The Cedric Hunter Report - August 18th

Padres’ “Cedric Hunter” Report – August 18, 2006

Hitters:

AAA – Tremel Sledge --- 2-4; HR (19), 4 R, 3 RBI, 3 BB
AAA – Paul McAnulty --- 3-4; 2B (29), HR (17), 3 R, 5 RBI, 2 BB
Lo-A – Will Venable --- 1-3; GS-HR (9), 2 R, 5 RBI, 2 BB
Lo-A – David Freese --- 2-5; HR (7), R, 4 RBI
SS – Craig Cooper --- 1-2; R, RBI, 2 BB
SS – Chad Huffman --- 3-4; HR (7), R, 3 RBI, SO
R – Cedric Hunter --- 1-4; HR (1), R, 2 RBI, SO

Commentary:

Tremel Sledge and Paul McAnulty have decent shots at being useful pieces to the Padres’ 2006 playoff push and the Padres’ 2007 season. It’s good to see both them both hot and cumulatively successful.

Jared Wells’ prospect status keeps slipping. Sad.

Lake Elsinore got beat 17-2… Ouch…

In my Mid-Season rankings I had the following Top 6:

1. George Kottaras
2. Matt Antonelli
3. Cesar Carrillo
4. Chase Headley
5. Cedric Hunter
6. Will Venable

At this point, I’ve already mentally moved Antonelli down below Hunter. With the way Venable is closing his 2006 season, Antonelli may slide past him too. I still think Venable needs to be challenged with a promotion. Venable is a touch old for his league, but he hasn’t been playing baseball as long as most professionals his age (he’ll turn 24 this October), so his age doesn’t count against as much as it would for most 23-4 year olds. However, his age is what it is… He needs to advance through the rest of the system quickly if he wants a big league career.

Chad Huffman had a solid beginning to his professional career. In June, despite getting only 23 AB in 12 games, Chad hit .304/.379/.652… Then, in July, he slowed down as he started to get regular playing time, but still hit a more-than respectable .299/.411/.471. Now that we’re into August, Chad has really picked it up hitting .375/.492/.542 (those numbers are a couple days old but should be close to where they are now).

Cedric Hunter, Cedric Hunter, Cedric Hunter… A big PRD tip of the cap to you on the night of your first professional home run. Good job. I’ve enjoyed pinpin’ you to all the San Diego fans out there, and I look forward to watching your continued success. Big ups kid! Keep it up.