Quote from fenn68 on August 12, 2020, 11:04 am

Quote from MrPadre19 on August 12, 2020, 10:44 am

If anything just move him down to 5th in the order and move Cronenworth up(against RH) and Myers up(against LH).

I'm not sure about the DH thing cause we don't know if there is a motive we aren't aware of.

Despite the good game Profar had last night I still would prefer he wasn't in the lineup "every" game.

But he is so they must really have faith in him....

Or not a lot of faith in the alternatives?

Quote from 3fingersplit on August 12, 2020, 11:20 am

If the Padres are winning then who cares ?

If the Padres win with a different guy it's still ONE win

I say let the manager manage and roll with what he feels is working or going to work....nobody in internet land is going to be 100% happy with any line up so just sit back and enjoy the ride.....These Padres are fun to watch and it sure feels like they have something going on and anytime you can beat the Dodgers anywhere it's a pretty good day. Beating them at Chavez Ravine makes it taste that much better.

I know it's just a couple games but at least they have already earned a split of the 4 game series and I think they served notice that they are not going to be the doormat of the NL West this year.

Go Pads !!!

Quote from MrPadre19 on August 12, 2020, 11:55 am

You're right of course but he went like 1 for 30 to start the season.

In my opinion I'd rather see Olivares get those starts as he may still have a future with this Club and he couldn't do much worse than 1 for 30.

I prefer winning over developing Olivares of course but the way Profar was hitting I just think we could have done both.

Either way...not a huge issue just talking Padres.

Quote from fenn68 on August 12, 2020, 12:07 pm

Yeh, it is all about winning which they are .... now. Might not wait until they start losing before being interested in addressing potential problems. Maybe just a small tweak today prevents a future streak of losses.

Interesting piece that included an analysis of Pham suggesting no one should worry about his rebound (using a lot of the deeper analytics). Basic thesis is his “hard contact” is still high and he is consistent patience at the plate. Only difference really is that he is hitting a lot more ground balls which mutes the value of his hard contact.

Did some looking and his hard contact has gone to 52% from a career at 43%. That should be good.

However, his ground ball percentage has gone up to 67% from 51% while his line drive percentage has dropped from 22% down to 11%.

Also, his pull percentage has risen to 44% from 37% while his opposite field percentage has dropped from 26% to 19%.

So what we are seeing is Pham hitting the ball hard but just pulling ground balls. He has been around a long time .. pitchers “should not” being showing him something new. So, maybe just a minor adjustment to his swing / approach will get him back on tract to his history. Could his previous elbow injury impacted his swing?

Agree a two week slump is nothing to get panicky about ... but something to watch.

 

Quote from fenn68 on August 12, 2020, 2:17 pm

Interview with Preller today ... as usual not any firm information .... a lot of wiggle room for him going forward.

One comment was the he has RECEIVED a number of calls ... unclear whether if those were call wanting a Padre player / prospect or wanting to move one of their players to the Padres. However, we do now know that phone calls are happening.

Generally said that teams are in the calling around phase but no idea how the trade market will unfold ... may not for a few weeks nearer the deadline. Did seem he was willing to play if a deal is appealing ... but did not tip his had on his level of motivation.

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On the 5th SP .... no decision even for the next start (should be in a couple of days) ... the RP day is still an option ... but left all the doors open to someone on the current active or a call-up from the alternate site.

Did not shut the door on Gore ... but did say they want to be sure he gets to the point were he not getting any benefit from being at the alternative site. Did not sound he is there yet.

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Totally dodged any discussion on a contract extension for Tatis but made is sound that nothing is in the works yet.

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Hit all the boxes on why they added Alonso ... insurance (given the unknowns with COVID) ... but did spend a fair amount of time discussing his potential benefit as a teacher for all the LHH at the alternative site and as a professional hitter for the pitchers to face to accelerate their development.

I wonder if he works well as a mentor this year ... the Padres bring him back next year as a coach? Apparently a good guy.

 

Quote from LynchMob on August 12, 2020, 4:23 pm

ICYMI ... a lot of fun notes here ...

https://www.mlb.com/padres/news/padres-are-must-watch-team-in-mlb

Quote from fenn68 on August 13, 2020, 6:36 pm

As an “old guy” not easy to accept the new world of baseball play as highlighted but the fact that the current MLB batting average is the lowest since 1968 ... after which they lowered the mound and soon added the DH.

Different from 1968 when it was all amount pitchers dominating ... now it about HRs at the expense of getting hits and little care about Ks.

On the Padres pre-game they brought this up and Sweeney probably had the right take ... players are getting paid for HR ... players look “cool” styling after a HR ... new age fans love that show. Basically, this trend is not going to change no matter how much we old guys miss baseball ... the old style.

I guess the old school basketball fans hated the fast break / slam dunk / one on one game that evolved but made basketball a favorite of new fans. Same with old school football fans that can’t stand the pass - pass - pass approach at the cost of a hard line running game ... but it too generated greater numbers of fans.

Time to embrace what the masses and players want, I guess.

Quote from MrPadre19 on August 13, 2020, 6:58 pm

It makes it even worse that both halves of baseball now have a hitter in place of a pitcher in the line up.

 

Quote from fenn68 on August 14, 2020, 3:50 pm

After yesterday’s bad, disgusting, soul crushing defeat to the evil LAD ... looking for an optimistic note to spur us on for the remaining 2/3rds of the season.

Padres have 11 wins and a .550 winning percentage.

11 wins ties them for 4th best in the NL and 8th best in MLB.

.550 winning percentage ties them for 5th best in the NL (remember Miami is messing things there) and tied for 11th best in MLB.

Considering the Padres considered at best a .500 team if everything fell together ... they had lost more then 90 games in each of the last 4 years and have not had a season over .500 since 2010 ... in the big picture the season is going well.

Padres have their warts ... but think about all those other teams playing worse than the Padres.

Small steps forward.