The Dodgers lost their first two games this week to the Padres before winning the final two games of the four game series. LA then came home and swept San Francisco. The Dodgers were the only team in the NL West to have a winning record over the last seven games.

Hanley Ramirez and Yasiel Puig both had monster weeks. Ramirez hit .400 this week with three home runs and seven RBIs while Puig hit .357 with two home runs and three RBIs. Puig's offensive performance on June 24 helped LA defeat SF a day before Ramirez's 2.97 seconds homer off the left field foul pole helped the Dodgers beat the Giants.

WHAT'S IN STORE FOR THESE TEAMS NEXT WEEK?

Diamondbacks: One game against the Nationals, three games against the Braves, three games against the Mets

Rockies: One game against the Mets (make up from 4/17), three games against the Giants, two games against the Dodgers

Giants: Three games against the Rockies, three games against the Reds

Padres: Four games against the Marlins, two games against the Red Sox

Dodgers: Four games against the Phillies, two games against the Rockies

OVERALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK GOES:

Dodgers' infielder Hanley Ramirez:

The infielder hit .400 with three home runs and seven RBI. Ramirez also scored five times, walked three times, and struck out just twice. Over LA's current five game winning streak, Ramirez is hitting .369 with three home runs and six RBIs. The infielder also had an RBI in every game this week except on Thursday June 20.

BEST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE GOES TO:

Dodgers' pitcher Zack Greinke:

The righty pitched eight innings on June 23 and gave up just one run on four hits. Greinke also struck out eight batters, a season high, while allowing only one walk. It was Greinke's longest outing of the season and started the Dodgers' current five game win streak. In the start before this one, Greinke lasted just five innings after giving up five runs on eight hits.

OVERALL TEAM OF THE WEEK GOES TO:

The Dodgers. Los Angeles was a division best 5-2 this week and swept San Francisco at home after splitting a four game series with San Diego. Just like the Padres last week, the Dodgers' pitching and hitting balance helped them succeed. The offense averaged 3.9 runs per game while the pitching staff allowed on average 3.0 runs per game. The pitching staff also held the Padres and Giants to just a single run on Saturday (June 22), Sunday (June 23) and Monday (June 24).

WORST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK:

Diamondbacks' pitcher Trevor Cahill:

On Tuesday against the Nationals, Cahill gave six runs on eight hits over five innings. This was surprisingly/arguably his second worst start of the season (he allowed eight runs in 3⅔ innings earlier this month). In this particular start, the righty struck out five, walked two, and increased his ERA from 3.92 to 4.29. His ERA was 2.91 at the end of May.

The best player on the Phillies is no longer Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, or Ryan Howard. It is slugging outfielder Domonic Brown who was almost given up on by Philadelphia. Brown was rushed in 2010 as a 22-year-old, and part-time roles in 2011-2012 didn't give much indication that he would be sitting with 20 home runs on June 27, in 2013.

Brown holds one of great efforts of my lifetime. Twelve home runs in May, in 109 at-bats. Zero walks. I just love the crap out of that. Even better, in his first game in June, he walked. In his second game in June he walked. In fact he now has eleven walks in the month of June.

But enough about Brown; let's talk about the Phillies. They are basically a .500 team in 2013. In April they were three games under .500 but since then, have played exactly .500 ball 26 wins, 26 loses. Overall they are looking at 38 wins, 41 losses. Going forward I see a team about 10 games below .500.

They just concluded a three game set with the Padres where they managed to win two out of three but the last win was costly as it took them 13 innings to complete the win. This is not a good nor bad team. They still have Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels. But they don't have Doc Halladay. The killer rotation is not so killer anymore. The Dodgers are going to see one great starter (Lee), one surprising starter (Kyle Kendrick) and two guys who probably don't have much of a future (Jonathan Pettibone / John Lannan).

The lineup these days still has Howard, Utely, Rollins and Carlos Ruiz, but not much else looks familiar.

This infield is either old or decrepit. All were one-time brilliant players, all are shadows of what they were.

