Oh The Pitchers You Choose

Mike Adams winding up

While the Padres have been lacking in run support, and wins, and hits, they have been excellent in their bullpen. The only proof you need of that, outside of the 3.46 ERA that places them fifth best in the National League and tenth in the Major Leagues, is the duel between Padres’ Mike Adams and Cardinals’ Albert Pujols during last night’s game. The battle between Adams and Pujols left the air crackling with electricity. It was a clutch out that kept the Padres within range of a win. With seven men eagerly waiting in the Padres bullpen, how does skipper Bud Black decide which one will be the best for a particular situation? I caught up with him today in the dugout and here’s what he said:

“I don’t want to say that there are loosely defined positions, but there are particular spots where each pitcher feels comfortable. Adams comes in usually in the eighth with either a lead or a tie, and that’s home or away. Gregerson and Leubke in the seventh and Bell in the ninth.”

So there you have it, straight from the GM himself, the key to utilizing all the potential in the Padres’ magnificent bullpen. 

Venable To San Antonio, Deduno DFA'd, and Tekotte in a Padres Uniform: What Happened?

This morning Will Venable was optioned to the AAA San Antonio Padres club. While fluidity in the roster is much more common in baseball than in most other sports, the move today was not exactly expected or simple. Because Venable was optioned to Tucson Bud Black brought up Blake Tekotte, a left-hander from Columbia, Missouri. It is Tecotte’s first callup of his career. In order to make room for Tecotte on the roster Black decided to designate pitcher Samuel Deduno for assignment. This means that the Padres have 10 days, from the date of designation, to return Deduno to the 40-man roster, or to trade, release, or outright him to the Minors. But, all is not lost for Deduno, since he was designated for assignment he was required to clear outright waivers. While he is on those waivers another team can buy him for the price of $20,000, which is the price of the outright waiver. The Padres also still have to pay the remaining salary to Deduno if he is not picked up by another team.

That being said, the atmosphere around the dugout this afternoon was a little heavier than normal. Sure, the players were still joking with each other and getting excited for the game, but there was a finality, a fear in the air that had not been there before any previous games. Black’s team meeting last night added to the air of replacement. On a team where there are no league-renowned names such as Adrian Gonzalez or David Eckstein anymore, anyone can be replaced, as Black proved last night.

When asked why Black chose to bring up Tekotte as opposed to Cunningham or another player he responded, “Blake is flexible. He can play all the outfield positions. He’s what we need at this point. He fits the bill and works well as a left-handed batter.”

Black, while dancing around the topics discussed at the team meeting with more grace than a ballerina, was very explicit about what they look for when they are looking at which player to bring up to the majors.

“It is performance based,” Black stated. “What can they add to the team and what do we need at the time.”

According to Black, Tekotte fits the bill. With no appearance in tonight’s 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, the mysterious Blake has yet to prove he was worth the trade. But tomorrow is another day, and one look at the child-like grin that was plastered on Tekotte’s face all throughout batting practice assured you that he has every intention of staying right where he is. 

Just An Ocean Away

What began as a national pastime has become an international game. Teams around the league are widening their focus to include overseas prospects. And as more and more of these foreign development programs discover untapped potential in international talent, international leagues are becoming more credible. The Padres have long been scouring foreign lands for their talent and before Friday’s game one of the greatest Padres’ Japanese talents returned to his stadium. Akinori Otsuka was a Padres’ relief pitcher from 2003 to 2006 before being traded to the Texas Rangers, along with pitcher Adam Eaton, and minor league catcher Billy Killian, for Chris Young, Adrian Gonzalez (now having an All-Star season with the Boston Red Sox after his trade during the past off-season), and outfielder Terrmel Sledge.

Trevor Hoffman 1995 Signature Card

Japanese Baseball Card Menko 1976

Otsuka was born in Chiba, Japan and played in the Japanese League with the Chunichi Dragons before his career to the US. Before the game I got a chance to catch up with Aki and discuss a pillar of any baseball fan’s memorabilia: the baseball card. In Japan the cards are completely different than the ones found here in the US. The Japanese cards are cartoonish, depicting caricatures of the players as opposed to the real still-life photos found in American cards. And while American cards are always found in the typical rectangular shape, Japanese cards vary in shape and size. Some cards came looking like masks with holes punched out for eyes, some were circular, and some were the size of a stick of gum. But one thing that transcends the differences across the ocean is the magnetic draw of the cards for children of all ages. Aki remembers going to the store every single day after school and buying a bag of what would be equivalent to potato chips here in the US, for thirty cents and excitedly opening it to see what card would be inside.

“My favorite card to get was Sadaharu Oh,” Otsuka tells me with a grin. “He had 868 homeruns and he was the general manager of the 2006 Baseball World Classic Team, where I was the closer.”

When I asked him what it was like to work under the man he had admired so much throughout his young life, his broken English turned into the star-struck speech of every child with a hero.

“It was everything I could imagine. When he came out of the tunnel and I was right there, it was just…” his sparkling eyes and Cheshire grin said more than words ever could.

Duck and Cover

During Thursday’s game against the Seattle Mariners, Padres shortstop Jason Bartlett took a ground ball and in an attempt to do his usual side arm flip for the out at first he clipped the left hand of fellow shortstop Brendan Ryan. According to the Major League Baseball Official Rules Section 7.09 (e)

“If, in the judgment of the umpire, a base runner willfully and deliberately interferes with a batted ball or a fielder in the act of fielding a batted ball with the obvious intent to break up a double play, the ball is dead. The umpire shall call the runner out for interference and also call out the batter-runner because of the action of his teammate. In no event may bases be run or runs scored because of such action by a runner.”

Throughout the 60s and 70s is was fairly common for a shortstop or second baseman to actually aim for a runner who was coming in to a slide too high trying to break up a double play. Bob Stanton, a Channel 4 Padres reporter, noted that once you got hit with a ball coming at you that fast you thought twice about sliding in high and late. Padres’ manager Buddy Black noted the next day, that there was no history between Bartlett and Ryan, it probably just happened. After the play was over the two shook it off. Ryan was fine, although a trainer did come out to inspect his left hand, and Bartlett continued on as the game ended 1-0 in the Pads favor. And just in case you were not sure that professional baseball players are really just kids who get to play the sport they love and call it work, the next day the team was already making light of the situation. During batting practice Bartlett and Jorge Cantu were fielding practice grounders at second base. In between turn Bartlett picked up the ball and wheeled towards Cantu, motioning as if he was going to take his head off with his point blank throw. Cantu ducked quickly in mock fright, but Bartlett with a smile and a laugh allowed the ball to fall harmlessly to the ground. Two grown-up boys just teasing each other and expressing their love of the game.