San Diego Padres

Happy fiftieth birthday to former Padres starter David Wells! Best known to most fans for his time with the Yankees, Boomer spent time with nine major league teams, including two stints each with Toronto, New York, and San Diego. Wells had already pitched for six teams, thrown a perfect game, and won two rings in his 17 major league seasons before signing with his hometown Padres as a 40-year-old free agent before Petco Park's first season. He was a bargain, going 12-8 with a 3.73 ERA in 31 starts for only $1.25MM. Wells also led the league in BB/9 with a mere 0.9 and parlayed his continued success into a two-year deal with Boston. After nearly two seasons with the Red Sox, Wells came back to San Diego in a deal at the 2006 waiver deadline. He went 1-2 with a 3.49 in five starts down the stretch and got tagged with a tough luck loss in the NLDS, giving up two runs over five innings in the final postseason appearance of his career. He re-signed with the team as a free agent after the season but time finally caught up with him in 2007. Shaky all season, he fell apart in mid-July, giving up seven earned runs in no more than 4.1 innings in three of his last four games with the team. He wasn't much better in the fourth, surrendering five earned runs in five innings. After being released by San Diego, Wells signed with the D*****s and went 4-1 with one of those wins of course being against the Padres. Wells retired after the 2007 season and occasionally works as a broadcaster for TBS when he's not drinkin' beers or fishin'. Just livin' the life, man. Wtf is this the shit or what. twitter.com/BoomerWells33/… — david wells (@BoomerWells33) May 9, 2013

The Padres split the four-game series against the Nationals to open up this homestand. Now they will welcome the Cardinals to Petco Park for three games as they try to keep the wins coming. Jason Marquis: Where Stats Disagree Has the Padres' wins leader been lucky or good? Jason Marquis has been one of the more dependable pitchers on the staff this season. He's 5-2 with a 3.49 ERA over his eight starts and has won each of his last four. Tonight he'll face a tough opponent in the NL-Central-leading Cardinals as he goes for his longest win streak since 2007, when he won five straight for the Cubs. In his most recent start, he kept the Orioles to two runs (both solo homers) on seven hits and four walks in 5+ innings. Prior to that, he pitched an eight-inning gem against the Marlins, allowing no runs on five hits and a walk. The right-hander is 5-2 with a 3.80 ERA all-time against St. Louis, but has only faced four of their available starters: Ty Wigginton (9-for-24, five strikeouts), Yadier Molina (4-for-14 with a home run), Carlos Beltran (5-for-23 with a home run, 6 strikeouts), and Matt Holliday (4-for-20 with two home runs, five strikeouts). The Cardinals won 14 of their last 18 games to improve to 28-15 on the season. They have been fantastic away from St. Louis, leading the majors with a 66.7% winning percentage on the road this year. Their roster boasts five players with at least 20 RBI under their belts and a rotation that leads the league with their collective 2.63 ERA. Tonight's starter for the Cards, Shelby Miller, has been one of the more dominating pitchers, not only on their staff, but in all of baseball in 2013. His 1.40 ERA, tied with Clayton Kershaw, ranks lowest in all of Major League Baseball. He's racked up 57 strikeouts in 51 1/3 innings pitched while keeping opposing batters to a meager .182 average. And tonight, he brings a 14 2/3-inning scoreless streak to Petco Park. He's undefeated (2-0) in his last three starts, over which he's limited opponents to just one run. He's only pitched against the Padres in a relief role in the past, but they gave him some trouble. In fact, they were the only team to score off Miller in any of his six outings in 2012. He pitched three innings and gave up two runs to the Padres in San Diego last year, so he'll try to redeem himself in his very first start against them tonight. Hopefully the Padres will have some offensive power left in them after yesterday's run fest. The team has won four of their last six games, including a sweep of the formidable Orioles and a series split against a very good Nationals team. In that span, they've hit eight homers and collected 33 runs. Youngsters Jedd Gyorko and Yonder Alonso have been two of the offensive leaders during that stretch, going 9-for-22 and 8-for-21, respectively, with Alonso homering in each of his last two games. We've also seen some good production out of the team speedsters, Everth Cabrera and Alexi Amarista, who are 10-for-28 and 6-for-14 in those six games. Cabrera has also succesfully stolen a base in each of his last five games, including three steals in yesterday's game alone. Next Game St. Louis Cardinals @ San Diego Padres Monday, May 20, 2013, 7:10 PM PDT Petco Park Shelby Miller vs Jason Marquis Clear. Winds blowing out to right field at 5-10 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 65. Miss California Mabelynn Capeluj is throwing out first pitch at Padres game posted by jbox about 3 hours ago 4 comments | 0 recs Complete Coverage >

Rankings the National League, where the Padres continue to climb.

