Analysis:1* Take San Diego (#956)
The Padres have all the makings of a ‘bet-on’ team today in
their home opener against San Francisco.
Matt Kemp, about to make his home debut for his new team off a strong
opening series in LA against the Dodgers: “It's amazing to see the atmosphere
out here at Petco. It says a lot. I've been here the whole offseason and just
been hearing how excited the Padres fans have been. I didn't think it would be
quite this much but just from driving to the stadium and seeing everybody
outside waiting to get into the ballpark was pretty amazing." Facing the defending champs tonight, this is
one situation where the Padres home field is probably worth a good notch or two
more than it is in most games.
Today’s starter Ian Kennedy echoed that sentiment: “We've been talking about it all spring, since
December, all the players are excited about playing in San Diego and I know the
fans are really excited, the most excited they've been in a while. For myself,
playing in L.A. and then coming here in front of our fans will be a lot of fun.
It's going to be electric. We're playing the Giants, so it will be even more
so."
New shortstop Clint Barmes: “The
first game at home is going to be exciting no matter who we play. But when you
throw the World Series champions on top of that, it's going to bring a little
bit more excitement to the ballpark and in the clubhouse, and with the fans as
well." Plain and simple –
the Padres are a lot more jacked up for this game than the Giants are, a factor
that is not reflected in the pricetag to support them today.
San Fran lit up some lousy
Dbacks pitching in Arizona in their opening series, but this is anything but an
elite lineup with Pablo Sandoval in Boston, Hunter Pence on the DL and Brandon
Belt struggling with a strained groin.
The defending champs scored only 20 runs in nine games at Petco last
year while going 3-6 against the Padres.
Meanwhile, Ian Kennedy closed
out spring training with a six inning shutout gem, needing only 43 pitches to
do it. He shut down the Giants three
times last year (six earned runs allowed in 20 innings of work; primed for
similar success this evening. Take the Padres.
Pick Made: Apr 9 2015 8:18AM PST