Padres pitching

[riverdunesrat]

Quality of Seanez pitches returns


Midseason ailment fades from picture
By Tom Krasovic
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
September 5, 2005

MILWAUKEE – Manager Bruce Bochy said that reliever Rudy Seanez, who pitched in the first and third games of the series here, has regained the pitch quality that made him one of the majors' elite setup men in the season's first half.

"He's throwing like the Rudy of old," Bochy said yesterday.

A right-shoulder ailment sidelined Seanez from July 8 to Aug. 12. In three scoreless innings against Milwaukee, the right-hander threw 38 pitches, struck out two and walked none. Seanez was clocked at up to 96 mph.

"I'm starting to feel like my fastball is back, and my other pitches," Seanez said. "It's about time, though."

In 102 at-bats against Seanez this year, right-handers have batted just .196.

Something for nothing

Add pitcher Chris Oxspring to the list of former independent league players who found a home with the Padres at little or no cost. Scout Bill Bryk, the Padres' farm director, signed Oxspring out of a tryout camp in North Chicago five years ago.
The signing price? "Nothing," Bryk recalled. "Zero."

Bryk didn't know about Oxspring when the process began. The scout wanted to see another Australian player on the Cook County Cheetahs, an indy club near Chicago, when he ignored thunderstorms and tornado warnings to get to the ballpark. After the game was canceled, Bryk figured it was a wasted trip, but before he left the ballpark he heard about a hard thrower on the team, Oxspring.

Bryk invited Oxspring to a group tryout and forgot about him until the final audition. "He was the last pitcher to throw in the camp," Bryk said. "He threw 93, 94 miles per hour."

Oxspring, 28, debuted with the Padres on Friday, throwing 5 1/3 innings and allowing five earned runs. He reputedly has four pitches that can get outs in the majors, but will need nurturing.

"He's got quality stuff," Bryk said. "He just needs to trust his stuff. He's a guy that takes baby steps."


Notes
Scott Linebrink turned in another sharp outing, notching two strikeouts and a popout to dismiss Milwaukee's Nos. 4-6 hitters in the eighth. In his last 15 outings, Linebrink has a 1.20 ERA, with 13 strikeouts and two walks.
Before closer Derrick Turnbow retired him on a groundout yesterday, Robert Fick had a .484 on-base percentage and .360 batting average (9-for-25) as a pinch hitter.

Many rookie pitchers are apt to fall apart on the road; Clay Hensley has flourished since rising from a farm system that Baseball America ranked 27th of 30 in March. In 14 innings away from Petco Park, Hensley has issued only two walks and posted an ERA of 0.64. "Hensley has been indispensable," said teammate Adam Eaton.

Count Henlsey among the fans of rookie outfielder Ben Johnson. As a minor leaguer, the two were teammates in Single-A, Double-A and Triple-A. When Johnson hit home runs in three straight games for the Padres, Hensley said he wasn't surprised to see it. "It's fun to watch Ben come up here and hit the ball like I've seen him hit it," Hensley said. "The ball just jumps off his bat, more than you see with most players. When the ball comes off his bat, it makes a different sound."

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Tom Krasovic: (619) 293-2207; tom.krasovic@uniontrib.com

Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports...5padnotes.html

[riverdunesrat]

Weariness by Peavy a concern after loss

Ninth-inning squeeze spells Padres defeat
By Tom Krasovic
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
September 5, 2005

Associated Press
If the Padres needed extra incentive to quickly seize the National League West title, Jake Peavy's sore right shoulder provided it yesterday.

MILWAUKEE – If the Padres needed extra incentive to quickly seize the National League West title, Jake Peavy's sore right shoulder provided it yesterday.
Events during and after the 3-2 loss to the Brewers revealed that Peavy's shoulder is of some concern to manager Bruce Bochy, who removed Peavy before the sixth inning with the Padres ahead 1-0 and 92 pitches on Peavy's meter.

