And There's the Bell: 1st Half Review

And so ends the first half of the 2007 MLB season. A season where we learned that the best Japanese import pitcher isn't named Dice-K (his name is Okajimi). Where we can't stop the speeding train that is Barry Bonds and the home run pursuit. And where more times than you would expect (or ever want to see) 2 hits are enough to win a game. With an eye on the 2nd Half, here is the Padres 1st Half Review.

Standings:

The Padres finish the first half alone in first place atop the National League West. This is the 6th time in franchise history that the Padres have lead at the official halfway point. The other 5 times? The Padres went on to win the division.

The Padres finish 11 games over .500 with a 25-20 home record. This all despite the fact that the Padres rank last in team batting average, currently at .241.

So how are the Padres doing it? Run differential. The Padres post the best run differential in baseball with a ration of runs scored = 374 and runs against = 298. The Padres 298 runs against stat is by far the best in baseball, more than 50 runs better than the team in second in that category, the Boston Red Sox.

Players:

First the good.

Jake Peavy and Chris Young: As far as team MVP goes, these two are 1A and 1B. Young currently leads the NL in ERA with a 2.00 ERA. Peavy follows Young with a 2.19. By far the key to the Padres winning ways have been their pitching and the two key cogs of the best pitching staff in baseball is these two.

What makes the Padres dangerous as an October team is the proposition that in a 5-game series they could conceivably lineup: Peavy, Young, Maddox, Peavy, Young. Tough to win 3 games against that pitching lineup.

More good.

Mike Cameron post-April. Cameron started the season below the Mendoza line, batting .198 to end April. Since, he has batted .305 with 11 HR. This to go along with more gold glove play in center.

Adrian Gonzalez. Prior to the current slump that he appears to be on his way breaking out of (the All-Star Break will help as well, giving Gonzalez some time off). He is the team leader in BA, RBI, and OPS.

Bullpen. What is there to say. Nothing that hasn't already been said. Stellar work and a Hall of Famer closing out games. Keep playing "Hell's Bells" fellas! And oh yeah...did I mention 500 saves from Trevor Hoffman! 25 saves at the break, good enough for 3rd in the NL and a pace of over 50 saves for the season. Not bad. Off-Speed Does Kill!

Now some Bad.

Marcus Giles as a leadoff hitter. Way...WAY too man first pitch swings, too many hacks. The Padres need some more patience from their number 2 hitter.

Throwing out Baserunners. The Braves stole 3 more tonight, bringing the total of bases stolen on the Padres to 101. Amount thrown out? 18. Some of this is due to the pitchers (Maddox and Peavy for one do not hold runners very well). This has to get better.

Offense. The Padres have attempted to rectify this situation by making what may become the two biggest acquisitions in what appears to be a down year for trades. Michael Barrett and Milton Bradley will hopefully add some much needed punch to the middle of the Padres lineup. Bradley got his first Padres start on Saturday, a game I was able to be at (beach towel day people!). An interesting start, hitting an infield single, making a juggling catch in left-center, and hitting a 398 foot flyout. Welcome to Petco. Time will tell if these two moves will pay off. In two games with Bradley, he has hit the ball hard every time, getting two hits again today.

1st Half Awards

Team MVP: Jake Peavy- this team wins with pitching, and there may be no better pitcher in the National League than Jake Peavy. Honorable Mention: Chris Young, Trevor Hoffman, Adrian Gonzalez

Team Silver Slugger: Adrian Gonzalez- this guy is an All-Star in the making and can hit to all fields, hit for power and hit with runners on. Only negative. Too many strikeouts. Honorable Mention: Mike Cameron, Khalil Greene

Team Gold Glove: Khalil Greene- there may be no better defensive shortstop playing right now, especially on slow choppers and balls behind the bag. Anyone who saw Greene's spinning throw from behind second base knows this guy is for real. Honorable Mention: Mike Cameron, Adrian Gonzalez

Surprise Player: Jose Cruz Jr.- Cruz has been asked to play all three positions in the outfield at some point, can bunt, hit to all fields and is a switch hitter. Not bad. Honorable Mention: Heath Bell, Royce Ring


Looking toward the second half, the Padres continue to pitch well. One can only hope that the offense will start to pull their weight. Looks like another race to the finish with the Dodgers, making every LA/SD series huge. As for this last set, the Padres dropped 2 of 3 to Atlanta, a team that has had SD's number the last two years. Uncharacteristically, the Padres gave up 17 runs in the weekend set. On Sunday the Padres, after being somewhat punchless all game, strung together 5 consecutive 2 out hits to push the tying run to second before Marcus Giles struck out. A gutty performance, but where were the hits prior to 2 outs in the 9th?

