So last night was fun. Another riveting, offense powered delight of a game to watch. Amidst the misery though, there was reason for optimism. Bud Black is finally starting to evaluate other, non-Yonder Alonso options at 1B. Throughout this season, most of the negativity has focused on either Alexi Amarista continually being used inappropriately at the top of the lineup and in CF, and how much Chase Headley totally sucks and how the Padres just can't sign him to a long term deal. Admittedly, the Headley bashing has been a real blast and I truly believe signing him to a deal will sink this franchise for the next few years, but Headley has not been the most egregious issue in the lineup. Team's expect their 1B to hold their weight with the bat and the team is getting production commensurate with a terrible, awful shortstop from their newly svelte 1B, Yonder Alonso. People can cry small sample sizes, but the sample is going back years now of a 1B slap hitter that has no power. He has not homered since last May. It's not unheard of to have a 1B with no power, Casey Kotchman stuck around in the league for a while, um, I guess like Justin Smoak has had some mediocre power numbers for a while, but neither of these guys were performing nearly as badly as Yonder. And finally, Bud has tried something new, putting Yasmani Grandal at 1B to try him out. Grandal has been one of the few average hitters thus far, and I applaud the effort to get him into the lineup.
At this point, I think it's time to give up on Alonso. Or send him to El Paso, try to work with him to regain his power stroke, and let's see how that goes. In the interim, play Grandal at 1B, get Blanks up here once he recovers from his injury, and start calling Ryan Klesko to get him here and back in his rightful place as Padre 1B for life.
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