Occasionally, I'll be running Q&As with other bloggers as series previews. To preview the upcoming Giants-Padres series, I asked Avenging Jack Murphy five questions...here are his answers:
1. What should we expect to see out of Aaron Harang on Tuesday?
That's the million dollar question. It sounds crazy to say that the season hinges on the success of a journeyman pitcher so I won't say it... but Harang will be pretty important to the staff this year. Harang replaces Jon Garland in the rotation which means he needs to log around 200 innings to replace what the staff has lost in Garland leaving for LA. Petco Park can be a great place for a pitcher looking for a bounce back season as it was for Garland but the real question is whether or not Aaron Harang is healthy or not. The process of answering that question will begin tomorrow. This was a long way of saying, "I'm not too sure... "
2. I know it's only been a few games, but is there a lot of optimism surrounding Cameron Maybin given his performance thus far?
Maybin is off to a great start, drawing comparisons to both Mike Cameron and Eric Davis so the optimism is definitely high around San Diego. But even if you don't take in to account the success Maybin had in the first series of the year people were quite high on him to begin with. I see him as a case similar to Adrian Gonzalez. Both Maybin and Gonzalez were highly regarded draft picks who were never fully committed to by their previous organizations. In San Diego, Gonzalez received a chance and flourished. I expect that Maybin may also take advantage of this new found organizational confidence.
3. Tim Stauffer pitched well against the Giants last year, holding them to two earned runs over 13 innings. Do you expect him to continue that trend when he faces the Giants on Wednesday?
Tim Stauffer is a very solid pitcher who has been through a lot on his way to the starting rotation this year. After he recovered from his appendicitis last year he was one of the most reliable pitchers the Padres had and this carried over to 2011. Will he dominate the Giants on Wednesday? Probably not, but I expect him to give the Padres a chance to win the game.
4. The Padres traded away a few arms -- like Edward Mujica and Ryan Webb -- but will they still have that dominant bullpen?
The bullpen is as solid as ever. Mujica, Webb and Russell have departed (for Maybin and Bartlett) but have been ably replaced by Ernesto Frieri and Pat Neshek. Dustin Mosely looked great starting yesterday but will likely return to the pen once a 5th starter is needed. The bullpen will continue to be the primary strength of the San Diego Padres.
5. Who's going to win the friendly wager, me or RJ's Fro?
Haha! If we look at the first seven games between the clubs last year all were decided by 3 runs or less. Jonathan Sanchez pitched a couple of gems and lost. Matt Cain usually pitches great but almost always loses against the Padres and Tim Lincecum never took the hill in the first three series between the clubs. So were the Padres lucky? Perhaps a little bit. The Padres and Giants match up well and with the pitching staffs for each team, maybe the luck and a few breaks is what you need to win an 18 game series. The Giants are the champs, but while I have picked the Giants to win the NL West, I like the Padres chances to win the season series... again.
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Thanks again to AJM for participating. You can check out his blog here.
Update: My answers to AJM's questions can be found here.
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