The Padres need to hit better with runners in scoring position and less than 2 outs. If they can increase their productivity in that one category, it will be near impossible for them to not win a 3rd straight NL West Division Crown.


Just For Fun

Quickly now, as this will be the only post until Friday when the Padres return from the break, here are the National League Awards as I see them for the first half:

MVP: Matt Holliday, Col - leads the league in BA

Cy Young: Jake Peavy, SD - Penny and Peavy will be battling all year. And now throw in Young to this race

Rookie of the Year: Hunter Pence, Hou - a bright spot in a bad year in Houston

Manager of the Year: Ned Yost, Mil - raise your hand if you thought the Brewers would be leading the Central at the break. Put your hands down, your lying.

Comeback Player of the Year: Ken Griffey Jr., Cin- vintage. Straight vintage.


See you all on Friday when the Padres head to the desert to take on division rival Arizona. Stay tuned next week for full coverage of Tony Gwynn Weekend in San Diego and of course the induction into Baseball's Hall of Fame. (22 games...and counting)

When Players and Coaches Can't Get it Right, Ask the Fans

Chris Young Heading to San Fran

It took 4.5 million votes, daily campaigning by his All-Star Teammates Jake Peavy and Trevor Hoffman and a little common sense to elect Chris Young to the All-Star Game today. In MLB's now traditional "Final Vote" competition (to elect the final player to each leagues team), Chris Young prevailed today, beating out Cubs Pitcher Carlos Zambrano.

Chris Young had a chance to make a lasting impression on Wednesday night as he got the start against the Marlins. Consider the message delivered loud and clear. Chris Young pitched 7 innings on Wednesday, giving up 5 hits, 0 runs and striking out 9. Chris Young lowered his now league leading ERA to 2.00 (lower currently than fellow All-Star Jake Peavy).

The Padres had gone all out throughout the week in an attempt to get Chris Young elected. It got to the point that even Chris Young's competition for the Final Vote thought he should get in. Carlos Zambrano said on Tuesday that he was surprised that Chris Young wasn't named to the team and believed he deserved it. So, on behalf of Left Coast Bias, congrats to Chris Young! A well deserved first, and hopefully the beginning of many more, All-Star selections!

Series Split

The Padres dropped a 3-2 game to the Marlins this afternoon to split the four game series against the Fish. The most telling, and troubling, aspect of this series is unfortunately a common tale. The offense. Or, better put, the lack of offense. The Padres dropped today's game while racking only 3 hits. Padres 3-5 hitters went 0 for 10 today with 7 strikeouts. And who was pitching this Cy Young like game against the Friars. Byung Hyun Kim, who with his 4.50 ERA and 47 to 36 strikeout to walk ratio looked more Bob Gibson than Kim. A pitcher known this year for an inability to find the strike zone was made the benefit of over anxious hitters. The Padres, outside of Brian Giles, continue to swing at first pitches and bad pitches. Today's game was no different.

The Padres are also struggling to hit with runners in scoring position with an overall team batting average of .241, good enough for 29th out of 30 MLB teams and a slugging percentage of .388, good enough for 26th. Hardly numbers one expects to see from a first place team.

The lack of hitting leads to the Padres playing close games. Many close games. That leads to pressure on the pitchers, requiring the Padres pitchers to be perfect every time out due to lack of run support. Jake Peavy was the latest victim of this offense today, giving up 3 runs in 7 innings. Hardly Peavy-like numbers, but 3 runs qualifies as a quality start and usually translate to wins. In Peavy's last 4 starts he has gone 1-2 with a no decision. Peavy gave up 3 earned runs to the Red Sox on 6/24, a game in which the Padres slugged out 2 runs. Peavy gave up only 1 run 5 days ago in L.A against Brad Penny while the Padres mustered only 1 run. The Padres went on to win this game in extra-innings, a position they wouldn't have been in had it not been for Peavy. And then there was today, where the Padres had an outburst of 3 hits. On the 4th of July the Padres won a 1-0 game, thanks to an error in the 9th to score the winning, and only, run.

This is a recipe for more disappointment in October. Michael Barret has added some offense and eventually the Padres will add Milton Bradley to the lineup. Will that be enough? Hard to say. The lineup is slumping, most noticed by Adrian Gonzalez, the Padres best pure hitter, who has hit a serious slump. In the last 10 games, Adrian has 4 hits...total. That's a 4 for 39 slump.

