Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Lake Elsinore

It comes down to tonight for the Storm.

After winning their first playoff series in a quick two game sweep, they are now tied 2-2 in a best of five series with Lancaster to determine who is going to the Cal League Championship. Jeremy Hefner, called up after a fantastic season in Ft. Wayne, gets the ball tonight after throwing three shutout innings with six strikeouts earlier in the series out of the bullpen.

There have been a number of stellar performances so far as Mitch Canham, Luis Durango, Cedric Hunter, and Eric Sogard are all hitting .360 or better for the playoffs. Unfortunately, the Storm lost Kellen Kulbacki (who was hitting .333/.429/.833 in the playoffs) after he made a diving catch in the outfield. He re-injured his right (non-throwing) shoulder and will miss the rest of the year. James Darnell, our 2nd round pick this year, was called on to replace Kulbacki on the roster taking over the 3B duties while Brian Joynt, the regular 3B, has moved to the OF to cover for Kulbacki.

If you have to have more on Allan Dykstra, Cedric Hunter, Eric Sogard, Kellen Kulbacki, and James Darnell, check out the Padres Channel. New "first take" videos that include interviews with these guys as well as some highlights from Lake Elsinore's recent game at Petco have been uploaded.

6 comments:

Paul DePodesta said...

By the way, Kellen Kulbacki had successful surgery today to repair his right shoulder. We expect him to be swinging again in 3-4 months.

adi davidovitz said...

Is it allowed to bring players from higher leagues to improve the team?

maestro876 said...

Speaking of the Storm,

Paul can you tell us how Evan Scribner, the kid we got from the D-Backs in exchange for Tony Clark, is doing? I remember his K/BB ratio was absolutely insane. Is he progressing well? How do you project him moving up in the system?

Paul DePodesta said...

adi davidovitz,

No. There are league rules that try to protect the integrity of the playoffs. They don't always work, but the intent is there.

Paul DePodesta said...

maestro,

Evan Scribner had a fantastic season for us after coming over in the trade from Arizona. During the course of the playoffs he pitched 3.1 no-hit innings, which brought his Padres totals to: 1.05 ERA, 26.2 ip, 14 hits, 4 walks, and 33 strikeouts.

Paul DePodesta said...

Unfortunately, the Storm lost a wild won last night in Lancaster, 10-8, which ended their season. For the third year in a row, though, the Elsinore team was very successful with a lot of promising performances. We're excited about what that means for us in San Antonio next year as well as in San Diego in the not too distant future.