I’ve been back from vacation for about a week now and have
been waiting to contribute another article about being displaced. Finally we’ve got to watch the Padres
displace some teams from the standings.
I have to admit that I did login while on the road to follow the status
of the Pads and I did notice that not much was happening during that two week
period, but over the last week there has been a couple of nice win streaks and we
are finally closing (or at least getting within striking distance) in on the
top spot in the standings. <br><br>
From my perspective (and this shouldn’t be earth shattering
news) the giant hole for the Padres is the #5 spot in the pitching rotation. How long do you let this be the “hole” that
keeps the Pads out of the race again? I
had predicted they’d finish in second but you can’t afford to give away every
fifth game. I feel for Tim Redding but
maybe someone will step into his position and give us some quality starts and
chances at winning. I like the call-ups
and let’s give them a few starts and see how they do. It’s not a coincidence that in order for the
Padres to sweep St. Louis
they needed a win from that same position in the rotation. Injuries continue to plague the Pads and it’s
looking like a few years ago when you couldn’t track the all the injuries and
players without Bruce Bochy’s lineup card. <br><br>
Last year, the Pads had a hard time winning at home, this
year it’s on the road. I wonder
why? I thought that maybe they were
trying to hit more line drives now at Petco and not going for the fences but
the homerun count is up at home. If it
was a matter of adjusting their swings for Petco that would explain why they
aren’t doing so well on the road but they still have more homeruns on the road
than at home. No matter what the reason
is, as of late the Pads are the hottest team in the division and we can’t deny
that. <br><br>
One of the predictions that I made was wrong, that Roberts
would be a role player. His numbers are
pretty impressive given his playing time so far this year. I did predict that his injuries would keep
him in and out of the lineup all year but so far, so good. He’s ahead of the league avg. for stolen
bases and I feel that if he’s the difference in 5 games this year that might
make the difference between a 1st and a 2nd place team. It sure would have made a difference last
year! (We saw in the 13 inning game
against the Reds that he’s proving me totally wrong and I beg forgiveness). Another one of my predictions that I’m glad to
say is holding up is concerning Barry Bonds and his injuries. This brings a smile to my face. Maybe the Yankees want him?
Over the last week the Pads have been getting hot (until the
above mentioned part of the rotation).
It’s nice to see some bats coming alive, some players breaking out of
slumps, some players getting healthy again, etc. and making a nice run. I like the ‘come from behind’ wins – it shows
a lot of passion, just like last year.
On the other side of the coin though, I see some other divisional teams
getting players back soon which could make it tough, but if the Pads continue
to win, it obviously doesn’t matter what those teams do. It appears we won’t have to worry about Bonds
for a while but Gagne is about to come back for the Dodgers and they don’t need
the help at this point.
Go Pads and I promise I won’t take another vacation for a
while so that the streak can continue!
Kevin can be reached at: kevinmcintyre@yahoo.com