Padres MiLB July 7, Players of the Day

Ground-rules: you won’t see a too-old-for-his-league non-prospect get an award. The award may not go to the best performance of the previous night, but what I deem the most significant performance of the night…

Minor League Hitter of the Day

Kellen Kulbacki (High-A): 2-4, HR, R, 3 RBI

Minor League Pitcher of the Day

Ernesto Frieri (High-A): 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO, 0 HR

Other Commentary

I’m running out of things to say about Kulbacki. This one involves him, so here we go…

Generally speaking, the best hitter (with a combination of contact-ability and power) hits third. We all know that. Without question, the best hitter in Lake Elsinore is Kellen Kulbacki. Yet, in the last 7 games, he has batted 6th, 3rd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 6th, and 6th. The Padres have four legitimate MLB hitting prospects on the Lake Elsinore team: Cedric Hunter, Eric Sogard, Mitch Canham, and Kellen Kulbacki. Hunter and Sogard are each top-of-the-order type of guys, Canham could bat anywhere from 2nd to 6th (and usually does), but Kulbacki is a middle-of-the-lineup marquis hitter. The Padres need to preprint lineup cards for Carlos Lezcano with Kulbacki’s name in the three-hole.

By the way, in July, Kulbacki has gone 11 for 28 with 2 doubles and 3 home runs and a 2/2 BB/SO ratio (.393/.433/.733).