Eastlake High Alum Adrian Gonzalez Has Padres Thinking Playoffs
Community of Eastlake, Eastlake News, Eastlake Sports Friday, July 30th, 2010http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/joe_lemire/07/29/power.rankings.1/
In the lead up to this weekend’s trade deadline, San Diego Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, he of the famously affordable contract through 2011, was supposed to the hottest commodity in baseball, the object of general managers’ lust and a slam-dunk choice to be Google’s most-searched for topic. Instead, Gonzalez has gone from trade bait to National League MVP in three easy steps:
1. Receive no additional help. Given the trouble rookie Kyle Blanks had in adjusting to major-league pitching, the Padres effectively added nothing of value to its already bleak offense. No teammate of Gonzalez’s with at least 200 plate appearances has hit 10 home runs or has an on-base percentage higher than .332.
2. Continue your high level of production. Gonzalez is on pace for his fourth straight year of at least 30 home runs and at least 99 RBIs but has raised his average to .294, 17 points better than last year’s final tally, while doing so. His OBP is .392, sixth-best in the NL.
3. Benefit from the club’s improved pitching and defense. The Padres’ pitching staff has the majors’ best ERA (3.24) and the NL’s best defensive efficiency (a measure of turning balls in play into outs).
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Posted by Eastlaketimes on Jul 30 2010. Filed under Community of Eastlake, Eastlake News, Eastlake Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry