Padres Fans, Don’t Panic! (yet)

With the running game dead and the non existent hitting still playing hide and seek the Padres will slowly suffer hypoxia as they slowly, and painfully, sink beneath the waves. Can they survive? Sure, with some timely hitting and good defense to go with CONSISTENCY from Correia, LeBlanc and Richards. I'm not worried about Latos and Garland, but they NEED good defense behind them.

As for the running game the team, as now configured, will fail to revive what once was. In short, the running game is dead and cannot be resurrected, putting a greater pressure on guys such as Tejada and Luddwick. There was a reason that these guys were available to the Padres, and THAT is why they are here. To expect more than that is unreasonable and an exercise in wishful thinking.

Will they make the playoffs? I'd say the odds are fairly good, but expect an early exit. Lets just hope that the Chargers don't stink to open the season...

I gotta think there are 3 solid reasons of several as to why Hoyer/Black/Bals' wont completely turn Mat loose. iIn my opinion, one of 'em is born out of Jake's injury history, dating back to his 2nd year in the bigs as a young, "still physically maturing little guy" who damm near pitched 200 innings that season (2003)...a season, where no one in that dugout was goin anyhwere, after May.

Then there's Chris Young and all of his issues...if u asked a casual Padre fan to quickly remember the last season where he made most of his starts, Id bet money all of them would scratch their heads tryin to figure that out. And then there's the issue of just having a pretty young staff with LeBlanc/Richard, etc....and trying to cover their fannies by snatching them out after 6 innings, 95% of the time..

No one has said it yet, just because its still early in the game, so to speak..but Mat Latos is almost too good to be true, especially at this age. I'll always have a soft spot for Peavy and his bulldog mentality on the hill...and he was just my kind of pitcher...he would yell and berate himself (and sometimes his defense)..and he just hated losing.

But from where I stand Latos is all of that, PLUS!!!..he is without a doubt, right there in the middle of the convo where the top 5 pitchers in the NL are concerned, after guys like Jimenez, Johnson, Wainwright and Hudson.. and he's a modern day pitching prototype, I think...TALL...OVERPOWERING...VERY NICE SECONDARY STUFF..and the kid really knows how to compete. How long did it really take for us to assume that he was the ace of the staff?..and how classy and respectful has he been deferring to Garland as the ace, when he knows better than anyone that Jon isnt the ace?

Imma say it right now, if they dont take the reins off this kid, down the stretch and allow him to finish a game here and there, they'll regret it, because when a lineup like the Snakes see a kid like Gregerson or Thatcher after dealing with the smoke that Latos is blowing, they're licking their chops, BECAUSE AT LEAST THEY CAN SEE THE DAMM BALL!!!!...Gregerson, God Bless him, is a very solid pitcher...but he's still hittable, as of late...same with Thatcher...same with Stauffer.

The soft underbelly of this team are the guys between Stauffer and Adams...even Frieri has been lit up a bit, since he came up. Are those giys gonna respond well to the heat of a pennant race DEEP in Sept?...

I totally agree with Ello...they've got to find a way to balance the hitting they added with Miggy/Luddy, while stealing bags and "hitting and running"..I have no idea how they're gonna do it, with a guy like Venable struggling to get on base and with Eck not being a base stealer, per say, anymore....and teams are gonna expose the decrease in base stealing, at the top.

The season aint over, by a damm sight...and I have high expectations for my team, still. But I gotta say that Im soooo looking forward to the off season...it should be interesting to say the least. And Hoyer has got to find a LEGITIMATE LEAD OFF, WHETHER ADRIAN STAYS OR GOES.

Some great points Danzig and I have to agree, at this stage of each player's career, Latos looks MUCH more impressive than Peavy. I shudder to think what the next few years might bring...