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MIDDLE OF PADRES LINEUP ON TRACK TO BE WORST EVER posted 4/27/08 by Jason Martinez I do believe that statistics don't always tell the whole story, especially over the course of 20-30 games. Sometimes, ball players can be the victims of bad luck, frequently hitting the ball hard right into the waiting glove of a defender. This isn't the case with the Padres. They really are as bad as their stats would indicate. While they have one a legitimate, middle of the lineup hitter in Adrian Gonzalez, he is currently batting third in front of Kevin Kouzmanoff, Jim Edmonds, and Khalil Greene. If you're a Padre fan, you might want to sit down. This is not going to be easy to take standing up. Combined, those three are batting .222 with 2 homers, 21 RBI, 17 walks, and 66 strikeouts. Are those the ugliest numbers you've ever seen or what? At least from a group of guys that aren't the starting rotation. #4 SLOT - In all fairness to Kouzmanoff, who has batted in the cleanup spot for most of the season, he has had absolutely zero production behind him in the batting order. He has not looked completely overmatched as he did in April 2007 but the problem is that he is essentially a singles hitter with a slugging percentage of a measly .327. In a very painful comparison, Milwaukee catcher Jason Kendall, who has a total of seven home runs in the last four seasons and is the team's #9 hitter this season (yes, behind the pitcher), has a career slugging percentage of .394. #5 SLOT - The 37 year-old Edmonds is just about past the point where we can use the "he missed most of spring training" excuse. Nineteen games and 74 at bats are more than he'd get in spring training. At what point do the Padres decide if he's just off to a slow start or just finished as a productive major league hitter? Two seasons ago, the Padres gave 263 at bats to 38 year-old third baseman Vinny Castilla before deciding that he was done after he batted just .232 with four homers and a .319 slugging percentage. Expect the Padres to give Edmonds at least that many at bats, as they currently have no replacement in center field. If he has an unproductive May and June, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Padres release the veteran by the all-star break and go with a youngster like Will Venable or another young player acquired via trade. # 6 SLOT - While Greene has had slow starts in his career (.242, 0 HR, 5 RBI, 9 K in March/April 2005), he continues to regress when it comes to making contact. His 22 strikeouts and .277 OBP have got to be a huge concern but he is the kind of hitter that can hit three or four homers in a week. With the upcoming road trip to Philadelphia, Florida, and Atlanta, there is no better time to get hot. So what can the Padres do? They can't move all three players into the #7 or 8 hole. It's not like they have a better option on the roster. They have 10-12 guys that should probably be hitting 7th in a major league lineup. There is no other choice but to ride it out. It could be a bumpy ride Padre fans. |