Ryan Howard can still hit the occasional home run - he has 10 on the year - but he's a far cry from the man who hit 252 home runs between 2006-2011.

Chase Utley can still hit. When he plays. Utley always seems to be hurt these day, but he is available this weekend. He is also a far cry from the one time MVP candidate of the 2005-2009 era.

Jimmy Rollins still holds down shortstop. The power seems to be dropping fast. The stolen bases are dropping fast.

Michael Young via Texas is the third baseman. He can still hit a single. I'm very curious to see in person how he handles third base.

Ruiz had a career season last year. Also got suspended for PED's. He's back, but now he's the crappy Ruiz he was before 2008. He's so bad he's not even worth the Dodger vitriol anymore.

Left Field is Brown.

Center field is Twin refugee Ben Revere. Revere continues the long MLB legacy of speedy center fielders who can't hit, but can cover ground defensively, while steal bases at a decent clip.

Right field was supposed to be Delmon Young but young John Mayberry has grabbed a good portion of the at-bats. I believe they have a platoon going between them. One player is adequate (Mayberry), one player is not.

Utility is handled by Freddy Galvis who plays whenever the old infield needs a break. Helping him is Kevin Frandsen. Longtime bench player Laynce Nix is the fifth outfielder.

You couldn't line this series up any better for the Dodgers:

• The Phillies are in the middle of a long West Coast road trip
• They just played a 13-inning game
• The Dodgers miss Cole Hamels
• The Dodgers are healthy
• The Dodgers are hot
• Brown is last month's news, Puig is this month's news

There simply is no excuse for the Dodgers to not win at least three games during this four game series. That may seem like crazy bravado for a last place team, but one team is headed up, one team is headed down. One team is getting healthy, one team is simply aging.

I don't own any basketball cards but that's about to change. I was checking out Cardboard Connection earlier to see what's new on the baseball card front and something caught my eye. Apparently Fleer just put out a basketball set of college greats and Tony Gwynn is included. I feel like we all know how good he was-- the fact that he still holds the SDSU season and career assists records and all that-- so it's apparent he's legitimately qualified for inclusion, not just there as a gimmick.

Including parallels, the San Diego Padres great has 13 cards in 2012-13 Fleer Retro Basketball. All are based on Fleer-branded basketball designs from the mid- to late-90s, one of the wildest and most creative era in the hobby's history.

The 13 cards are variations on five designs. I thought it was interesting that Fleer used the same designs for baseball and basketball sets in some instances back in the '90s. Of the five designs, I recognized three that I have baseball versions of. Since I don't own any of Tony's basketball cards yet, I'll show you some of the designs they are based off of. Then you'll see how rad they are and follow that link to go check them out if you haven't already.

The design on the basketball version is slightly different. The flourish under his name is absent but the lettering is the same. I used to have a Dennis Rodman card from that set but ended up getting rid of all of the cards I had of him because I just wasn't interested in collecting him anymore. I equate Rodman to G.G. Allin: somebody I thought was cool when I was a stupid punk kid but nobody I want anything to do with these days.

But, digressions aside, the Tony Gwynn basketball cards are going to be fairly hard to come by for the most part. After a bit of casual research, it looks like the most common of them are going for five bucks a pop while scarcer ones are going for hundreds. Hundreds. Of dollars. Have fun paying that, somebody else.

Cuban outfielder Dariel Alvarez is drawing interest from multiple teams. The Dodgers, Rangers, Red Sox, Royals, Mariners, Diamondbacks, Padres and Yankees are among them, reports Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com

He held a workout in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., in front of that group of teams on Wednesday, and at this point he says he is ready to make the next step and sign with a team.

After playing in the Mexican League following his escape from Cuba, Alvarez became eligible to sign with a team earlier this year. Alvarez made a switch of agents, and that was what held him up from signing with a team earlier. Due to the fact that Alvarez played three seasons in Cuban's professional league, he will not come under the MLB's budget restrictions for international free agents.