Yesterday I saw Miss California Mabelynn Capeluj tweeting about being nervous. She said it was because she was going to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game. Since Mabelynn is from San Diego, I asked her if she was going to be doing it at the Padres game tonight against the Cardinals. Her answer: "@gaslampball: @mabelynncapeluj are you throwing out the first pitch at the @padres game?" Yes! How did you know? :-) #MissCaliforniaUSA — Mabelynn Capeluj (@MabelynnCapeluj) May 20, 2013 My answer: Deductive reasoning. Today she announced it to the world, with a photo of her in a Padres jersey. Guess who's throwing the opening pitch for the Padres today! fb.me/2rcdI7UeB — Mabelynn Capeluj (@RealMissCAUSA) May 20, 2013

I was just browsing through Twitter and saw Andy Masur's tweet from yesterday. #Padres win their 20th game, didn't win #20 last year until June 9, a win at Milwaukee. — Andy Masur (@PadsCast) May 19, 2013 I thought I'd just find out when each team in franchise history won their 20th game. Here's what I found out. The 1998 Padres team was the first there. It only took them 28 games. The 2010 and 1996 teams were tied for second with 32 teams. I keep forgetting how good the 2010 team was, but maybe it's because I want to forget their 10 game losing streak that sunk their season. The 2003 team won their 20th in their 67th game. Almost as bad was the 1987 team that won in their 66th. Yesterday's win wasn't the most lopsided either. In 2001 the Padres beat the Mets by 12. I also learned that the Padres are undefeated when winning their 20th game. ;) Padres teams' 20th wins Year Game # Date Outcome Opponent Home/Away Runs Runs Against Difference W-L 1998 28 May 2 1998 W FLA @ 8 7 1 20-8 2010 32 May 11 2010 W SFG @ 3 2 1 20-12 1996 32 May 8 1996 W PIT @ 5 4 1 20-12 2004 34 May 12 2004 W CIN 2 1 1 20-14 1985 35 May 19 1985 W MON @ 8 3 5 20-15 2006 36 May 12 2006 W CHC @ 10 5 5 20-16 2005 36 May 13 2005 W FLA 3 2 1 20-16 1992 37 May 17 1992 W PIT @ 6 5 1 20-17 1982 37 May 21 1982 W PIT 7 5 2 20-17 2007 38 May 13 2007 W STL 3 0 3 20-18 1986 38 May 21 1986 W PHI 7 2 5 20-18 1984 38 May 18 1984 W NYM 5 4 1 20-18 2002 39 May 14 2002 W MON 5 4 1 20-19 1980 39 May 23 1980 W STL @ 2 0 2 20-19 1976 39 May 25 1976 W LAD 5 2 3 20-19 1975 39 May 21 1975 W STL 1 0 1 20-19 2001 40 May 17 2001 W NYM @ 15 3 12 20-20 1991 40 May 22 1991 W ATL @ 7 2 5 20-20 1990 41 May 25 1990 W NYM @ 5 4 1 20-21 1989 41 May 16 1989 W MON @ 5 2 3 20-21 2009 42 May 22 2009 W CHC 4 0 4 20-22 1995 42 Jun 11 1995 W NYM 6 3 3 20-22 2013 43 May 19 2013 W WSN 13 4 9 20-23 1978 44 May 28 1978 W CIN 3 1 2 20-24 1997 45 May 23 1997 W FLA 6 3 3 20-25 1983 45 May 30 1983 W MON 5 4 1 20-25 2000 47 May 26 2000 W MON 6 2 4 20-27 1993 48 May 29 1993 W STL @ 7 4 3 20-28 1977 48 May 28 1977 W HOU 6 5 1 20-28 1970 48 May 26 1970 W CIN 8 1 7 20-28 1979 49 May 28 1979 W HOU 5 4 1 20-29 2011 50 May 25 2011 W STL 3 1 2 20-30 1999 50 Jun 1 1999 W CHC @ 1 0 1 20-30 1969 50 May 31 1969 W MON @ 6 2 4 20-30 1981 51 Jun 4 1981 W HOU 7 5 2 20-31 2008 53 May 27 2008 W WSN 4 2 2 20-33 1988 53 Jun 4 1988 W ATL 6 5 1 20-33 1973 56 Jun 7 1973 W STL @ 4 3 1 20-36 1994 57 Jun 6 1994 W ATL @ 4 3 1 20-37 1972 57 Jun 18 1972 W PIT @ 1 0 1 20-37 1974 58 Jun 5 1974 W CHC 4 3 1 20-38 2012 60 Jun 9 2012 W MIL @ 5 2 3 20-40 1971 60 Jun 11 1971 W PHI @ 2 1 1 20-40 1987 66 Jun 17 1987 W LAD 8 7 1 20-46 2003 67 Jun 12 2003 W CLE @ 9 4 5 20-47