The Padres went on to lose when USD alumnus Brady Clark squeeze bunted with one out in the ninth inning, a play that left Padres reliever Akinori Otsuka with a mild concussion.

By then Peavy was icing his right shoulder, which the 24-year-old staff ace said has been a "tad more sore than normal" in recent days.

"We're working on my shoulder pretty hard," said Peavy, who has been taking anti-inflammatory medicine. "Hopefully we'll play our tails off these next couple of weeks and get a nice lead and rest some of these guys. I'd certainly be up for that. But it's a long way off. We've got to wrap this thing up."

Peavy emphasized that if the Padres win the West – which they lead by 5½ games over San Francisco – he'll be ready to go at top speed. He also stressed that he wasn't feeling so hot of late overall, because of recent oral surgery and a cut on his left hand that led to stitches and a tetanus shot. Peavy has shown that he can win when not at full strength. But if the Padres are to play deep into the postseason, it's likely that they'll need a strong Peavy; in Peavy's starts, they are 18-9.

"I don't want to alarm anybody," Peavy said. "I was just a little fatigued and weary, but there were a lot of things contributing to that. (Bochy and Padres training staff) knew that was going on into the start. We still know it now. I hope there's not any concern. In the ideal situation, we're going to get this thing clinched and have some time to regroup."

When his arm is fresh, Peavy is able to throw lively 94-mph fastballs for most of his shift, as he did in a shutout at Arizona in May. But when he reached back for extra speed on an 0-2 count yesterday at Miller Park, his fastball clocked at 89.

Still, Peavy struck out three to escape in the first after the Brewers put two men on base, and with help from first baseman Xavier Nady, who deftly started a double play, Peavy escaped again in the fourth before handing the 1-0 lead to Chris Hammond. Peavy said he'll get two extra days off before his next start.

Otsuka, meantime, will welcome today's open date to recover from yesterday's blow. Spinning to the hard dirt near the first-base line after a desperate fling to catcher Miguel Olivo in the ninth, the reliever struck the ground with the back of his head. Otsuka rose to his feet a few minutes later after trainer Todd Hutcheson tended to him as players from both teams stood nearby.

"He's coherent," Bochy said.

On the winning play, Clark bunted a 1-0 fastball, scoring Corey Hart, who broke from third as Otsuka released the ball. Otsuka (1-6) had given up a leadoff single to Wes Helms. Hart replaced Helms and stole second, then went to third on Chad Moeller's sacrifice bunt.

After rookie Rickie Weeks earned a walk, Otsuka missed with his first pitch to Clark. The leadoff man then smoothly bunted a waist-high fastball that was over the plate's outer third.

"We thought about putting him on," said Bochy, referring to a tactic that would've loaded the bases for rookie J.J. Hardy, who is batting .226 but has been hot lately. "But you're putting Aki in a tough predicament."

The Brewers went ahead 2-1 in the sixth after Hammond gave up a single, then Bill Hall's RBI double, which sailed over left fielder Damian Jackson. Clay Hensley replaced Hammond and blunted the rally, but not before giving up Helms' sacrifice fly; right fielder Ben Johnson had a shot at throwing out Hall, but after catching Helms' fly had trouble gripping the ball.

The Padres tied it 2-2 on Mark Loretta's bloop single in the eighth that scored Eric Young, who opened with a pinch double. But Matt Wise replaced starter Doug Davis and denied the Padres a go-ahead run by striking out Johnson with runners on the corners and Khalil Greene with the bases loaded.

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Tom Krasovic: (619) 293-2207; tom.krasovic@uniontrib.com

Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports...1s5padres.html

[HollywoodLeo]

good read

Perhaps Hensley can be to the 2005 Padres what K-Rod was to the 2002 Angels?
He's not quite as dominant, but it's a nice thought.

Throughout all the termoil, the Padres' bullpen has been consistantly good all year

[HollywoodLeo]

well, reading that Peavy has a sore arm wasn't quite so good a read >.<

[padrefanforever]

peavy ............ sore............. this isn't good at all.........Bonds comes back this week it looks like