After seeing some of the contracts signed by recent Cuban defectors, such as Jorge Soler, Yoenis Cespedes and Yasiel Puig, Alvarez could be in line to make a lot of money when he finally signs with his team. With several teams unafraid of spending money involved, it will almost certainly become a bidding war for the 24-year-old's services.

Alvarez is said to "play all three outfield positions and has impressed Major League scouts with his above-average arm," Sanchez writes.

More from SB Nation:

• Brian Cashman: A-Rod should "shut the (bleep) up"

• Kemp makes game-winning catch, is awesome

• A brief history of Carlos Marmol and the Cubs

• MLB trade deadline basics

• Alex Gordon attacked by moth

• Brisbee: Should Puig make the NL All-Star team?

Joba Chamberlain has been awful this season and, as a free agent destined for another team in 2014, there doesn't seem to be much of a point to keeping him around if he's not going to provide adequate value. The Yankees have a strong bullpen, but he's quickly become the weak link and it's probably time to do something about it, but what can they do?

1) Let him figure it out: Before going on the disabled list, Joba had a 3.86 ERA, a 3.48 FIP and batters were hitting .278/.372/.306 against him in 9.1 innings. Since coming back, he has a 9.00 ERA, 6.77 FIP in June and batters have hit .357/.400/.667 against him in 9.0 innings. The Yankees could wait for his numbers to even out and perhaps add some value to the bullpen. Despite a 6.77 FIP, he actually has a 3.02 xFIP because of the three home runs he gave up this month, so he could be much better.

2) Option him: A 6.38 ERA with a 5.07 FIP should not guarantee you a spot on a major league roster, yet here we are. He's been terrible and has even lost his spot in the seventh inning to Shawn Kelley. Only Brett Marshall has provided less value (-0.2 WAR) than Joba Chamberlain (-0.1 WAR) and sending him down would allow them to bring in someone else who might offer more, while letting him get out of the Bronx to figure himself out. One of Vidal Nuno (1.44 ERA, 2.08 FIP in 25 IP in Triple-A) and Dellin Betances (2.81 ERA .178/.257/.300 25.2 IP as a reliever) should get the call first.

3) DFA him: Joba has absolutely no trade value as a 0.3 WAR player since 2011. Teams might still take a chance on him, but they're not going to pay anything for him, so there's no point in thinking they can trade him. After the organization's response to his outburst during spring training and now the fans' response after the incident with Mariano Rivera, it's clear that no one likes him and since he hasn't been any good for awhile now, there's no reason to hold onto him. Any other player would have been gone, but for some reason the Yankees hold onto him. Maybe they hope they can salvage some kind of value from him before he leaves New York as another failure of the farm system. Teams in and around contention, like the Cardinals, Reds, Giants, Pirates, Braves, Indians, and Padres could pick him up and hope that he figures it out in another ballpark, but he might also have to make do on a team like the Astros, who could use anyone, and hope that he impresses someone enough to sign him in 2014.

Joba Chamberlain was exciting in 2007, but that was six seasons ago. Not surprisingly, he was most valuable as a starter in 2008 (3.2 WAR), but then injury and Phil Hughes relegated him to the bullpen. We can blame whoever we want, but in the end Joba has just not been a good pitcher. Maybe he can rebound with another team and get a second chance to start or maybe he's just destined to play the part of a middle reliever. Whatever the future holds for him it doesn't involve the Yankees, so I wish they would just move on and not worry about him at this point.

More From Pinstriped Bible

Mark Teixeira injury: Community Reactions

Mark Teixeira injury: Could JR Murphy make a roster impact?

Yankees Trade Rumors: Seeking right-handed bat

Source: FanGraphs

Attendance: 18,347
Hero of the Game: Hah, no one, though I will give Giancarlo Stanton (0.097 WPA) the credit.
Goat of the Game: Ricky Nolasco (-0.349 WPA)
Play of the Game:Logan Forsythe homered in the third inning. Edinson Volquez scored.

