There was good news and there was bad news for the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night.
The good news was that recent call-up Justin Hampson pitched very well over 3.2 innings, shutting down the Rockies. The bad news was, that the Padres needed Hampson for 3.2 innings.
After starter and MLB ERA leader Chris Young went down after 2 innings pitched with a strained abdominal muscle, Hampson came in and threw nearly four innings of shutout ball and was an integral part of the Padres 5-3 win over the Colorado Rockies. After the game manager Bud Black said that Young would likely miss his next start, previously scheduled for Sunday.
Victory and everything that goes with it aside, if Chris Young is down for any significant amount of time this ball club is in some serious trouble. For a team last in all of baseball in runs scored, they need their starting pitching to be lights out and with Young, Jake Peavy, Justin Germano, Greg Maddux and David Wells, it has been for most of the year. However now, with Young down for at least a week, if not more, this team will need a little boost from the bats in the lineup to keep pace with the Dodgers, Rockies and Diamondbacks.
On to the win, the Padres were able to put 3 runs up on the board against rookie Ubaldo Jimenez in his 7 innings pitched and then added two more against reliever Ramon Ramirez to get the win.
Jimenez was making only his second start of the season and the third start of his Big League career. He did all he could, keeping the Rockies in it for seven innings and giving them a chance to gain some ground on the 2nd place Padres who are 4.5 games up on Colorado. If Jimenez can keep this up, he may become an invaluable piece of the puzzle for the Rockies who are searching desperately for some quality starting pitching to help them keep up in the intense arms race that is the NL West.
The Rockies now need to focus on getting All-Star slugger Matt Holliday back to form as his offensive numbers have dropped off the radar. After being one of the hottest batters in all of baseball before the All-Star Break, Holliday has cooled off dramatically since going a pitiful 8 for 45 in his past 13 games for an average of .167. Holliday has added 2 homers and 8 RBI in that span but Colorado needs him at his 1st half form in order to even think about contending in the very treacherous NL West.
We should find out fairly early tomorrow whether or not Young will be hitting the disabled list, and if indeed he does, be sure to monitor the situation in San Diego. Long thought to be in the market for one more arm, it might become necessary rather than optional for Padres GM Kevin Towers.
Showing posts with label Chris Young. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chris Young. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Monday, July 9, 2007
All-Star Shutout
Thankfully, Tony LaRussa and Jim Leyland got it right. On Monday, they announced that their starting pitchers for the 2007 All-Star Game would be Dan Haren of the Oakland Athletics for the AL and Jake Peavy of the San Diego Padres for the NL.
Both men have seen their numbers rise some in recent weeks but overall, there has not been two more complete and dominant pitchers over the course of the year. This honor was well deserved for both Haren and Peavy.
The other options in the AL were not in the running in my opinion but in the NL, it was a tighter race as Chris Young, Peavy’s teammate in San Diego, and Brad Penny, last years All-Star starter, have had phenomenal seasons as well, keeping pace with Peavy at the top of the NL pitchers stats.
Should be a fine showdown between these two quality pitchers as they try and put down the most dominant hitters in the game. Reason # 459,911 why the MLB All-Star Game is better than any other All-Star game.
Both men have seen their numbers rise some in recent weeks but overall, there has not been two more complete and dominant pitchers over the course of the year. This honor was well deserved for both Haren and Peavy.
The other options in the AL were not in the running in my opinion but in the NL, it was a tighter race as Chris Young, Peavy’s teammate in San Diego, and Brad Penny, last years All-Star starter, have had phenomenal seasons as well, keeping pace with Peavy at the top of the NL pitchers stats.
Should be a fine showdown between these two quality pitchers as they try and put down the most dominant hitters in the game. Reason # 459,911 why the MLB All-Star Game is better than any other All-Star game.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Much Deserved
Two very deserving individuals got voted into the All-Star game by the fans when Hideki Okajima and Chris Young were awarded the final slots on Thursday. The fans narrowed it down from 5 to one and Okajima and Young were the picks.
Chris Young, unquestionably deserves to be there. He was been lights out all year long and he and Jake Peavy have carried the Padres rotation. This was definitely the biggest snub of the All-Star Game so its good to see that it was corrected. If he was pitching for an team based on the eastern seaboard, he would certainly be an All-Star. Sadly, he was a victim of the all-to-real East Coast bias.
Hideki Okajima, on the other hand, is a reliever and a very impressive one at that. If someone were to tell you back in April that Okajima would be going to San Francisco in July and Daisuke would be staying home, that person would be regarded as crazy. Okajima received absolutely no hype coming in but has been the best reliever in the Red Sox bullpen, posting better numbers than even Jonathan Papelbon. He has been at or near the top of the AL in ERA all season long, which is no easy task for AL relievers to do. The only aspect of Okajima’s inclusion that I would have an issue with would be the fact that no other middle relievers got into the game or honestly, were even considered for a spot. Well, I suppose Pat Neshek of the Twins received some votes, but guys like Rafael Betancourt of the Indians, Heath Bell of San Diego and Ryan Franklin of St. Louis (who received a nice extension on Thursday so congrats) all deserved a good hard look and I doubt they got it.
Chris Young, unquestionably deserves to be there. He was been lights out all year long and he and Jake Peavy have carried the Padres rotation. This was definitely the biggest snub of the All-Star Game so its good to see that it was corrected. If he was pitching for an team based on the eastern seaboard, he would certainly be an All-Star. Sadly, he was a victim of the all-to-real East Coast bias.
Hideki Okajima, on the other hand, is a reliever and a very impressive one at that. If someone were to tell you back in April that Okajima would be going to San Francisco in July and Daisuke would be staying home, that person would be regarded as crazy. Okajima received absolutely no hype coming in but has been the best reliever in the Red Sox bullpen, posting better numbers than even Jonathan Papelbon. He has been at or near the top of the AL in ERA all season long, which is no easy task for AL relievers to do. The only aspect of Okajima’s inclusion that I would have an issue with would be the fact that no other middle relievers got into the game or honestly, were even considered for a spot. Well, I suppose Pat Neshek of the Twins received some votes, but guys like Rafael Betancourt of the Indians, Heath Bell of San Diego and Ryan Franklin of St. Louis (who received a nice extension on Thursday so congrats) all deserved a good hard look and I doubt they got it.
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