Stud or Shelton: Padres' Young Sluggers

Remember Chris Shelton's nine home runs in the first 13 games for the Detroit Tigers in 2006? Stud or Shelton examines whether currently hot players are displaying a similar mirage or will continue to play at a high level.

With the Jake Peavy trade and whispers about a possible deal of Adrian Gonzalez at the trade deadline last week, the Padres have been in the headlines quite a bit for a team playing really bad baseball. Of course, they haven't been in said headlines for on-field activity. Thus, you might have missed the power strides being made by two youngsters: Kyle Blanks and Will Venable.

Is it real? You know how we roll ... it's Stud or Shelton time.

Kyle Blanks

Blanks is 22 years old, and he's an absolute specimen; 6-foot-6, 270 pounds of what appears to be pure muscle. He hits prodigious home runs when he gets a hold of them, and he even hit for average in the minors (.325 last year). The Padres are fully committed to the future, even to the point they considered dealing Gonzalez and leaving Blanks to replace him at first base.

You expect growing pains when a youngster like this tries to adapt the majors midseason. We saw that when Blanks struggled early. He only had six hits through his first 40 at-bats, including zero home runs.

If you merely look at Blanks' current batting average on the season you will still be unimpressed. He's hitting only .218. Since July 21, though, he's hitting a respectable .275. More importantly, he's left the yard six times in 51 at-bats during that span. Three of those bombs were at home, in the ridiculously spacious Petco Park. Despite the bad average, his season OPS is .787, which gives him a solid 117 OPS+.

There are also signs he's going to continue bringing that average up. His BABIP is still a tad bit low, meaning he should see a continued progression in his rate stats. His high walk total has helped make his on-base percentage solid. That means he's already grasping the strike zone.

Verdict: He's definitely a future stud, and we're going to say he's studly with power the rest of the year.

Will Venable

He's surging in a much more thunderous way than Blanks right now. Venable, the 26-year-old outfielder, has been on an absolute tear for the past week. Actually, he went 0-for-4 Thursday night. Before that, though, he went through a seven-game span where he hit .481 with a 1.554 OPS, 5 home runs, 12 RBI and 7 runs. Like I said, he was sizzling.

We can't totally discount the short little streak as a fluke, because he's never gotten the chance to play every day and he's still young enough to be breaking out. So, let's check it out.

In the minors, he made a quick ascent to Triple-A. Last season, he hit .292 with 14 homers in 120 games of Triple-A play. He was an average big-league hitter for 110 at-bats. This season, he hit just .260 in 53 minor-league games, but he did drop 12 bombs. Nothing in his peripherals is jumping out as ridiculous, but he has been a bit fortunate in terms of fly balls leaving the yard and balls in play finding open areas.

Verdict: Shelton. I can't pull the trigger on him. He appears to be pretty ordinary in all categories, meaning he just recently hit a small-sample-size aided hot streak. There is some power there, but he's not playing in a park conducive to long-term success unless you have the kind of strength Blanks or Gonzalez do.