The Miami Marlins jumped out to an early lead thanks to an RBI triple by Logan Morrison to drive in Giancarlo Stanton. The Fish tacked on another run when Stanton doubled to center field to drive home Placido Polanco, who had found his way on board with a walk. By that point, however, the Fish had still found themselves down 3-2 against the San Diego Padres despite Ricky Nolasco's passable play. Through four innings, Nolasco had allowed three runs, but he had also struck out four batters and, by the end of the game, had picked up six strikeouts in five innings.

But that is about the only positives that would come from tonight's morbid affair against the Padres. San Diego took advantage of Nolasco in the sixth inning, recording four straight hits including a double by Kyle Blanks and RBI singles by Yasmani Grandal and Will Venable. To add insult to injury, the Fish allowed a runner to score on an error by Adeiny Hechavarria as well. By the end of the inning, the lead had ballooned to 6-2.

The Padres tacked on three more runs versus Ryan Webb and Dan Jennings as Edinson Volquez cooled an improved Fish lineup with eight strikeouts in six innings. The Marlins take a loss, 9-2.

If Friday night was his last start as a Miami Marlin, it will be one to forget for Ricky Nolasco.

Trade talks have reportedly picked up as of late, and though it is all speculation, Friday night's start against the San Diego Padres may have been Nolasco's last as a Marlin.

According to several reports, the Marlins have received many calls and proposals that are related to a transaction that would involve Nolasco. The Sun-Sentinel earlier said that the Marlins are waiting for "somebody to step up" before they finalize a deal.

Nolasco struggled against the Padres and Miami's offense was contained by Edison Volquez, who held the Marlins to just two runs in a 9-2 San Diego victory.

Nolasco struggles through five innings

His earned run average remained under four (3.93) after a shaky start, however Nolasco didn't look like a pitcher that several teams are trying aggressively to acquire.

Nolasco was able to keep the Marlins in the game until the Padres took control in the top of the sixth inning.

Over his five innings, he gave up 11 hits and six runs (five earned) while striking out six and not issuing a walk. He had a particularly difficult time retiring Logan Forsythe, who was 3 for 3 including a two-run home run in the third inning.

Nolasco's ability to limit the number of walks he has issued has made him attractive to competitive teams, and a trade may be imminent.

Middle of The Order Lifts Miami's Offense

San Diego has won all four games they have played against the Marlins this season, and a lot of that has been the result of good outings from the Padres' starting pitchers.

Edison Volquez successfully held the Marlins off balance through his six innings, and only gave up two runs while striking out eight.

Giancarlo Stanton and Logan Morrison drove in Miami's only two runs in the first and third innings.

A Morrison triple allowed Stanton to score in the first, and a Stanton double drove third baseman Placido Polanco home in third.

Derek Dietrich and Stanton both had multi-hit games, though the Marlins were unable to put a rally together against the Padres' bullpen.

Brantly makes key defensive mistake

Although he has improved of late, catcher Rob Brantly made a key defensive mistake that cost Miami and Ryan Webb a run on Friday.

Following an Alexi Amarista triple to lead off the seventh, Brantly was unable to handle a pitch which resulted in Amarista being able to score.

Brantly neglected to toss the ball to Webb, who was covering the plate, so there was no play because of Brantly's hesitation.

The Marlins acquired Brantly because of his bat, but his defense appears to be a work in progress.

Bullpen gives up a few

Miami's bullpen has improved of late, though Ryan Webb (unearned run) and Dan Jennings gave up three runs combined in relief of Ricky Nolasco.

Source: FanGraphs

Seeing Ryan Webb pitch last night got me wondering about players who have spent time with both the Padres and the Marlins. Particularly, how many of them there have been and who they are. I looked it up on Baseball Reference's handy multi-franchise tool and it turns out there have been 49 guys who fit the bill. I thought about making a Sporcle quiz but that didn't seem like it would be any fun because about half of the guys are beyond forgettable and the remaining players didn't seem too easy to guess either. A top-whatever list seemed like a possibility but naaah. I decided compiling a combined team was the way to go.

