Throwdown Thursday – Week Seven

Every Thursday, we at Chicken Friars will pick the two best Padres performers over the past week and analyze what they accomplished. Then we will leave it up to you, the fans, to decide who earned the week’s Throwdown Thursday’s honor.

Yonder Alonso’s 2012 season got off to a horrendous start. Towards the end of April, Alonso was hitting below the Mendoza line and playing some shoddy defense.

But it’s not April anymore, and Alonso has been on a tear with both the bat and glove recently, making him the first Padres player to earn back-to-back wins in the Throwdown Thursday competition, after his Week Six onslaught of teammate Will Venable.

The votes weren’t even close, as 92 percent of the Chicken Friars fans voted for the Throwdown Thursday champ, while his opponent mustard only one measly vote.

Alonso’s championship week included a .316 batting average with three RBI and a .409 OBP. He also clubbed his first home run of the season.

This week’s Throwdown Thursday competition features a player who is trying to go for a 3-peat. The other is a player who is probably the most reliable pitcher in the Padres’ bullpen. Yonder Alonso Vs. Luke Gregerson

Yonder Alonso– Alonso is continuing to show why the Padres traded for him last December. For the week, the rookie first-baseman has a .320 batting average with a .852 OPS, which includes six walks, eight hits (2 doubles) and three runs scored. Alonso evidently has the confidence of Padres manager Bud Black as he has consistently slotted Alonso in the cleanup spot in the batting order. Alonso leads all NL rookies in batting average (.300), hits (45) and doubles (14)..

Luke Gregerson- Gregerson is probably the Padres’ most reliable relief pitcher. The seventh-inning set-up man hasn’t been scored upon this week as he sports a 0.00 earned run average in three games.  Opponents are hitting .143 off of him and have struck out twice in 2 1/3 innings pitched. Gregerson leads all Padres relievers in appearances (20)  Gregerson is at his best when his slider bites. He has lowered his ERA to 2.79 with 18 strikeouts.

Now Padres fans, vote in our poll for the Padres performer of the week.  Is it Alonso or Gregerson?