Red Sox cut Josh Bard

Josh Bard seems to be running into bad luck since his stint with the Padres. The former Padres' catcher was cut by the Boston Red Sox today according to Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald.

This move comes as somewhat of a surprise to me, especially since Bard wasn't exactly struggling during Spring Training, hitting a torrid .429 with one home run and five RBI's in six games played. Taking Bard's place as the backup catcher to Jason Varitek will be former Padres' prospect George Kottaras, who is out of minor league options.

Peavy roughed up in 4-3 loss to Milwaukee

Call is ineffective, call it not sharp but Padres' ace Jake Peavy didn't look like his normal, dominant, self on Friday afternoon.

The 2007 NL Cy Young Award Winner gave up 4 runs on 6 hits with 3 walks and 5 strikeouts in a 4-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. The relievers that backed up Peavy, however, continued to be sharp. Glendon Rusch, who has been a pleasant surprise for the Padres this spring, gave up 0 runs and 0 hits through 1 2/3 innings, his ERA is a more than impressive 0.87. Joe Thatcher followed Rusch's performance, going 1 inning, no runs on 2 hits, his ERA now 2.45 this spring.

Offensively for San Diego, Kevin Kouzmanoff had a solo HR in the first inning, his 2nd of the spring, off Brewers starter Dave Bush. Paul McAnulty also had a good day at the plate, going 2-for-3 with 2 doubles and an RBI while Josh Bard also had 2 hits with an RBI. On the down site, Callix Crabbe who had been impressive thus far, went hitless in 5 at bats. Chase Headley, after hitting a game tying pinch hit HR yesterday, went 0-for-4 with 3 strikeouts.

On Saturday, Chris Young will face his former team the Texas Rangers in Surprise. He's scheduled to throw 5-6 innings in what should be his 2nd to last start before the start of the regular season.

Headley secures draw with Mariners

If you needed more evidence that Chase Headley is ready to play in the big leagues, and not just as a starter, he proved it on Thursday night with a pinch-hit 2-run HR in the ninth inning to secure a 6-6 tie against the Seattle Mariners.

In the 2nd inning, Josh Bard and Jody Gerut each had RBI singles and Scott Hairston had an RBI double, a 3-run inning for San Diego. Also on the offensive end, Adrian Gonzalez had 2 doubles, Brian Giles finished 2-for-2 with an RBI and a walk in 3 plate appearances.

Justin Germano got the start for the Padres but had a rough go of things. He went 5 innings, giving up 4 runs on 5 hits, striking out 3 and walking one.

The Mariners Ichiro Suzuki, who's had a hard time this spring, seems like he's ended that slump. He had 3 hits and scored twice, raising his spring average from .119 to .174. Raul Ibanez also had 3 hits for the Mariners in 3 at bats, Jose Vidro drove in 2 while Adrian Beltre drove in one.

The Padres and Brewers will battle it out on Friday from Phoenix. Jake Peavy will get the start for San Diego. Game time is 1:05pm.

8-run outburst helps Padres over White Sox

The Padres finally got the kind of outing they've been waiting for out of left-hander Randy Wolf on Sunday. Wolf hadn't been able to get out of the first inning his first 2 outings, but this time finished all 3 of his scheduled innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits.

It was the offense that provided the biggest burst for San Diego. Kevin Kouzmanoff finally got his first HR of the spring, a 2-run shot off starter Jose Contreras in the 1st inning. Adrian Gonzalez, who had 2 hits today, along with Josh Bard and Paul McAnulty all had consecutive RBI singles in the 5 inning.

Wade LeBlanc looked impressive once again, giving up just 1 run in 3 innings of work, furthering the thought that he could be a dark horse for the #5 spot in the Padres rotation.

On Monday, San Diego will be in Peoria to face the Texas Rangers. Right-hander Justin Germano will get one last start before heading to China. Game time will be 7:05pm.

Heath Bell: The successor to Trevor Hoffman?

When teammates like Josh Bard say “Heath Bell was the best relief pitcher in baseball last year," NL Cy Young Award Winner Jake Peavy says “He was our MVP,” and future Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman says “The MVP of our bullpen, by far,” you must be doing a lot of things right.

Set up man Heath Bell was doing a lot of things right last season for the San Diego Padres. His list of achievements is staggering.

Among major league relievers:

• Led in strikeouts (102)


• Ranked fourth in wins (6)


• Fifth in games (81)


• Fifth in ERA (2.02)


• Allowed .185 batting average overall


• Allowed .157 batting average to right-handed hitters


• Stranded 27 of 34 inherited runners


• Had a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 102/30

That's an impressive list, seeing as Bell was a first year Padre, not to mention having to pitch in almost half of the teams' games, but Bell is also getting a lot of talk with Padre fans about being the closer after the 2008 season. That's a lot of pressure to put on one guy's shoulders, especially when that guy sets up for one of the games best closers and a future Hall of Famer. I think he's got enough pressure on him already.

I know, when I first heard the name 'Heath Bell' when the Padres brought him on board last year, my first reaction was "who?" Now, he's a household name, not only in San Diego, but around all of major league baseball and should be for years to come.