The Friars started the scoring in the top of the second inning with some timely hitting by the bottom of their batting order.  San Diego had runners at second and third after rookie Jedd Gyorko hit a single and Alexi Amarista blasted a ground-rule double before an unlikely player stepped up with two outs.  John Baker, who received a spot –start today, laced a single which plated both Gyorko and Amarista to put the Padres ahead by a score of 2-0.

The “hit parade” continued for San Diego as they really got to Freddy Garcia during his less than four innings of work.  Yes readers, it was the same Freddy Garcia who the Padres brought in for competition purposes during spring training.  In fact, every single Padres starter recorded a least one hit today!

Amarista had a great game today. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

In the top of the fourth, Kyle Blanks crushed a solo home run and Amarista followed the scorcher with another double to right field.  Everth Cabrera walked after a Baker fly-out, and Will Venable hit a double to score Amarista from second after Garcia left the game!

San Diego added on more insurance runs in the top of the sixth with a single by Carlos Quentin, a two-run home run by Amarista in the seventh, and a Cabrera single in the final frame.

Amarista’s jack was particularly impressive, especially because the “Little Ninja” smashed the ball to deep left-center.  Make no mistake, Alexi is a short guy, but he sure can pack a wallop if he makes the type of solid contact he did today.

Jason Marquis (5-2) did not have his “best” stuff on the mound today, but credit must go to the veteran for pitching himself out of numerous sticky situations.  Jason did not dominate Baltimore’s hitters today as he gave up seven hits and three walks during his five innings of work.  Yet the veteran’s ability to perform “damage control” in the most crucial of situations was huge as he only allowed two solo home runs on the day.

Kudos must also go to the rest of San Diego’s bullpen for their collective performance over the final four frames too.  Dale Thayer, Joe Thatcher, Anthony Bass and Huston Street allowed a grand total of two runs during the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings as they slammed the door on any hope of an Orioles comeback.

The Padres will head back to San Diego tomorrow for two difficult series in a row.  Tomorrow the Padres begin a four-game set with the Washington Nationals, and on Monday they will tango with the Cardinals for another three.

Let’s just hope that the Friars can continue to play some solid baseball against these two National League juggernauts.

Nick Hundley has received more playing time in Yasmani Grandal’s absence. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

With Headley sidelined in addition to his backup Logan Forsythe, the Padres have been forced to use Alexi Amarista and Cody Ransom in their places in the field and in the lineup.  I mentioned last week how both players would be counted on to lessen the blow of Headley’s absence, but so far both players have yet to find their offensive groove.  In fact, both players are struggling to even make solid contact.

Ransom has already started the year 0 for 6 with 3 strikeouts, while Amarista has only gone 2 for 18 with 1 RBI.  For those of you playing the “home game,” both guys are hitting a combined .083 over the season’s first week, have logged a combined .083 on-base percentage, and have only driven in one run while the 2012 NL RBI leader has been sidelined.  I certainly did not believe that they would be able to replace Headley in the aggregate from an offensive perspective, but his replacements have not been able to produce runs or reach base with any sort of consistency so far this year.

Grandal’s main replacement Nick Hundley has not fared much better than Amarista and Ransom either.  After a dreadful 2012 season which saw the veteran catcher lose his starting job, get injured, and play poorly, 2013 was supposed to be Hundley’s fresh start.  Unfortunately, Nick’s struggles have continued at the plate.  So far, Hundley has hit only .133 (2 for 15), driven in 1 run, recorded only 1 extra-base hit, and logged a 6 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio.  If the back-stop’s issues at the plate continue, the team might be forced to play veteran John Baker (3 for 8) more often in his place until Grandal returns.

This post however is not my attempt to place the entirety of the team’s offensive woes on Headley’s and Grandal’s replacements.  Others on the team have struggled so far as well, and there have even been some in the lineup who have shined on occasion like Chris Denorfia, Carlos Quentin, and even the ageless Mark Kotsay.  Nevertheless, without their #3 and #5 hitters, the Friars’ offense has been treading water to start the 2013 campaign.  The team as a whole has only scored 4 runs once this year, have scored a total of 14 runs in 6 games, have only held two leads over the entire season, and are hitting a collective .204.  While I am not saying that Headley and Grandal would not have struggled to begin this year, I doubt that they would be hovering around the .100 mark in terms of their batting averages.

Hopefully this team will either improve over the coming weeks enough to make due without two of their three best hitters, or the starting staff can get their stuff together (6.45 ERA right now) to keep the team in some games until Headley and Grandal can come back to the lineup.  I hate to be a “Negative Nancy,” but if this team struggles collectively to hit and are hovering at 20 below .500 by June again this year, then they can kiss any sort of postseason berth goodbye.

Stats Courtesy of: Baseball Reference

#Padres Bud Black said again that one the days the team sees a LHP, Ransom at 3B, Gyorko at 2B. A RHP? Gyorko at 3B and Amarista at 2B.

— Corey Brock (@FollowThePadres) March 30, 2013

Last week, I suggested that the Padres use rookie Jedd Gyorko in Headley’s place during the All-Star’s absence, and start Alexi Amarista at second base.  I guess that my idea was not too farfetched, because Amarista is set to play second base when the Padres face right-handed pitching.

Amarista will see some extended time at second base this April. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

I for one like the move from a two-fold perspective.  First, Gyorko can gain some positional versatility, and receive some experience at a position he played for most of his minor league career.  Plus, it will likely be Gyorko who will take over at “the hot corner” if Headley leaves via Free Agency in 2015.  Amarista on the other hand will gain extended playing time at a position he is the most familiar with at the big league level (66 games).  And I am sure that the Padres will be happy to utilize his speed on the base-paths as well.

To his credit, Alexi had himself a strong spring at the plate as he recorded a .310 batting average, 6 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run, 9 runs batted in, and .342 on-base percentage. But Amarista must improve upon his offensive numbers from last season (.240 batting average and .282 on-base percentage).

Although Amarista did not perform terribly during his first extended big league stint (5 home runs and 32 runs batted in), he nevertheless struggled with plate discipline (17 walks to 42 strikeouts) and his numbers sagged towards the end of the 2012 campaign to the tune of a .198 batting average over the months of August and September (111 at-bats).

When he was signed in late December of last year, I for one did not expect Cody Ransom to contribute much to San Diego’s success in 2013.  But with Headley and Forsythe out of the lineup, it will be up to Ransom to find a way to produce at the plate and in the field against left-handed pitching.

Ransom set career-highs last year in games (90), at-bats (282), hits (54), doubles (14), home runs (11), and runs batted in (42) as he spent the season with Arizona and Milwaukee.  2012 was far and away Ransom’s most productive year, because he had only accumulated 337 big league at-bats over his career from 2001-2011.

While the 37 year-old did not hit for average particularly well during the spring (.217), he did manage to show off some power.  Overall, Ransom hit 4 home runs and drove in 8 in his 19 spring training games.  Until Forsythe or Headley can come back though, the veteran utility player must find a way to hold his own at a position in which he has only played 80 career games at for the Padres.

Final Thoughts

As it stands, the Padres appear to have their plan in place to press forward during Headley’s time on the disabled list.  How well once-projected backups in the forms of Ransom and Amarista can perform while Chase and Logan are out is a huge question mark at the moment though.  While they do not need to play at an “All-Star level” with Headley sidelined, both of these players must produce and play well enough to not be liabilities to help their team navigate through a difficult first month.

Otherwise, it could be a very rough April for the Friars.

Stats Courtesy of: Baseball Reference