Yes, unhittable is the best way to describe the Padres pen. Those sick arms have opened up the season with an unprecedented 20 2-3 scoreless innings, including four scoreless innings by the all-time saves leader, Trevor Hoffman (pictured). If there's any wonder about why this team has won back-to-back NL West division crowns, you don't have to look much further than that. The pen can also explain the reason why the Padres have been ridiculously successful in close ballgames over the past few years. Starter Jake Peavy is just another player who has recognized their dominance, but for some reason or another, he thinks that the pen going scoreless for the season might be a bit of a challenge.
"It's not going to be like this all the time," Peavy said. "You can't expect the boys not to ever give up a run. Anybody we run out there, we have huge confidence in to put up zeroes for us. That's what we're going to have to do win games. Those guys have been awesome."
I dunno Jake, I fully expect zero ERAs for these guys at the end of the season -- what's wrong with setting your standards high? Oh yeah, besides the stellar play of the bullpen, the pitching staff as a whole has a team ERA of 2.14, a whip below one, and they're holding opponents below a .200 average. Yeah, San Diego's pitching is good. Like really good.
First I heard John Kentera on the Padres' post-game radio show saying San Diego had a press conference scheduled for 10:30am PT on Tuesday. Kentera speculated that the Padres could be announcing the news that they've extended pitcher Chris Young who has been fantastic since arriving in a trade with Texas prior to the '06 season. Corey Brock from the Padres official site also believes the press conference has been scheduled to announce an extension for Chris Young. Same thing with Ken Rosenthal on Foxsports.com.
On Tuesday, the Padres are expected to give the 6-foot-10 right-hander a four-year contract with a club option for the 2011 season, according to multiple sources
There's no question that solid starting pitching from Jake Peavy and David Wells, as well as game-winning hits by Adrian Gonzalez and the Crushin' Russian (chest bump Gaslamp Ball for Kouzmanoff's new nickname), overshadowed some of the unsung heroes in the Padres' past two wins. One of those such unsung players is reliever Scott Linebrink who has yet to allow a run in three relief appearances this year. Even if most fans don't know who Scott Linebrink is, David Wells sure had some choice words about the reliever that not only helped preserve Saturday night's win, but was also the subject of several trade rumors over the off-season:
"I'm glad they kept Liney," Wells said. "I told Kevin Towers if they traded Linebrink, I was going to personally head-butt him. He's so important to what Trevor does."
Yeah, I always knew that David Wells was a different breed of pitcher, but seriously, why would head-butting your GM even enter your mind? Just more proof that David Wells is a weird cat...weird cat. Head-butting Towers? Wow. I'm at a lack of words. At least Wells has maintained his sense of humor since being diagnosed with diabetes.
Yesterday I told you that the Padres had some "contingency funds" available and that they could be using such funds as incentive to make a trade deadline deal for a top-notch outfielder such as Ichiro, Andruw Jones, or Torii Hunter, should any of those gentlemen become available. Now it appears as if the Padres could be using some of that money to lock up current center fielder Mike Cameron, whose $7 million club option was exercised in the off-season.
"We've had continued dialog since Spring Training and I think both sides don't want this to drag deep into the season," Towers said before Thursday's game in San Francisco. "My hope is there will be some sort of resolution in the next week to two weeks one way or the other.
"He's a big part of our club. He's a team leader in the clubhouse, a great guy and someone who I hope we're able to keep."
While no deal is done just yet, the fact that the front office is doing their part in trying to keep the pieces of the back-to-back NL West Division Champions together for the future should be a welcome sign for Padre fans. What's more impressive is the willingness of Kevin Towers to discuss extensions for his players, namely the Adrian Gonzalez signing, as noted in Ducksnorts.
General Manager Kevin Towers said the club once again has "contingency funds" that would allow it to increase the payroll this summer, when outfielders such as Ichiro Suzuki – a Towers favorite – Andruw Jones and Torii Hunter could be on the trade block if their teams are out of playoff contention.
Right now San Diego's payroll is 24th in the league, but that figure is somewhat deceiving, as it will escalate when certain bonuses are paid. Regardless, the current outfielders are Mike Cameron, Brian Giles, and Terrmel Sledge, so one of those guys would fit in nicely with Giles and Cameron, bumping Sledge to the bench. Let's not forget that there have already been plenty of rumors this year that Ichiro (pictured) won't end the season in Seattle.
the Dodgers decided to have their entire team wear uniform No. 42 on Jackie Robinson Day in tribute to the late Hall of Famer who broke baseball's color barrier while wearing Dodger Blue.
Check out Sons of Steve Garvey who obtained a sneak peak at the Dodgers scoreboard for that night. Additionally, Juan Pierre and Marlon Anderson will conduct a youth clinic at the MLB Urban Youth Academy in South Central Los Angeles the previous day. While there's no possible way for baseball to thank and honor Jackie Robinson enough for what he went through and endured in paving the way for many future black players, the Dodgers are certainly making their attempts.
