Catching up on the San Diego Sports Scene
Credit: AP Photo
I haven’t typed words on a computer that wasn’t an email or a Google search for months, so I’d thought I’d knock the rust off the way I like to be. Not too serious.
So bear with me and keep reading, or bookmark this page and comeback when your bowels take over.
The San Diegan Sports landscape has changed tremendously since my last article attempt in the blogosphere (May 2016).
To make up some ground I’m going to bounce around like a hopped up coed in PB while giving a few takes on our Padres, Coach Fisher, and the C-Word/NFL.
The Padres
The only major professional show in town is composed in a typical Padre fashion; healthy mix of young up and comers and old guys hanging on to the dream. Everything looks familiar on paper including the lowest 25-man payroll, but this time around I am actually having fun watching these guys every day. This is the first time in a long time I am pumped to see the lineup each game (except for the starting pitcher).
If you’re not a fan of Wil Myers by now, just gtfooh and move on to a Buster Lonely post. Wil deserves more love than he’ll get here currently, but he needed a mention at the very least.
Our lives as Padres fans had us consistently in habitual “waiting period” for over-hyped position players to arrive to Petco and produce. It’s early, but so far the hype has lived up. I think we’ve arrived.
Manny Margot seems to be the real freakin’ deal with the bat and the glove. Leadoff hitter of the foreseeable future? Check. How about a Gold Glove caliber center fielder? Wtf you think? Check! Sign this guy for life now. I never want to see him in another uniform. He could be one of the best Padres of all time if ownership doesn’t screw this up. Put down the Hater Session IPA and just KTF.
Hunter Renfroe a.k.a. RenBro has plenty of room for improvement, but he has shown legit power to all fields. He looks to be a 30 HR guy year in and year out (see that freakin’ bomb Wednesday night?!?!?!). Go ahead and hit .250 this year, I don’t care. Especially if you go yard 25+ times. Just mix in a Xanax with that protein shake every once in awhile and take a base on balls, hombre. Unfortunately for Hunter, the sabermetric community is real and they don’t take kindly to people like him.
Recently, Austin Hedges has been tearing the cover off the baseball like ballpark tissue paper. In the last two weeks, he’s a smooth 11 for 39 with six bombs and 12 ribbies. Can’t even remember that 0-5 streak he had to start the season (insert: wink/tongue out emoji). In all honesty anything he does at the plate is free guacamole on our Subway foot-long. This guy is here to be a leader, and that presence behind the plate is where his value is. The dude already carries himself like a 10-year vet. He is going to help us get to good places. It felt like it took a decade for this guy to get the job, but he’s here and I’m loving it.
I’m not going to get into the pitching staff for now. But I have to say the Padres have a very intriguing bullpen. I am afraid to get too attached to anyone, because for the Padres, this group is like a box of sugar in the cabinet of a bachelor; it’s a luxury. Why pay for HBO GO yourself if you have your older brother’s password? Wake up people. A.J. Preller will make moves come July.
A.J. Preller
Speaking of the old gun-slinging rock star GM, I love this guy. Yes, he got suspended for doing some shady stuff. Who gives a flying you know what? Ever heard of that sweater wearing robot in Foxborough? That guy has blatantly cheated for years, but no one cares because he wins and says stuff like “no days off.” About time we have someone not afraid to challenge these rules and bend them a little bit. Keep doing your thing A.J., you got this guy’s full support.
He can’t be blamed for making a splash when he first arrived as ownership requested. It got us all pumped for a few months, and for the first time in seemingly forever, the Padres got into the national spotlight. I thought it was cool, and so did you. It failed miserably and here we are. You’re not paying a nickel of that money to Jimmy Shields, so stop whining about it. You know A.J. got Fernando Tatis Jr. out of that deal? Just another piece to the 2020 World Series quest.
He’s stashing international prospects like they won’t exist anymore. And technically they won’t for the Friars for a few years because of some rule I don’t feel like googling. So might as well go down swinging and grab Luis Robert as insurance.
My favorite latest rumor is that the high school standout, Hunter Greene (SS/RHP) is trying to slide to the 3rd pick because A.J. already has a deal with him.
Not only do I hope this is true, I hope it happens. Preller gonna Prell, so back up haters.
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Born and raised in Chula Vista. Lifelong fan of Padres and SDSU (mens’ basketball and football). The former professional football team in San Diego used to be my favorite squad.
My first vivid memories of our beloved teams include witnessing Marshall Faulk and Darnay Scott torching teams in the WAC at the Murph, Tony Gwynn sandwiched in the lineup by Gary Sheffield and Fred McGriff.
Check me out on Twitter @Lukelley where there’s a link to my podcast: The LK Show.
Great stuff. Comic bent refreshes well-worn info.
Meant opening day of 2015
Have watched what Preller has systematically done from night before opening day till a couple of days ago to the most successful relief pitcher of 2014 season. Trying to figure out if it is personal to prove something to himself or what, but, certainly if you want to go out of your way to destroy a career, so many weird insults by decisions made on one person you have to wonder what is going on.