Friar Watch

Well that was an ugly loss. Chris Young has not regained his form after his injury. He’s not locating his pitches and his velocity seems to be down. Hopefully it’s just rust and the injury isn’t still bothering him.

This team’s record in the first half was due largely to the superhuman efforts of the bullpen. The inevitable regression to the mean, possibly aggravated by the overreliance on the pen and resulting mental pressure, has meant that a late inning lead is no longer an automatic win. The pitching staff has carried the team this far, it’s time for the offense to wake up and carry some of the weight.

Speaking of offense, it was great to see Milton Bradley back in the line up. Milton was on base 4 times in 5 plate appearances and was visibly pumped up to score the go ahead run late in the game. I’ve said it before, sign this guy to a multi year deal. I wouldn’t let him play centerfield due to injury concerns but I’d be very comfortable going into next season with Bradley in left.

Tonight’s game features Jake Peavy against Brian Lawrence. After Peavy’s comments about his contract situation this would be the perfect time for him to go out and make a statement. Unfortunately, the Padres offense seems to be at it’s worse against slop throwing pitchers and no pitcher throws more slop than B Law. My predictions:

Peavy: 7 IP, 4 H, 12 K, 1 0 ER
Lawrence: 7 IP 6 H, 5 K, 2 BB, 0 ER
Padres win 1-0