They say in the baseball business, you need a short memory. Whether you just walked a batter after getting squeezed on a called strike three or have just grounded into your second consecutive double-play, you need to clear your mind and focus on the task ahead.
This holds true for a Padres fan, especially after a 1-9 road trip to end what is usually their most successful month. So I took advantage of the off day to clear my mind of all things Padres. This worked for most of the day until my twitter went crazy late last night with some exciting news that was confirmed this morning.
The Yazman cometh.
That’s right our switch-hitting, baserunner thowing-outer guy of the future is arriving today. At seasons beginning, it was looking that Yasmani Grandal wasn’t going to debut in a Padres uniform until 2013 or this September at the very earliest. But Nick Hundley’s paltry .169 batting average seems to be forcing Josh Byrnes hand in bringing up Yonder Alonso’s friend/fellow countryman/college teammate to the join him in the big leagues. At least Yasmania won’t come with the pressure of Rizzomania did last year. Grandal is not being called up to save the floundering Padres’ offense like Anthony Rizzo was last year. That burden will fall upon…
Carlos Quentin, the most productive Padres hitter, ever!
If he hung up the spikes today, he would have hit .583 (7-12) with three doubles, three homers and six RBIs. He also recorded two walks with 19 total bases in three games, scoring five runs. That’s a .643 on-base percentage with a ridiculous 1.583 slugging. I’d give you his advanced statistics but, like Mr. Quentin, I’m a hit with the ladies so I needn’t bother with that nerd junk (ZING!!!). I’d leave that to the skipper, but his hands might be full because…
The Padres roster might be dramatically different at series end.
Mr. Buddy Black might have a plethora of new options to work with when the Giants come to town on Monday. Logan Forsythe is eligible to come off the disabled list Sunday, more than likely ending Jason Bartlett’s tenure as a Friar. Also we might see the debut of newly signed Jason Marquis soon in a Padres’ uniform. He joins Jeff Suppan making the front office’s plan to reunite the Cardinals’ starting rotation of ’06 40% complete. If I were Mark Mulder, I’d be starting some long-toss drills because I anticipate the phone to be ringing.
So let’s take it to the D-Backs tonight. If we can see an offense that is somewhere in between the one from Wrigley Field and the one from Citi Field we should be in decent shape. We also won’t have to face Ian Kennedy, who prevented the Giants from achieving their first three-game sweep last night with a 4-1 win at AT&T park on Wednesday night.
So remember to be social if watching from home this weekend. Follow the website on Twitter with @friarhood and myself with @Jeremy_Nash. Special game times this weekend are 7:05 pm, 4:15 pm, and 3:35 pm, this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Original Story:
http://www.friarhood.com/voice-of-the...
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June 01, 2012
