Promotions and League Honors

A chain reaction has occurred within the Padres minor league system. When Chris Oxspring went down with a sprained elbow, Justin Germano was promoted to Portland. In turn, Brian Whitaker moves to Mobile and Eddie Bonine gets a much-deserved shot in Lake Elsinore. Also, Paul McAnulty earned Player of the Week honors for the Storm, Khalil Greene earned Rookie of the Month honors and Brian Giles earned NL Player of the Week.

Justin Germano went 2-1 with Mobile this year and his promotion to Portland comes on the heels of an outing that saw him go 7.1 innings without surrendering an earned run. Germano lead the Southern League in innings pitched with 32.1, allowing nine earned runs during that span. His ERA was a solid 2.51 and his WHIP (walk plus hits per inning pitched) was 1.18 for the year.

Brian Whitaker went 1-2 with a 1.99 ERA. Whitaker struck out 25, walked seven and gave up seven earned runs in 31 2/3 innings. In his last outing with the Storm, Whitaker gave up one run on six hits in six innings of work.

Eddie Bonine, 2-1, has given up six earned runs in 27.1 innings of work for an ERA of 1.98. His strikeout to walk ratio is 31-to-3 and he has given up 25 hits for an amazing WHIP of 1.02.

Paul McAnulty was named California League's Player of the Week Monday. McAnulty hit .409 with two home runs and seven RBIs to go with two game winning hits. His ninth-inning, two-out single Tuesday gave the Storm a 6-5 win over High Desert, and his two-run home run in the ninth Saturday lifted Lake Elsinore to a 6-4 triumph over San Jose. McAnulty, including Monday, has a nine game hitting streak.

In 23 games played, Khalil Greene, batting in the No. 8 hole, was 24-for-79 with eight doubles, two triples, 11 runs scored, and 36 total bases as the Padres went 15-9 in April. The 24-year-old shortstop compiled a slugging percentage of .456 and an on-base percentage of .368. Greene led all Major League rookies in hits, doubles, and triples, tied for first in total bases and led all NL rookies in RBI. The 2002 first round draft pick doubled in the game-winning run on April 29 in a 2-1 win over Montreal, a day after tripling in the go-ahead run in another one-run win (5-4) over the Expos.

Brian Giles helped the Padres to a 6-1 mark by batting .462 (12-for-26) with two doubles, one triple, three home runs and six RBIs. He also posted a .962 slugging percentage and a .533 on-base percentage. This is the fifth time in his career that Giles has earned the honor.