The Padres were 5-1 last week as they outscored their opponents 25-14.  The Padres pitching dazzled last week and they got just enough offense to make it stand up.  The Padres entered this week with a 29-21 record which had them tied for the lead in the National League West with the Dodgers.

19 year old lefty swinging CF Cedric Hunter will be brought along slowly by the Padres.  He is the #1 ranked prospect in the San Diego Padres organization according to Baseball America.  In 44 games in Low-A ball, Hunter is 43 for 165 (.261 avg, .662 OPS) with 16 runs, 1 homer, 17 RBIs and 3 stolen bases.  The Padres want Hunter to succeed all the way up the ladder so they will bring him along slowly.

The Padres didn’t expect much when they called up Justin Germano to replace the injured Clay Hensley in their rotation.  If he keeps pitching this well he will be hard to take out of the rotation.  In 3 starts this season, he is 2-0 with a 0.47 ERA and a 0.74 WHIP!  He has pitched 19 innings and he’s only allowed 12 hits, walked 2 batters and whiffed 5.

The Padres went 4-2 last week as they outscored their opponents 25-14.  The Padres got decent hitting and they pitched great again.  The Padres entered this week with a 24-20 record which was good for 2nd place in the National League West, 1 game behind the Dodgers.

Brian Giles has been pretty bad with the bat as of late.  In his last 5 games, Giles is 2 for 19 (.105 avg, .419 OPS) with 1 run scored and 1 RBI.  The Padres have given him a couple of days off as he’s been banged up a little bit.  But, the Padres need Giles to get his bat going as they have trouble scoring runs when he’s not hitting the baseball.