When you live in the Pacific Northwest for over a decade, you drink a lot of espresso. It helps to combat the feelings of depression brought on by near-constant gray skies and drizzle. Seriously, don't move to the PNW. You won't like it. Now that we got that PSA out of the way, let's discuss a few items (I do realize that I'll be lucky to get one comment here as most fanposts languish from the moment that they are published, nowadays. What's up with that? There used to be a pretty vibrant fanpost/fanshot scene at this site.) The beards seem to be working. Mine was going grizzly adams until I trimmed it last week. How are you guys doing with the face pubes? Any ladies out there gonna post some pictures of unshaven legs? This ritual has obvi become beneficial to the Padres. Keep up the good work, ya hippies. I read a post on another site authored by @VocalMinoritySD, in which he suggested that we sign Jedd Gyorko to a seven year deal NOW. Keeping him through the age of 31. The gist of his argument being that Gyorko has proved that he is a consistent hitter (throughout his college career and his three year stint in the minors) and that locking him up now, for his most productive years, would be a good idea. I agree with this thinking 100%. What about y'all? I'm not a fan of Nick Hundley. Never have been and never will be. He will probably never be more than a backup catcher on a mediocre team, if he even sticks in the bigs. Anyone can take a look at his career stats and his age and see this. That being said, I'm all for keeping John Baker, who will probably end up with similar stats and happens to be a really solid dude and a huge positive presence in the clubhouse. Was that a terrible thing for me to say? Take a look at my poll... When you live in the Pacific Northwest for over a decade, you drink a lot of espresso. It helps to combat the feelings of depression brought on by near-constant gray skies and drizzle. Seriously, don't move to the PNW. You won't like it. Now that we got that PSA out of the way, let's discuss a few items (I do realize that I'll be lucky to get one comment here as most fanposts languish from the moment that they are published, nowadays. What's up with that? There used to be a pretty vibrant fanpost/fanshot scene at this site.) The beards seem to be working. Mine was going grizzly adams until I trimmed it last week. How are you guys doing with the face pubes? Any ladies out there gonna post some pictures of unshaven legs? This ritual has obvi become beneficial to the Padres. Keep up the good work, ya hippies. I read a post on another site authored by @VocalMinoritySD, in which he suggested that we sign Jedd Gyorko to a seven year deal NOW. Keeping him through the age of 31. The gist of his argument being that Gyorko has proved that he is a consistent hitter (throughout his college career and his three year stint in the minors) and that locking him up now, for his most productive years, would be a good idea. I agree with this thinking 100%. What about y'all? I'm not a fan of Nick Hundley. Never have been and never will be. He will probably never be more than a backup catcher on a mediocre team, if he even sticks in the bigs. Anyone can take a look at his career stats and his age and see this. That being said, I'm all for keeping John Baker, who will probably end up with similar stats and happens to be a really solid dude and a huge positive presence in the clubhouse. Was that a terrible thing for me to say? Take a look at my poll... Poll Would you rather? John Baker or Nick Hundley? John Baker Nick Hundley 0 votes | Results