Furthermore, Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr. will also wear jersey No. 42 in honor of Robinson on April 15th. Griffey Jr. petitioned the league to wear the number, since it was retired throughout baseball in 1997 on the 50th anniversary. Padres OF Mike Cameron will also wear No. 42 in honor of Robinson when they play the Dodgers on the 15th, and he will even go completely old school.
The Fanhouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups
Kansas City Royals (1-1) vs. Boston Red Sox (1-1)-2:10PM Est.
The wait is finally over. Sure, you saw him in spring training, but we're experiencing the real thing now. Daisuke Matsuzaka makes his Major League debut for the Boston Red Sox this afternoon in Kansas City. Will we finally get a chance to see this magical pitch they call the Gyroball or is it just a myth? Unfortunately, overshadowed in this game is Zack Greinke who's making his first start of the season after battling through a severe case of depression last season. Greinke had a strong spring to regain his spot in the Royals rotation, and says he's worked through his problems. The good news is that if he relapses, he can follow the lead of women everywhere, and sit in the dugout with a gallon of Dice-Kream.
Philadelphia Phillies (0-2) vs. Atlanta Braves (2-0)-3:05PM Est.
If the third game of this series is as exciting as the first two, you'd be a fool to skip it. The Braves have rallied from behind in both games so far before winning each contest in extra innings. A win today would give Atlanta it's first 3-0 start since 1994. Ahh, 1994. Remember that magnificent 1994 World Series? That was easily the best World Series of all time. What? You're kidding? Wow. That's messed up.
San Francisco Giants (0-2) vs. San Diego Padres (2-0)-10:15PM Est.
Barry Bonds hit home run number 735 last night to move within 20 of the great Hank Aaron, but unfortunately the Giants still lost. The way that Barry has treated the Padres over his career--86 home runs, his most against any opponent--it's not too crazy a notion that he'll hit number 736 tonight against Clay Hensley. More importantly for the Giants, they're looking to avoid their first 0-3 start since 1984.
After taking Padres starter Chris Young deep to left center in the first inning of the Giants second game of the season. It was a solo bomb, and particularly impressive since it went to the opposite field, just over the Emerald Nuts sign. If you remember last year, Bonds wasn't able to go oppo with as much power, so anyone who wants to see history made this year, will probably get their wish.
Barry now has 86 career home runs against the Padres, his most against any team, and Chris Young became the 435th pitcher to allow a dinger to Bonds. Barry's now 20 home runs shy of tying Hank Aaron's career HR record.
Bonds also followed the HR up by chasing down a Marcus Giles blooper into shallow left. Barry appeared to have strained his hamstring or pull something, because he came up gingerly after making the catch. In his following at-bat, Bonds looked like a pitcher trying to make it down the first base line. I'll let you know if it turns out to be anything serious.
The only question is...what gets Dex (the guy fixated on the chick) more excited, that chick, or a Jake Peavy shutout? Maybe he would've had a different reaction if he saw this gentleman. Major props to the spectacular Padres blog Gaslamp Ball for both finds.
Hey, if the Ben Sheets for Cy Young Bandwagon has already embarked on its journey, then the Jake Peavy for Cy Young Bandwagon got its start a day later. By the end of San Diego's 7-0 win over San Francisco, and first Opening Day shutout of franchise history, none of the talk was about Barry Bonds nor Bruce Bochy managing against his former team; it was all about Jake Peavy. The young right hander went six scoreless innings, allowing just five base runners while striking out six, getting his first win of the season (see Ducksnorts for an excellent in-depth breakdown of Peavy's outing).
"That's the way you draw it up," Peavy said. "Put some zeros on the board and make it hold up. That's a good day. I feel healthy. That's the biggest thing for me."
The health certainly is the key to Peavy's success. Last year he had shoulder issues on Opening Day and throughout the year, which can most likely be traced to his participation in the World Baseball Classic. In the 2005 playoffs, he pitched against the Cardinals with a cracked rib.
Seems to me that only injuries, high pitch counts, and a lack of run support can keep the 2004 NL ERA Champion and 2005 NL Strikeout Champion from garnering Cy Young attention in 2007, especially now that he's getting advice from Hall of Famer to be, Greg Maddux.
Yes, unhittable is the best way to describe the Padres pen. Those sick arms have opened up the season with an unprecedented 20 2-3 scoreless innings, including four scoreless innings by the all-time saves leader, Trevor Hoffman (pictured). If there's any wonder about why this team has won back-to-back NL West division crowns, you don't have to look much further than that. The pen can also explain the reason why the Padres have been ridiculously successful in close ballgames over the past few years. Starter Jake Peavy is just another player who has recognized their dominance, but for some reason or another, he thinks that the pen going scoreless for the season might be a bit of a challenge.
First I heard John Kentera on the Padres' post-game radio show saying San Diego had a press conference scheduled for 10:30am PT on Tuesday. Kentera speculated that the Padres could be announcing the news that they've extended pitcher Chris Young who has been fantastic since arriving in a trade with Texas prior to the '06 season. Corey Brock from the Padres official site also believes the press conference has been scheduled to 
There's no question that solid starting pitching from Jake Peavy and David Wells, as well as game-winning hits by 
Yesterday I told you that the Padres had some "contingency funds" available and that they could be 
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