Padres Press Clips Friday, April 27, 2018
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Padres Press Clips Friday, April 27, 2018 Article Source Author Page Franchy Cordero's potential is a struggle of power, patience SD Union Tribune Acee 2 Javy Guerra hits 5th homer in El Paso loss SD Union Tribune Sanders 6 NL West closers: Hand holding down ninth MLB.com Gilbert 8 Minor League Matters: Rising prospects generating The Athletic Waldon/ Lockard 9 buzz at the Class A-Advanced level Mets’ deGrom looks to continue mastery of Padres FOX Sports Stats 10 Happening Homestand Report: April 27–29 FriarWire Lafferty 12 This Day in Padres History — April 27 FriarWire Center 14 #PadresOnDeck: RHPs Scholtens, Cosgrove Sharp; Two FriarWire Center 15 Hits apiece for Naylor, Ornelas, Rosario 1 Franchy Cordero's potential is a struggle of power, patience Kevin Acee In fascinating, frustrating spurts, the 23-year-old outfielder who looks like an outside linebacker and in another life, born in a different country, might be having his name called in this week’s NFL Draft, has shown signs he is capable of being a baseball star. Franchy Cordero’s journey to being that player involves developing selectivity and discernment. That is not easy. It might not be quick. It is, as we are seeing, like breaking a magnificent young colt. The process of making talent tangible requires forbearance — from Cordero and everyone watching. But the payoff with this particular talent could be like nothing seen in these parts for some time, because when Cordero hits a baseball, well ... “It’s insane how hard he hits a baseball,” Padres manager Andy Green said. More on that later, which seems appropriate in this case, since patience is required to get to the really good stuff with Cordero. First, the speed bumps in the way, which we watch while we wait. One of the exasperating Cordero at-bats, this one a newish phenomenon, came in the third inning of Wednesday’s loss in Colorado. Cordero came to the plate and watched two balls from Rockies pitcher Jon Gray go by. Gray’s third pitch was a fastball down the middle of the plate that Cordero also watched. Honestly, the pitch was so ripe and Cordero has so ripped a number like it that you could practically feel the rest of the oxygen in Denver’s thin air sucked from the Padres dugout. Cordero would end the at-bat flailing at a third strike. In plate appearance after plate appearance, and in this one in particular, we see the evolution of the Padres’ most physically gifted player. 2 He’s been a wild swinger. His attempt at remediation has been evident, and he takes pride in that process. But the fact is that more than a few times up he has in his earnestness taken the bat out of his own hands. “We want him swinging at the strikes,” Green said. “He’s working through that. The one thing you see with him is an obvious attempt to adjust to the big league level. … Whether he was being too disciplined or not — you definitely want him cutting his swing loose on pitches he can hit.” Cordero struck out twice Wednesday after striking out all four times he was up Tuesday. As is often the ebb and flow of a young player, those two games followed a night in which Cordero hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning that traveled 465 feet and a line out to center field that was measured as the hardest ball hit by a Padres player since such things were measured. In the two games before that, he was 3-for-8 with a double and a 489-foot home run that was the longest home run hit by a Padres player since such things were measured. Since being activated off the disabled list April 11, Cordero has four home runs, 21 strikeouts and a .220/.264/.480 hitting line in 54 plate appearances. He has two hits in three games. He has struck out three or four times in three games. The spikes and dips seem more spectacular in Cordero’s case, because that’s what unrefined talent often yields — the spectacular and the stark example of how much improvement is needed. As with much with the Padres this season, patience is required. It can be difficult, given the upside that flashes before our eyes — the raw muscle and the way it fires, the explosive speed. “He’s toolsier than anybody here,” Green said. “… It’s an electric tool set that very few guys have in the game. He can fly. He’s got power.” How that power has manifest is almost as much a sight to