ESPN.com - Major League Baseball - San Diego Padres preview


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Thursday, April 5
San Diego Padres preview

ESPN.com

POWER RANKINGS


	The Padres were next-to-last in the NL in homers despite 31 from Phil Nevin.

Strength of schedule
.512, 1st in NL
Lineup ranking
16th in NL
Pitching ranking
9th in NL
Prediction
5th in NL West

The lowdown
2000 record: 76-86 (5th in NL West)
Runs scored: 752, 12th in NL
Runs allowed: 815, 9th in NL

Three key issues for 2001
1. Will the punchless Padres get any power from anyone besides Phil Nevin and Ryan Klesko?

2. Will Adam Eaton and Mark Kotsay take a step forward?

3. Playing in baseball's toughest division, will the unbalanced schedule drive the Padres into 95-loss territory?

Three key facts
1. Phil Nevin justified his big contract extension by leading the team in batting average (.303), homers (31), RBI (107) and slugging percentage (.543).

2. Trevor Hoffman finished second in the National League with 40 saves, but was third in the league with seven blown saves and seven relief losses.

3. The Padres led the majors with 141 errors.

RETURNING 2000 STATISTICAL LEADERS

AVG	P. Nevin	.303
HR	P. Nevin	31
RBI	P. Nevin	107
RUN	R. Klesko	88
SB	D. Jackson	28
WIN	W. Williams	10
SV	T. Hoffman	43
ERA	W. Williams	3.75
Complete 2000 Statistics: Batting \| Pitching

Dave Campbell's scenarios
Best case: "Padres Gwynn!"
If Tony's last year is productive, Pads could win more games than expected.

Worst case: Friars roasted.
The rest of the outfield's offensive production may be questionable at best.

ESPN.com's lineup analysis
Player	Comment	Pos. rank*
D. Jackson 2B	.161 stretch in June/July dropped overall totals	14
M. Kotsay, LF	Does some nice things, needs to hit more HRs	9
T. Gwynn, RF	Awful right fielder, can't run, gets hurt too much	12
P. Nevin, 3B	Slugged .634 on road, .447 at home	3
R. Klesko, 1B	.316, 19 HR in 1st half; .249, 7 HR in 2nd half	5
M. Darr, CF	Need to work Bubba Trammell's power into OF mix	10
B. Davis, C	Switch-hitter hasn't lived up to potential yet	14
C. Gomez, SS	Another Padre with no power	15
ESPN.com's pitching staff analysis
W. Williams, RHP	Led NL in average innings per start	22
A. Eaton, RHP	Solid rookie year after skipping Triple-A	36
B. Jones, RHP	Wasn't able to turn playoff gem into big bucks	55
B. Tollberg, RHP	Started 19 games in 2000, finishing with 3.58 ERA	60
Middle relief	Relievers went 29-27 in 2000	11
T. Hoffman, CL	An off year for him, but few are better	1

	Position average (NL rank):	11.25 (16th)
	Pitching index (NL rank):	9.00 (9th)

* Position rank, compiled by ESPN.com's baseball staff, compares each NL team's strength at that position, including platoons, based on players' total projected value (offense, defense, durability) for the 2001 season.

NL position players and bullpens ranked on a 1-16 basis, with 1 being best.
NL starting pitchers ranked on 1-64 basis, with 1 being best. Cumulative rankings of starting pitchers are combined with bullpen and closer for overall pitching index, with more weight given to starters.
In both rankings, 1.00 is the best possible score, 16.00 the worst.

Click here for position-by-position NL rankings.

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