How ‘Bout That?

So I take a couple of days off from writing here at Chicken Friars, and the Padres extend their winning streak all the way to five games.

How ’bout that?

The pressure’s on in my simulation adventure now; I doubt I’ll be able to match an 8-6 start/tie for the division lead.

Apologies for the scarcity of posts in the last couple of days, although I think I more than made up for that by dropping 16 last Friday alone.

It’s unfortunately going to be really unpredictable when and how much I post the next couple of weeks–I’ve got another week and a half of classes, and then there’s final exams. So bear with me until the second week of May. I will be attending summer school for the last two weeks of May and the first week of June, but I doubt I’ll be too swamped to write then. Otherwise, until college starts back up in late August, I’m completely wide open, so expect quite a bit of content coming your way all summer long.

Anyway, back to baseball.

There was a lot that happened the last few days in the Padres world besides just the winning streak. I may or may not cover more of these things more in-depth later, but in case I continue to be strapped for time the next few days, here’s a quick rundown of what’s been going on:

• Do you realize just how improbable David Eckstein’s walk-off homer was?
• Kyle Blanks’ plate discipline, a concern of mine a few days ago, is getting closer to 2009 levels. Will Venable’s, however (37.3 O-Swing%) is a major problem.
• Chase Headley (.426 wOBA) has hit better than Adrian Gonzalez (.404) this season.
• Mat Latos finally got through a start without allowing a homer. His breaking stuff has been absolutely filthy this season.
• Adam Russell was sent down despite throwing 4 1/3 hitless innings in the majors.
• Nate Culp was promoted to Triple-A and was promptly rocked, continuing to dampen the soft-tosser’s status.
• Portland outfielder Mike Baxter is hitting a whopping .387/.548/.581.
• Craig Cooper continues to rake in Portland as well, batting .341/.370/.591.
• Chris Denorfia continues to deserve an MLB roster spot, hitting .396/.431/.667.
• Wade LeBlanc pitched well in his first start with the Padres, fanning seven in five solid innings and showing much-improved velocity in the 84-89 mph range.
• Josh Barfield has hit the minor league disabled list, and rumors are swirling that he may be cut when he gets healthy.
• Ryan Webb has eight strikeouts and just one walk in eight scoreless innings.
• Aaron Poreda is up to six walks and three hit batters in six innings in Double-A. He’s only struck out three. Amazingly, he’s allowed only one run.
• Moved back into the Double-A rotation with Culp’s promotion, Matt Buschmann threw 5 2/3 strong innings in his first start. He’s struck out 17 batters over 12 1/3 innings, largely thanks to a new splitter that’s replaced his ineffective changeup.
• Jeremy Hefner has a 1.20 ERA through three Double-A starts.
• Dan Robertson has been a revelation in Lake Elsinore, batting .413/.462/.609 and even chipping in four steals.
• Vince Belnome broke out of his slump with a 4-for-5, two-homer day on the 18th. He’s now hitting .250/.321/.500, a solid line.
• Chris Fetter has allowed six homers in 15 innings–even in the Cal League, that’s inexcusable.
• Rob Musgrave was promoted from Low-A to High-A after 4 2/3 innings with no earned runs and six K’s.
• Nate Freiman could be ready for Double-A. He’s hitting .436/.467/.655 in Fort Wayne, and his approach would likely work well in the Cal League, so he doesn’t really need to go there.
• Outfielder Wande Olabisi is hitting .409/.519/.636.
• Edinson Rincon is beginning to show signs of life, hitting .232/.279/.357.