behold as the balls that rocket off his bat. 3 Chase Headley, who spent a while last year in New York watching the Aaron Judgephenomenon, marveled at the grace in Cordero’s strength. “It’s real easy,” Headley said. “It’s a pretty swing.” Said bench coach Mark McGwire: “He has one of the most day-to-day consistent swings on our ballclub.” Hunter Renfroe is the only player to ever launch a ball to the top of the Western Metal Supply building at Petco Park. Hitting from the left side, Cordero almost certainly won’t be able to manage that. “But he’ll put it in the second deck in right field,” Renfroe said. “That would be just as impressive. I’ve never even seen anybody do that in BP.” Of Cordero’s 11 hits this year, 10 have been 95 mph or harder. Those are just the hits. Among players with at least 50 plate appearances, Cordero’s percentage of balls struck hard is 56.2, third-highest in the majors behind J.D. Martinez (63) and Christian Yelich (60.5). The rope Cordero sent to the side of the scoreboard at Arizona’s Chase Field on Friday night was clocked at 116.3 mph by StatCast, the hardest hit by a Padres player since those measurements began in 2015. Then Cordero hit one harder Monday, 116.5 mph on a line out to Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon. Then Cordero hit one harder Wednesday, a grounder that got on Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu at 116.8 mph. Entering play Thursday, just six major leaguers have hit a ball harder this season, tops being Giancarlo Stanton’s 117.9 mph. Stanton has stung five of the 30 hardest-hit balls in the majors this year. The only other player with that many that hard is Cordero. 4 “He’s a big strong, kid,” Blackmon said. “That’s a tool that everybody wants. Everybody wants to be able to have the power tool. … Now we’ll just see how it develops. It doesn’t mean you’ve made it. It just means you have the makings.” Blackmon asked some questions about Cordero, reiterated how strong and athletic “the kid” is and then said, almost hopefully, “He’ll figure it out.” The Padres certainly hope so. Cordero is working on it. 5 Javy Guerra hits 5th homer in El Paso loss Jeff Sanders Javy Guerra is enjoying his stay in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. The 22-year-old shortstop hit his fifth homer of the season, continuing a strong start to the season in Triple-A El Paso’s 6-5 loss on Thursday to visiting Salt Lake. With the loss, El Paso’s eight-game win streak was snapped. Acquired in the Craig Kimbrel deal, Guerra remains on the Padres’ 40-man roster despite posting a .589 OPS in 2016 in the California League and a .615 OPS the next year as he repeated the Cal League and moved on to Double-A San Antonio. Guerra fanned 300 times in 233 games over those two seasons. This year, Guerra has struck out 29 times in 22 games after fanning in the three at-bats on Thursday that didn’t result in the home run. Guerra’s five home runs are more than half the nine he hit each of the previous two years in the Padres system. He is hitting .284 with a .941 OPS. Right fielder Franmil Reyes (.274) doubled in three runs and center fielder Travis Jankowski (.338) and left fielder Shane Peterson (.265) each had two hits. Right-hander Kyle Lloyd (2-1, 7.52) struck out six but allowed six runs on 11 hits in 5 1/3 innings in the loss for El Paso (15-6). Right-handers Trey Wingenter (9.00), Tyler Webb (2.25) and T.J. Weir (5.91) combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings to close the game. DOUBLE-A SAN ANTONIO (11-9) • Frisco 3, Missions 1: SS Fernando Tatis Jr. (.179) piled up three more strikeouts in an 0-for-4 effort, giving him 31 through his first 20 games. 1B Josh Naylor (.377) went 2-for-4 and 2B River Stevens (.250) drove in the only run on his first homer 6 of the season. RHP Jesse Scholtens (2.35) struck out 10 and allowed a run in six innings before LHP Brad Wieck (0-2, 4.50) allowed two runs in the ninth. LHP Matt Strahm (2.61) struck out two over two scoreless innings. LOW SINGLE-A FORT WAYNE (8-13) • TinCaps 4, Great Lakes 1: LHP Tom Cosgrove (1-2, 5.94) struck out six over six shutout innings for the win and RHP Jared Carkuff (1.23) allowed a run over the final three innings for his first save. CF Jeisson Rosario (.298) went 2-for-4 with a triple and a run scored and RF Tirso Ornelas (.294) went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.