Well Padre fans, we are only a couple of days away from Opening Day against the Dodgers. Let’s make some final predictions on how our team will look for the season. Even through the gradual ownership changes taking place, the Padres are looking to shake it off, believing that they can compete in the National League West in 2009. Here is the projected lineup I see for the Padres come Monday.
1. Jody Gerut, CF: Jody gets the call after having a great first year with the team. He was one of the bright spots on an otherwise boring club last year. This is not a bad start to the batting order; Jody has a good mix of speed and power, and he also proved he could patrol PETCO’s center field last year. Before last year, injuries had plagued him; the Pads need him to stay healthy in ‘09.
2. David Eckstein, 2B: A player who has beaten up on the Padres in the last few years will now be joining them–as a second baseman. Eckstein is about as good of a number 2 hitter as you can get: he’s patient, he can bunt, play hit and run, and he hits for a pretty good average. Eckstein enters the 2009 season at age 34–the Padres should expect him to have a good productive year with them until Matt Antonelli is ready for the big leagues. That is, if and when that time comes.
3. Brian Giles, RF: Giles is ready to look past the troubling offseason and play right field for the Padres once again. This is his sixth Opening Day with San Diego. Giles hit .306 in 2008, an that production will once again be needed to make the offense go.
4. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B: After 2 straight seasons with 30 home runs and 100 RBI’s, Gonzalez is just reaching the prime of his career. It will be fun to see the kind of numbers he puts up again this year. He is the one guy that you can expect to have a monster season.
5. Kevin Kouzmanoff, 3B: Just like most of last year, Kouz will be hitting behind Adrian in the batting order. With Khalil Greene gone, Kouzmanoff will need to carry the load as the main right-handed power bat in this lineup. Expect him to keep getting better.
6. Chase Headley, LF: Big things are expected from the switch-hitting converted outfielder in 2009. After perhaps underachieving after he came up last year, Chase will need to cut down on the strikeouts and reach base more often. His outfield play has dramatically improved, but he is ready to move to third base if Kouzmanoff gets hurt or traded.
7. Nick Hundley, C: Hundley is a mature kid who is eager to be the Padres number one catcher. Henry Blanco will be there to provide a veteran presence and to help him if and when he struggles. Hundley has a great arm, but his hitting abilities are suspect.
8. Luis Rodriguez, SS: The switch-hitter lacks power, but his .287 batting average last year really showed the Padres something. He has a decent arm and pretty good range at shortstop. One good thing about Rodriguez–he only struck out 6 % of the time last season. In a sense, this is a major improvement from Khalil Greene’s hitting woes.
