Padres Report - September 16th

Padres Report - September 16, 2006

In the second inning after the Padres led 9-1 and Mike Piazza had just walked, Mark Grant astutely said that the Dodger’s manager, Grady Little, needed to save the bullpen for the rest of series. “He’ll try to get a couple innings out of certain guys,” Mark said (I did not verify that I have Mark quoted accurately, but that is approximately and contextually accurate).

The reason I bring that comment up, is that last night, when the Padres were down, Padres manager Bruce Bochy didn’t use any of his “key” guys to keep it close. Even better, Bochy was able to rest those same “key” guys Saturday night.

Scott Linebrink may not be the sexiest player on the Padres (he has been ripped by fans right and left and I know I have been guilty of feeling more than a little nervous when Linebrink entered a game) but he’s actually pitching quite well.

Let’s look at some of Scott’s monthly splits.

(Bear with me, I haven’t figured out how to put tables in here. And I want to reveal a few key stats not just show you the whole ball of wax.)

ERA

April – 3.75
May – 2.08
June – 3.09
July – 6.08
August – 3.38
September – 3.00

We all know ERA doesn’t tell the whole story, so let’s look at some other numbers.

IP - BB/SO

April – 12 - 3/9
May – 13 - 4/12
June – 11.2 - 2/16
July – 13.1 – 7/7
August – 10.2 – 2/10
September – 6 – 1/4

Anyone wonder if Linebrink was distracted by all the trade rumors?

OK, that was telling, let’s look at some more.

HR – WHIP

April – 2 – 1.17
May – 3 – 0.92
June – 3 – 0.80
July – 1 – 2.06
August – 0 – 1.47
September –0 – 1.00

Scotty has not allowed a home run since July 28th in Colorado. Hmmm…

I already showed you IP but let’s look at it again with the monthly hit totals.

IP - H

April – 12 - 11
May – 13 - 8
June – 11.2 - 7
July – 13.1 – 20
August – 10.2 – 13
September – 6 – 5

I was actually surprised how effectively Scott has pitched since July.

Back to my original thought, being able to rest the Meredith/Linebrink/Hoffman trifecta in games 1 & 2 of the 4-game set with the Dodgers was huge. The Padres now have a well rested ‘pen for the last 2 games of the set.

Linebrink may end up being the key to the rest of the Padres’ season.

***

Was anyone aware that Alfonso Soriano (.940) only trails Manny Ramirez (1.048), Barry Bonds (.991), and Matt Holliday (.954) in MLB LF (rating: OPS)? If we look at VORP Soriano moves into 2nd place among MLB left fielders (Manny has a 61.0 VORP rating and Alfonso has a 53.2 rating). How about this, was anyone aware that Soriano has 62 BB (granted 15 are intentional, but still)?

I think I would support going after Alfonso this off-season for a LF power bat.