On Deck: Padres

Hey everybody, King Jax here.

First of all, I said Ryan Sudowski the other day, it's Sadowski, just for the record. Photo by Sacramento Bee.

Second, the Giants start a four-game series with the Padres tonight, and thank Allah they recently traded away Scott Hairston to the A's. That guy was just a menace to Giants pitching. Let's hope Tim Lincecum (9-2, 2.23 ERA, Cy Young 2009 candidate) can outlast RHP Josh Geer (1-3, 5.46 ERA) tonight.

The Friars have lost four in a row and are in the cellar of the NL West, so hopefully we can handle them. But lord knows the last few trips down there have been, um, bad. The Giants are second in the NL West and lead the wildcard race.

San Jose's own Kevin Frandsen got called up again to the Giants, filling in for Juan Uribe at second base. I'm sure Frandsen is a nice guy and all, but the guy just doesn't have any one tool that is going to make him last in the Bigs.

As Dave Fleming put it: he's not fast, his arm is OK, he doesn't hit for average, he doesn't hit for power, his fielding is OK.

Does this sound like superstar? Um, no. Speaking of young guys, I like the improvement I've seen in Nate Schierholtz (who is fast and can hit) a lot more than Frandsen. And Ishikawa has done some good things at first base. Pablo Sandoval, obviously, is a keeper. You have until 1 p.m. PST Thursday to vote for him in the All Star Game.

That's about it. Mom left today for Wisconsin, so it's just the boys at the house. I can't wait to watch the game, sit on the couch and go downstairs and sneak some catfood now and then. MMMMMmmmm.

Jax