News
Black getting familiar with Padres' 'pen
Late additions to roster leave manager to juggle roles early
By Corey Brock / MLB.com
04/06/09 7:20 PM ET
SAN DIEGO -- There are nametags above the lockers and names stitched on the back of the jerseys, which might come in handy for Padres manager Bud Black as he attempts to decipher exactly who is in his bullpen.In the past three weeks, the Padres have added four relievers to their seven-man bullpen: Duaner Sanchez, Eulogio De La Cruz, Luke Gregerson and Ed Mujica.
The moves are, according to general manager Kevin Towers, upgrades over the batch of relief pitchers who were in camp a month ago, and the acquisitions include more of the kind of power arms management wants at the back end of the bullpen.
But that doesn't make Black's job, or that of pitching coach Darren Balsley, any easier as they try to figure out who profiles more as middle relievers and late-inning specialists or who can handle what kind of workload and pressure situations.
That is, after all, what Spring Training is used for. But the Padres didn't have that luxury as they felt they needed to revamp the look of their bullpen relatively late in camp.
"I haven't seen these guys enough to gauge to see where these guys are going to fit," Black said on Monday. "We're going to have to be quick studies."
Sanchez, who signed a Minor League deal on March 15 after being released by the New York Mets, is the only one of the newcomers who pitched more than 10 innings. De La Cruz has thrown 9 2/3 innings, Gregerson (six) and Mujica (one) have had limited experience pitching for the Padres.
The trick now is finding out who can do what and when. Black is reluctant to name his eighth-inning specialist, the reliever who will take new closer Heath Bell's old role, but it's not because he's being evasive. He doesn't know yet, though rookie Edwin Moreno could get looks in that role.
Bell and Cla Meredith are the only holdovers in the bullpen from 2008.
Another thing Black and the Padres have to be guarded against is judging a player by one poor performance or even a scoreless outing in which balls were hit hard. Black needs something of a sample size to make a fair evaluation.
"We don't want to get tricked or fooled," he said.
Corey Brock is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
