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| The lack of outfield production leads to questions... |
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| Voice of the Fan - Visitors Pass | |||
| Written by Mickey Koke | |||
| Thursday, 20 May 2010 13:59 | |||
 Scott Hairston is already down on the 15 day DL, Denorfia was added to the 40 man roster, and Chris Young was moved to the 60 day DL. Along with Joe Thatcher's recent side tweak and Stauffer's appendectomy, the Padres have had to shuffle the lineup and bullpen. The Padres seem all too familiar with injury riddled seasons. With the recent injuries and an already struggling outfield of "key players," (Kyle Blanks, Will Venable and Tony Gwynn Jr.) Denorfia is getting a chance to show the Padres if he belongs and maybe even taking over for either Blanks or Tony Gwynn Jr. In his first game, he had a screaming pinch hit single up the middle. In his first start, he was one of the key contributors with two hits, one of which was an RBI single going the other way, and the other being a late inning rally starter in the bottom of the 12th inning against the Giants.
The Padres were relying on production from both Blanks and Venable this year. Now with Kyle having a "strain" in his right elbow, it will give him a rest mentally and physically. However, it may also send him to the DL even after the MRI had shown no structural damage. Blanks suffered this strain on Tuesday while throwing, but it carried over to him swinging the bat. Blanks is currently in a 6-for-59 slump with a whopping 32 strikeouts. Tony Gwynn Jr.: .182/ .302/ .253 with 1 HR, 8 stolen bases while being gunned down only twice, but also for a lead off hitter has 18 K's. Tony's defense is his real asset. Tony has gone 0 for his last 17! Kyle Blanks: .157/ .283/ .334 3 HR's/15 RBI with a staggering amount of strikeouts, a whopping 46 in 102 Ab's Will Venable: .248/ .326/ .462 with 4 HR's and 14 RBI however has stole 11 out of 12 bags. Will has really come on strong with him leading off last night and flirting with the cycle. He almost raised his avg 30 points in less than a week. My question is, how long can the Padres stay with Tony Gwynn Jr while in 1st place? What would you do? Having Matt Stairs struggling so much, you could DFA Matt Stairs; however, Inter-league play is coming up. If you do DFA Stairs, you could move Tony Gwynn Jr. to your lefty on the bench. Send Blanks down to Portland (or place him on the DL while he has his shoulder strain) to get his regular Ab's and his confidence back. A possible scenario of Defnorfia in LF, Scott Hairston/Durango in CF when Scotty comes off the DL and then you have either Durango or Gwynn as possible pinch runners/hitters depending upon who is starting. Venable would still be in RF. Gwynn is just not an everyday player in my opinion and the stats back that up. Slump or not, he is the weak link despite his stellar glove in the outfield. I keep hearing, "but Gwynn saves so many runs in the outfield, bringing in Durango/Denorfia or Hairston full time we would be downgrading the defense, something the Padres are emphasizing". That is a very fair and legitimate question, but how much defense would possibly be lost? How comparable could the other viable options be? Jed Hoyer and Co. want to emphasize pitching, speed and defense to "play Petco into an advantage". That sounds great and thus far seems like it has worked at home in terms of wins, but it is hardly playing Petco to an advantage when Matt Stairs or Oscar Salazar are in LF and RF to try in desperation for some needed offense! I think Durango could be very intriguing (he fits the mold of playing Petco to an advantage) even if its ALL bunts. Two batting titles in the minors and has vastly improved his defense (according to "Chief Gayton") His routes to balls, stolen base percentage, and lack of power are still a work in progress, hence ONLY 1 extra base hit, but TGJ is no power threat either. I think RIGHT now Durango could be ready to come in ALONG WITH Scott Hairston to give the Padres another look in contrast to Gwynn. Against MOST righties: Cabrera SS Against MOST lefties: Cabrera SS Bench: Oscar Those lineups are assuming a DFA'd Matt Stairs, Blanks sent down or put on the DL, and TGJ taking over for the lefty on the bench only when Scott Hairston comes back. That would also allow a couple of things: if Durango is playing, TGJ and Jerry can pinch run or hit. Then, when TGJ had some spot starts or Hairston was starting, Durango would be the pinch runner. If Durango is one of the guys, it allows Venable to have some days off from either Scotty, Durango or Jerry. Because Durango is switch, he can spell Venable if it were a tough lefty. Another option could be to bring in the recently released Pat Burrell. He hasn't done well since the move to the American League, but maybe his bat would come alive with a move back to the National League and back into the outfield. "The Padres and Giants are interested in Pat Burrell," according to the chatter that Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News hears (Twitter link). Burrell, who will cost a pro-rated portion of the major league minimum now that he's a free agent, may be considering offers." Burrell, who hit .202/.292/.303 for the Rays this year, he is not a everyday player at this point and especially not in the NL. Burrell could be another option as a potential source for bench production. The Padres could possibly replace Burrell for Matt Stairs because of Stairs lack of production from the outfield, the bench and the recent injuries. Burrell would make some sense especially because he would pro-rated portion( meaning, not the full season) of the major league minimum now that he's a free agent. However, according to Corey Brock of MLB.com, "Trust me on this; the Padres have no interest at all in OF Pat Burrell." The Padres and the front office have stated their preference to stay from within the organization, so it looks like the Durango is batting .307/.378/.321 while swiping 16 bags but also getting thrown out 10 times. Cunningham is batting .240/.298/.347 2 RH 14 RBI 5 doubles and 1 triple. So, when is the expression "its too early" over? Especially when you are in 1st place with a chance in a weak division? At some point the players need to be held accountable. Not the hitting coaches and not the ball park. Lets just get players who thrive in San Diego and in Petco park.
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