On Saturday Eric Stults and the Padres beat the Nationals in 2 hours and 1 minute. I went to see Star Trek Into Darkness instead, thinking I'd catch the end of the game after the movie. It was not to be. Huston Street had already Chekov'd another save by the time the 2 hour and 12 minute movie was over. The Padres game was the 3rd shortest game in Petco Park history. Tonight's game was 2:01. The shortest game at Petco Park since 8/23/05 (1:53). #Padres #Nationals — Corey Brock (@FollowThePadres) May 19, 2013 Notice in the list below that the Padres are undefeated at home in their 10 shortest games. The Padres are actually 110-36 when a game at Petco Park is 2:30 or shorter. As Jerry Coleman said yesterday on the broadcast, this mostly speaks to the fact that pitching changes take about 15 minutes. When a starting pitcher goes deep into the game, it usually results in a win. Also notice Greg Maddux and Brian Lawrence both have a pair of wins in the top 10. 10 Shortest Games in Petco Park History Game Date Opponent Outcome Runs Runs Against Difference Win Loss Save Time 125 Aug 23 2005 HOU W 2 0 2 Peavy Clemens 1:53 24 Apr 30 2005 ARI W 2 0 2 Lawrence Estes Hoffman 1:58 42 May 18 2013 WSN W 2 1 1 Stults Zimmermann Street 2:01 94 Jul 19 2012 HOU W 1 0 1 Volquez Harrell 2:02 50 May 25 2011 STL W 3 1 2 Latos Carpenter Bell 2:04 24 Apr 28 2007 LAD W 3 2 1 Maddux Tomko Hoffman 2:04 67 Jun 11 2008 LAD W 4 1 3 Wolf Billingsley Hoffman 2:07 121 Aug 20 2004 FLA W 6 1 5 Lawrence Willis 2:07 141 Sep 11 2010 SFG W 1 0 1 Stauffer Bumgarner Bell 2:07 39 May 14 2007 CIN W 7 1 6 Maddux Belisle 2:08

When it comes to basic statistics, it is pretty easy to just assume that Jason Marquis has been the Padres' best workhorse on the staff. He is 5-2 with a 3.49 ERA. Having watched Marquis, I think most would say those numbers overrate him maybe a little bit. We know he plays in Petco Park, a pitcher's park, and those that watch closely will have noticed that he has been putting himself in a lot of jams by leading the league in walks allowed. So, maybe some advanced stats are needed to really dig in to what the Padres are getting from Jason Marquis. However, that is where this get complicated. Anybody who does not automatically tune out when advanced statistics come up is familiar with Wins Above Replacement (WAR). WAR is useful as a single number that will show the value of the player. Finding that value is the hard part and there are multiple methods. Two major baseball statistic websites use different methods. And with those different methods come two different evaluations of Jason Marquis' 2013 season. Fangraphs: -0.7 WAR Baseball-Reference: 0.4 WAR So, one has put Jason Marquis under the microscope and concluded the Padres would be better off grabbing a pitcher from AAA and replacing him and the other says that he's doing an okay job. This is the Padres' main free agent acquisition of the offseason. I want to know what to make of him and this stuff is not helping. Why not? And what can we learn by figuring out why they disagree? The reason why comes down to the methodologies. Fangraphs uses Fielder Independent Pitching (FIP), which is an ERA-like number that derives from what are called pitching component stats. Stats like HR/9, BB/9, K/9. Marquis does not do well in these areas. He gives up 1.5 HR per 9 innings, he is walking a career high 4.4 per 9 and is striking out a respectable, but not dominant, 5.3 per 9. FIP puts that all together and gives an ERA-like number of 5.62. A 5.62 ERA would certainly scream that he is hurting the team out there. The Baseball-Reference WAR is based on Runs Allowed per 9 innings. Unearned runs count the same as earned runs since you do have to play with the defense that's behind you. The stat is adjusted for defense later. The problem I see with Fangraphs methodology is that it is a fantasy and maybe Marquis is better than the fantasy. It assumes this robot of a pitcher that is consistent putting up the same performance based on the component numbers every time out. There are no good days and there are no bad days. It turns Marquis into this pitching machine. If you break down Marquis' starts you get 2 absolutely brilliant games where he carried the team to victory with his pitching, one where he pretty much singlehandedly lost it for us (I was at this game, ugh), one start where almost every hit he gave up turned into a run (including 3 unearned runs) even though he was stingy with the walks, and then four games where he was walking a bit too many, striking out too few and letting the balls land where they may and got some luck. That combination of outings does not say to me that Marquis has been awful. It does not say that he has been particularly good either, but I am not trying to build an All Star case here. Merely that when you break down Marquis' starts he does not come off as a pitcher that needs to be whisked out of the rotation. In fact, I kind of like an inconsistent pitcher that can be brilliant on occasions, but put up a couple stinkers on bad days. Better than the robot that is consistently being not-that-great. For example, if FIP is right and Marquis is pitching like a 5 ERA guy, then I'd rather if he pitches in 3 games give up 3, 8 and 4 runs for a 5 run average, than give up 5 in all three. If the team scores 4 a game then they might win one, lose one and compete in the 3rd rather than lose all 3. It would seem that we find that his value is probably closer to what Baseball-Reference puts out, which is line with how I usually favor their WAR over Fangraphs'.

Padres-related links from around the Web.

Padres have scored the second-most runs in N.L. over last 18 games