My rules for creating the team were pretty loose. The pool of candidates was limited so I decide to choose the players who had the best career, regardless of what they did during their time in San Diego or Florida specifically. Finding the best player at each position was surprisingly easy; there was one clear-cut best for each spot. I thought it might come down to penciling in somebody at a position they played only a few times but fortunately that was not an issue.

C- Mike Piazza
1B- Derrek Lee
2B- Quilvio Veras
SS- Alex Arias
3B- Gary Sheffield
LF- Cliff Floyd
CF- Mike Cameron
RF- Mark Kotsay

Arias is the only glaring weak link in the bunch but he was the only shortstop to choose from. Kotsay never had a great peak year like his "teammates" but you could do a lot worse than him out there. Plus, there's a fairly decent bench to be called on when the need arises.

C- Benito Santiago
3B/1B- Dave Magadan
Util.- Jorge Cantu
Util.- Eric Owens
OF- Cameron Maybin

Jeremy Hermida had better numbers than Eric Owens but Owens gets the nod for versatility. He played over 200 games at each outfield position and also handled first, second, and third bases. He also seems like the most likely candidate to serve as emergency catcher. Jorge Cantu can play at all four infield positions, albeit poorly, and had a few good offensive seasons back in the day. Santiago would of course start in interleague games played in American League parks, with Piazza shifting to DH. He'd also give Piazza's knees a rest periodically throughout the season, perhaps as the personal catcher of one of the following:

SP- Kevin Brown
SP- Ismael Valdez
SP- Matt Clement
SP- Ricky Bones
SP- Clay Hensley

After the first three, it was a real battle to fill the final two slots of the rotation. Hensley and Bones ended up relieving in more games than they started but each had at least one decent season as a starter. Bones actually had a few. Basically, they were chosen less on merit than they were on lack of any other viable option. Much like the last couple bullpen spots, as you'll come to see.

RP- Trevor Hoffman
RP- Heath Bell
RP- Edward Mujica
RP- Paul Quantrill
RP- Chris Hammond
RP- Rudy Seanez
RP- Chad Qualls

Trevor is of course the closer with Bell setting him up; just like in 2007 and '08. Current Cardinals closer Mujica gets seventh inning duty. In Hammond's 14-year career he served in just about every role but had his most success as a lefty one-out guy. Seanez and Qualls aren't anything to write home about but at their best they weren't too bad. Besides, Seanez was a member of the Padres four separate occasions and that's gotta count for something. As does his middle name; it's 'Caballero'. Yeah, you're not beating that, Chad Edward Gaudin or Ronald Thomas Villone.

Aside from the 25 players on the active roster, there are 24 left of the eligible 49 to act as organizational depth:

C- John Baker, Miguel Oliva, Mike Rivera, Ron Tingley
1B- Tim Hyers, John Mabry
2B/SS/3B- Josh Wilson
OF- John Roskos, Jeremy Hermida
P- Frankie De La Cruz, Jeff Fulchino, Chad Gaudin, Matt Herges, Jeremy Hernandez, Ben Howard, Wade LeBlanc, Brian Meadows, Dan Miceli, Blaine Neal, Rich Rodriguez, Ron Villone, Ed Vosberg, Ryan Webb, Matt Whisenant

All in all, not that terrible of a team. I'd expect a lot of scoring, both by the Padlins and their opponents-- except every fifth day when Brownie is on the bump. So, what do you think? What would you have done differently?

Tomorrow marks the halfway point, calendar-wise, of the 2013 season. 3 months have passed, and 3 months have yet to play out. Soon some of the best players in baseball will be recognized for their first-half achievements through selection to the All-Star game. The trade deadline looms on the horizon, with the proverbial countdown clock officially set to 31 days and counting.

For today though, I wanted to look at the manner in which teams have been winning. Unlike other sports, players on a baseball team are distinctly separated into two groups, those who pitch, and those who don't. Everyone, other than the designated hitter in the American League, fields, and all except pitchers in the AL run the bases.

From the hitting side, 9 players hit on a regular basis for each team. Given that every team gets at least 27 plate

When will the "Year of the Pitcher" end?

