Tuesday 06 January

11-27-08 Journal Entry

The month of November has been very exciting for me so far. Early in the month I was voted the Gold Glove winner for the National League, this award means a lot to me because I do take a lot of pride...

Gonzalez scoops up first Gold Glove

Adrian Gonzalez became the first Gold Glove first baseman in Padres history Wednesday when he was selected the National League winner of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award for 2008. Gonzalez is the ninth...

11-01-08 Journal

Hey everybody sorry I haven't written since the season ended. So far the off-season has been great. Very relaxing for us. We made a trip to Napa Valley with a group we met during the season that works...

10-17-08 Bible Study

This bible study is on Salvation. We should all know that through the grace of God we are all saved if we commit our life to Christ. Salvation Titus 3 shows the contrast between what a person ...

9-29-08 Journal Entry

The season has ended, we have lost 99 games so it was a mentally tough year. The good thing is that I have now gone through my first losing year and though I hope to never have another, if I am on ano...

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PXI-Report Card, Adrian Gonzalez

As part of our weekly edition, our Padres Report Card segment starts off taking a look at 1st base and the steady Adrian Gonzalez. In his second full year in the majors Adrian proved once again why he is this team's most valuable position player. Leading the team in every offensive statistical category except for stolen bases, Adrian was able to reach the benchmark 30 HR 100 RBI season with a little help from game 163 "tiebreaker" with Colorado.

Adrian's season hit a snag in the middle of the year where in June and July he couldn't break the .250 AVG hitting .231/.247 respectively. He seemed to be pressing in the box during those months; however that could be attributed to the entire team's lack of success during that time as well. Post All Star Game break he was able to turn it back up hitting 16 HR's and batting .302 overall. The greatest achievement for Adrian this year was his GIDP (Ground Into Double Play) numbers that plagued him last year. With a total of 24 GIDP's Adrian lead the National League last year and it was truly the one weak spot of his offensive game, however he was able to drastically improve on those numbers this year grounding into only six double plays. That improvement alone earns him an A+.

Adrian's biggest asset this season was obviously his bat, however his glove work once again shined throughout the season. With a fielding percentage of .994 on the year and a range factor almost it's equal not too many balls were able to find their way past first base. While Adrian seemed to have increased his range this year, more often than not it was scary for the team on the whole as you would often see Adrian fielding balls better suited for the second baseman or pitcher. While aggressive it was unnecessary, but it's hard to fault Adrian when he had the likes of Marcus Giles and Geoff Blum manning the field to his right.

With the lack of a viable back up Adrian was asked to play 161 games out of the year. This would definitely account for his mid-season slump. The advantage here is that his numbers don't justify needing to sit him against left handed pitchers, while his power shows up against right handed pitchers (21 of his 30 HR's were against RHP) his residual numbers are almost identical against either side.