Padres Series Preview

Our playoff hopes are essentially gone.  We’ve dropped to 4th in the NL West.  Last season’s euphoria has officially been replaced with this season’s disappointment.  So why watch the Padres series at all?  I’ll give you 3 big reasons.

1. Dexter Fowler - Dex is very likely to play a big part in the future of the organization, if not next year than the following year.  He can hit, he can run and he can cover plenty of ground in the spacious Coors outfield.  We’ve already seen his first major league assist, gunning a runner down at third the other night.  I’d expect him to make at least one start against the Padres.  The opposing pitching may not be too good, but at least it’s an opportunity for Fowler to display his multiple talents on the big stage.

2. Greg Reynolds - Due to injuries and poor performance from our starts earlier in the year, we got a premature glance at what the #2 overall pick in the 2006 draft has to offer.  His stuff is good and he showed that he has potentail to be a successful starter in the bigs.  He’s already had his taste of the majors and has had the opportunity to make some adjustments and fine-tune his game down in Colorado Springs.  The nerves should be eased this time around and it’ll be interesting to see how he handles the no-pressure situation the Rockies now find themselves in.

3. Todd Helton - Todd is back!  Well, not quite.  Until he is hitting the ball and getting on base at an abnormally high percentage, Todd’s not really back.  I want to see Todd Helton, not some guy with the name Helton on his jersey that strikes out in his pinch hit at-bats.  Not that I’m mad at Todd for his performance.  Recovery from a back injury can be a long, slow process.  I’m just hoping that he’ll show signs of his old self by the end of this season.  If not, I’d at least like to see an indication that he’ll be ready to produce next season the way we all know he is capable of.