Do you know Stephen Loftus? If not, this will count as your introduction. Stephen takes a look at the current dominance of pitching, wondering when we can expect a change based on historical data.

appearances per game, and each starter can theoretically get 3 each, the weight gets spread around. A player who hits three solo home runs does incredibly well, but if the rest of the lineup produces all outs, the overall outcome is weak. If instead every other hitter in the lineup singled in each of his at bats, a few runs may score, but depending on the types of outs the other players make, that lineup could also produce a weak offensive output.

Rarely can one player on a team carry his club at the plate, it takes a solid effort from at least a couple of players over the course of weeks of games to score enough runs to win on a consistent basis. Despite this, given the midway point of the season, it's interesting to look at the most valuable position players from each team thus far, and get a sense of their contributions in comparison to their team's overall success or lack thereof. Here is a list of each team's current compiled position player fWAR and each team's top fWAR position player (For a more complete table visit this link):

Most of these names are expected; league MVP candidates like Miguel Cabrera, Chris Davis, and Mike Trout lead their respective teams in value, garnering a sizeable percentage thus far. Low team position player fWAR does not imply poor results in the win-loss columns as proved by the Washington Nationals, a team underperforming their talent, but one that has accumulated wins due to their pitching, not their hitting.

Every position on the diamond other than pitcher is represented in the list of top players, highlighting the face that no one position dominates the game, especially when looking at overall value including fielding and base running. Some surprising names include Marcell Ozuna of the Marlins, Kyle Seager of the Mariners, Evan Gattis of the Braves, and Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals. Ozuna began the season in high-A Jupiter before making his way to Double-A, and finally to the majors as a fill in for an injured Giancarlo Stanton. Nonetheless, the young right fielder has compiled more fWins than the entire White Sox team; in fact it's more than double. Kyle Seager has followed a steady path upwards since his call up to the show improving in all three slash line categories, increased the rate at which he walks, all while limiting his strikeouts. Despite the numerous busts in the Mariners lineup this season, Seager has carved out a spot for himself in Seattle's lineup everyday. Matt Carpenter is the do-it-all man for the St. Louis Cardinals. He, like Seager, can play multiple infield positions, but instead of third base, Carpenter has found a home at second base, combining a near .400 on base percentage with a low walk rate of 13.3% to make himself a tough out for any pitcher. In addition, Carpenter has shown prowess on the defensive side with a 7.0 UZR/150, 5 DRS, and 1.3 FRAA in the field this season.

Now that we've perused the top position players, let's talk pitching.

When it comes to pitching, a few teams distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack. The Tigers, Cardinals, Yankees, and Rangers all have winning records, and all currently or have at one point in the season held the top spot in their respective divisions, but they have done so through starting pitching. Tigers' righty Max Scherzer has compiled the same if not more fWins than numerous teams in the league. The Yankees may not occupy the top spot in the AL East, and have about as much money sitting on the DL as they do on the field, but between Hiroki Kuroda, C.C. Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, and others, the Yankees have kept the ship afloat. The Cardinals win in all aspects of the game, but none better than starting pitching. The Red Birds have three of the best pitchers in baseball in their rotation, Adam Wainwright, Shelby Miller, and Lance Lynn. The most interesting team of this bunch has to the San Diego Padres. The Friars stand just around the .500 mark, but have done so not with their trademark pitching, but instead in other aspects of the game. The Padres have the only negative pitching value in baseball at -0.3 fWins.

It's fascinating to see which teams have relied heavily on one or two specific players either in their lineup or rotation in order to win this season, which teams spread it out, needing only solid numbers from numerous players to compile victories. Teams win in different ways, and while most would like to have every player in their lineup play at a high level, some teams, like the Angels from a position player standpoint or the Phillies from a starting pitching standpoint rely heavily on one player in particular.

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Big thanks to Fangraphs and Baseball Prospectus for the data used in this article.

Ben Horrow is a writer for Beyond the Box Score, That Balls Outta Here, and Summer Pastime.

You can follow him on twitter @Summerpastime.