Series Preview – New look 3rd place Padres visit the Ravine

I’ve been itching to write about the Padres for a while because who the hell are these guys? Ever since they traded Chase Headley the Padres have gone 16 – 10 which is how they are currently in 3rd place. The team has so many new names it will be a revelation to myself,  and you who they are.

1st Base – Yonder Alonzo came back from his first injury, got hot for a week, and then suffered a season ending injury so he be gone. In his place are Tommy Medica and Jake Goebbert. Goebbert and Gyorko what a combo on the right side when they start together. Both Medica and Goebbert are 26-year-old rookies without much of a pedigree. It helps that one is right-handed and the other left-handed (Goebbert).  Both have actually hit the ball well in limited time so far.  Medica has an OPS+ of 115, while Goebbert is sitting at 127.  Medica has done his damage in 200 plate appearances so he has been getting plenty of burn. Goebbert basically had last week to work with when Yonder went missing and so far his come up big.

2nd Base – Gyorko is finally back, and is finally hitting like the jerk who played 2nd base in 2013.  For most of 2014 Gyorko was probably the worst offensive starter in baseball, but since returning from the DL on July 28th, he has an OPS of .867  including a five RBI game on Saturday.

SS – With Everth Cabrera on the DL, Alexi Amarista is manning SS most of the time. And yes he still can’t hit, even a little.

3rd – Yangervis Solarte was the prize in the Chase Headley deal, and while I did not think he was much of a prize he has done solid work for the Padres. In the beginning he played 2nd while Gyorko was hurt but has now moved over to 3rd base.  As a Padre he has been showing excellent OB skills (.379) and some surprising power with three home runs in 86 at bats.

C –  Yasmani Grandal and Rene Rivera share this spot and compared to the Dodgers offensive catchers they could be considered juggernauts with an OPS+ of 94 and 110 respectively.

LF – Seth Smith is having a monstrous year. Just monstrous. OPS+ of 160 ranks among the elite of the NL. Also 38 points then his best season. I could go on but I won’t.

CF – Abraham Almonte came over in the Denorfia trade. He was the Mariner starting CF on opening day this year, and is now the Padre CF while Maybin wonders why his career never followed the path of fellow 2005 draftees like Tulo, Braun, and Cutch.

RF – Rymer Liriano – the Padres best position prospect came up last week and possesses power and speed. Rymer missed all of 2013 so he fell off the prospect radar but has moved up three level this year from AA to AAA to the major leagues.  It has been a long wait for Padre fans to get a look at Rymer, he was signed with much fanfare back in 2007.

How about that 2005 draft – holy hell some great players were drafted that year.

Year   Rnd OvPck                    Tm                     Name Pos  WAR Type
2005     1     1          Diamondbacks     Justin Upton(minors)  SS 20.2   HS
2005     1     2                Royals      Alex Gordon(minors)  3B 27.2  4Yr
2005     1     4             Nationals   Ryan Zimmerman(minors)  3B 34.5  4Yr
2005     1     5               Brewers       Ryan Braun(minors)  3B 36.8  4Yr
2005     1     7               Rockies  Troy Tulowitzki(minors)  SS 37.8  4Yr
2005     1    10                Tigers   Cameron Maybin(minors)  OF  9.0   HS
2005     1    11               Pirates Andrew McCutchen(minors)  OF 31.7   HS
2005     1    12                  Reds        Jay Bruce(minors)  OF 15.3   HS
2005     1    23    Red Sox via Angels *Jacoby Ellsbury(minors)  OF 23.5  4Yr
2005     1    25                 Twins       Matt Garza(minors) RHP 14.9  4Yr
2005     1    28 Cardinals via Red Sox    *Colby Rasmus(minors)  OF 12.9   HS
2005    1s    42               Red Sox   *Clay Buchholz(minors) RHP 13.0   JC
2005    1s    45               Red Sox      *Jed Lowrie(minors)  2B  8.2  4Yr

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 8/19/2014.