June 27th, 2011
Strong start for Spangenberg
It seems like just yesterday the Padres scouting staff sat in the Draft room anxiously awaiting their first selection with the 10th overall pick in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft. While it may not have been yesterday, it was only three weeks ago and already the Friars’ top pick is making an impact in the minors.
Signed just three days after he was drafted (and still the highest pick from this year’s draft to sign), Cory Spangenberg has already played 10 games with the Eugene Emeralds and is hitting .394 with a .563 OBP and .606 SLG (1.169 OPS). He is averaging at least one hit, RBI and walk per game and has two hits in each of the last five tilts.
All of Cory’s appearances have come at second base and while it’s still way to soon to make any projections as to what type of player he may become, it certainly is nice to have in on the field and produces early results.
Royal welcome
The Royals are in town for a three-game set that concludes Interleague Play in San Diego this season (The Padres still have three games in Seattle). Fresh off their second straight series win, the Padres look to keep rolling against the Royals who have yet to win a game at PETCO Park. In their only visit to San Diego, Kansas City was swept in a three-game set in July of 2004. In that series, the Padres outscored the Royals 19-10 and outhit them 33-16.
Entering tonight’s game, the Padres have played just six games against the Royals in franchise history, tying with the White Sox and Tigers for the fewest matchups against any opponent.
Here is the projected rotation for the Interleague series:
RHP Mat Latos vs. LHP Jeff Francis
LHP Clayton Richard vs. RHP Felipe Paulino
RHP Tim Stauffer vs. LHP Bruce Chen
In tonight’s matchup, Latos takes on a familiar face in former Rocky Jeff Francis. Over his six seasons in the National League West, Francis faced the Padres 21 times (all starts) and is 5-12 with a 5.66 ERA against the Friars. In fact, the Padres have a .295 all-time batting average against Francis, who has not registered a win against San Diego since 2007.
