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The losing streak aside, there are some major decisions that need to be made this off-season. In my eyes, one major one is whether or not Chase Headley is the long-term answer at third base. Granted, he’s still young and is wrapping up his first full season at the position. But I crunched some numbers and I am distressed by the trend.
First, let’s look at Headley’s first 3 seasons in the bigs (I include ’08, since he appeared in 90 games).
1st: .269, 9 HR, 38 RBI, 19 2B, 3.18 K/BB
2nd: .262, 12 HR, 64 RBI, 31 2B, 4.08 K/BB
Coming off a defeat like this, I'm sure many Padres fans are starting to get beads of sweat. The lowly Diamondbacks put 11 runs on us. Losing a heart-breaker to the Phillies on Friday, and losing yet another to the same club on Saturday. Think of it like this, Padres Fans. Losing is foreign territory. The last losing skid we had was the Dodgers sweep back in May. And that's the ONLY series sweep against us. That's something to be proud of. We lose two and then bounce back to avoid series sweeps. Padres don't roll over. Friday night was a good example of just scrapping to win. Although we ended up losing, we didn't go out with a fight.
Not everything in life is pretty. For every Mona Lisa, there is a freeway underpass with a cowboy sitting on a horse in spray paint. I can’t argue the aesthetics with anyone with even a basic understanding of art, but I know I prefer to look at a plate of sushi more than a pulled-pork sandwich. But, in the end, they both get the job done. The unsung hero of the Padres rotation this year doesn’t ever make it look pretty. In fact, I dare say I groan if he’s starting when I go to a game. But, he’s as big a reason for the team’s success as Mat Latos.
Yes, I like taking 2 of 3 from the Giants. But, as Buddy Black said after Sunday’s game, there’s a lot of baseball left. So, 46 games to go, 5 game edge in the loss column. Before getting into the week in review, lets keep a few things in mind:
- Latos is at 135 innings, if they’re shutting him down at 170, he has 6 starts left… if the number is 180, then he gets 7 – 8 more. That means of the remaining 46 games, Latos only gets the ball in 13 – 17% of them.
- The Rockies and Dodgers have given the Friars fits all year and we still have to play them 12 more times.. not a pleasant thought.
- The Rockies are back healthy… I’m concerned they’ll make another ridiculous September run like they did in 2007. (sorry to bring up a sore subject)
I’m not trying to rain on anyone’s parade, but let’s just not pop the champagne just yet.. long way to go, folks… let’s keep the gas pedal down.
On to the week in review:
Mat Latos is good. The Arctic is cold. Paying taxes sucks. I wish I took Patricia to the prom.
Enough with the obvious.
I wanted to know why the kid is mowing guys. By the way, did you see Latos go and vent to Buddy Black in the dugout between the 3rd and 4th innings Sunday? After Latos and Buddy spoke, the kid went back out and retired 9 of the next 10 hitters he faced. That's rad.