Moving Brian Giles to the leadoff spot has helped, providing a base runner every few innings. But free swinging and too many strikeouts is making that move moot.

For many of these hitters, the All-Star break can't come soon enough. Here's hoping for more offense in the second half!!!

Up Next:

Atlanta comes into town for yet another reunion of Greg Maddox with his former team. This three game set ends the first half for the Padres.

Chris Young dropped his appeal and began serving his suspension today for the fight against Derrek Lee.

We are within a month of Tony Gwynn being inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame!!!

Only So Many 5 Run 9ths; Padres Forgotton for All-Star Game

Padres vs Dodgers

It is sometimes hard to say following a shutout loss to your rival, but, this was a pretty good weekend for the Friars. The Padres took 2 of 3 against Los Angeles this weekend, moving into sole possession of first place in the National League West with a 1 game lead over L.A. and a 1.5 game lead over Arizona. As for the series, is was what one would expect. Ultra-competitive with just a hint of September baseball in the air. The marquee matchup was Saturday night where Dodger ace Brad Penny went up against our man, Jake Peavy. The two pitched outstanding ballgames, both getting strikeouts when they had to have them. Notably, in the 7th and last inning for Peavy, with the bases loaded, Peavy struck out Saenz with a 94 mph to end the threat. In the end, neither pitcher would factor in the decision, both pitching 7 innings while giving up 1-run. Jose Cruz and Geoff Blum hit back-to-back doubles in the 12th to secure a 3-1 Padres win. Hoffman got the save, his 23 of the year. Peavy lowered his ERA to 2.09, behind only Brad Penny, and regained the National League in strikeouts with 119. Royce Ring picked up his first MLB win in this game.

While Saturday was the highlight matchup, the Padres also won on Friday, scoring 7 runs to take a 7-2 lead in a huge 6 run 4th inning. As it turned out, all 7 were needed, as the Padres gave 3 runs back in the 8th and another in the 9th.

As for Sunday, Germano suffered his second loss of the year while Billingsley pitched 3 hit ball over 7 innings, blanking the Friars.

Padres return home, alone in first, to take on Florida and Atlanta before the All-Star Break.

All-Star Game

And speaking of that All-Star Game, the teams were announced today and predictably (and deservedly), Jake Peavy was named to the team. Now, seeing as the Padres are a first place team with the best record in the National League, one would imagine that Peavy would be followed to San Fran with a bevy of Friars. But, as is often the case in San Diego, the Padres were snubbed, as the only other Padres other than Peavy going to San Fran is Trevor Hoffman (at 23 saves already, a deserved spot). Which means that:

Chris Young with his 8-3 record and 2.14 ERA will not be attending. Instead, LaRussa took Cole Hamels who, while striking out many, is 9-4 with a 3.87 ERA. Nearly 2 full points above Chris Young.

Adrian Gonzalez with his .275 BA and 14 Home Runs and Gold Glove play will once again be watching from home. Instead, taking Derek Lee, who although hitting .346, has only 6 HR's and is 10 RBI's behind Adrian Gonzalez.

The downside to playing on the Left Coast. The upside? Rest, much needed for many players.

Look, I know the All-Star Game starters are picked by fans and to that end, its hard to get fans outside of San Diego to vote. Bigger markets, more people, more votes. But for reserves. That's picked by coaches, and coaches know better. They know how good this Padres team because they remember watching the Padres when the rolled in and took 2 of 3 from most of these coaches. Luckily, by October, the All-Star Game is a distant memory. Looking forward to it.

Notes

Milton Bradley was placed on the 15-day DL retroactive to June 21st, the last time he played. This is a somewhat expected move as Kevin Towers eluded to this weekend when discussing the trade with the A's.

Brian Giles was moved to the leadoff spot, a move I have said since last winter the Padres should make. No hitter on the Padres has better plate discipline, consistently makes contact, and is a smart (if not fast) base runner. The other plus is it moves Marcus to the more comfortable 2-hole for him. The Padres scored 7 runs in the first game with this configuration.

BEACH TOWEL DAY ON SATURDAY!!!

Some NL East teams come into Petco to close the first half of the season. Florida followed by Atlanta. Full reports on those series when they conclude.

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One month in for LCB and it's already building. Thanks for the continued reading. Much More to Come!!!