Chris Young News: Pro Sports Daily

Diamondbacks' Young denied shot at hitting four homers

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September 7

Denver Post

"Rockies reliever Matt Herges wasn't about to let Diamondbacks center fielder Chris Young make history. Young came to the plate in the ninth inning Sunday with three homers under his belt. A fourth would have tied the major-league record for home runs in a game. But Herges walked Young, denying him the chance. "Herges said he wasn't going to let me hit a home run off him," Young said. "I had one good pitch to hit." Giambi a starter. The Rockies gave first baseman Todd Helton the day off, so Jason Giambi made his first start for them, going 0-for-3 but drawing two walks. Take a seat."

Young returns to Majors

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August 30

MLB.com

"Chris Young is back with the D-backs and back in center field for Saturday night's game against the Astros, as part of a roster shakeup. Young had been optioned to Triple-A Reno when his season-long struggles depressed his average to .194, with 95 strikeouts in 315 at-bats, and was recalled after hitting .370 in 13 games with the Aces. Arizona also recalled left-hander Daniel Schlereth from Reno, where he had made only one appearance since being optioned to the Triple-A club. To clear the two roster spots, outfielder Trent Oeltjen was optioned to Reno and a decision was made to place catcher Chris Snyder on the 15-day disabled list. Oeltjen had broken in with 12 hits in his first 24 ..."

Young '100 percent' by spring training

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August 18

San Diego Union-Tribune

"Presumably, the text-typing was a bit awkward, what with his right arm locked down in a sling and the fact that he'd undergone a procedure on his pitching shoulder just a few hours earlier in the day. But the message coming from the other end felt like some of the best medicine to Chris Young. Team orthopedists performed a debridement yesterday on the Padres right-hander at Scripps Clinic in Carmel Valley, shaving the frayed part of his labrum that had sent him to the disabled list in mid-June and not enabled him to heal enough to even pitch bullpen sessions, let alone consider a return to active duty this season. All post-op reports from the team's medical personnel were good, but among ..."

Young joins crowded disabled list

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June 19

San Diego Union-Tribune

"Chris Young is joining Jake Peavy - and nearly every other Padres starting pitcher from the beginning of the season - on the disabled list. With the near certainty that Young's shoulder injury would cause him to miss two starts, the Padres will put the right-hander on the 15-day DL Friday and re-summon left-hander Wade LeBlanc from Triple-A Portland, naming LeBlanc the starter for Friday night's opener of a three-game home series against the Oakland Athletics. That leaves Kevin Correia as the only member of Opening Day rotation still pitching for the Padres. That could change with the strong likelihood that Saturday's starter will be Walter Silva, who was the Padres' No. 3 starter at ..."

D-Backs waiting out Young's slump

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May 23

Arizona Republic

"Diamondbacks center fielder Chris Young's struggles have become so pronounced, just watching him hit has become a painful endeavor, and his slump has become so prolonged that the cries for a demotion to the minor leagues seem to increase by the day. Young entered Thursday hitless in 15 at-bats on this road trip, including 0 for 5 with five strikeouts in Wednesday's doubleheader. As his batting average has dipped to .171, his time on the bench has increased, in part because of the presence of rookie Gerardo Parra. Tough times for a player who entered the year with 54 home runs in the past two seasons and to whom the organization committed $28 million prior to the 2008 season. While the ..."

Young searching for answers to slump

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May 3

Arizona Republic

"Mired in a brutal slump to start his season, center fielder Chris Young's search for answers has led him to the video room and to making different mechanical adjustments. So far it hasn't worked, and Young found himself out of the starting lineup Saturday. "I've been working with different stances and different hand slots lately," he said. "I had a good spring, and I kind of got away a little bit from what I was doing. I have to find whatever I can do to make myself as comfortable as I can be at the plate. Right now I'm kind of in between different things, and I'm not getting the results right now." Young, who is hitting .190 and is 1 for 15 in his past four games, said he has looked at ..."

Young becomes Rockies punching bag in Padres' 12-7 loss

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April 28

San Diego Union-Tribune

"The Padres on Monday night endured another inglorious episode in the ongoing saga, Weird Baseball Tales of the Front Range. Greeted in the morning by snow, the Padres got clobbered by an evening blizzard of hits, walks, stolen bases and runs, leading to a 12-7 loss to the Rockies in the opener of a three-game series. Padres pitcher Chris Young bore the brunt of Colorado's attack, which dealt San Diego (10-9) its sixth loss in seven games. The same man who five days earlier threw seven scoreless innings in San Francisco got only nine outs and gave up eight runs, the most runs allowed in any of his 122 career starts. "Seemed like Chris just couldn't get comfortable," Padres manager Bud ..."

Pressure is on Young as Padres go back on road to face Rockies

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April 28

San Diego Union-Tribune

"The Padres figured they would return home over the weekend and get refreshed n a three-game series against the Pirates before hitting the road again. Whoops. The Pirates won two of three games at Petco Park, outscoring the Padres 18-4 Saturday and Sunday. So the Padres enter a seven-game road trip to Denver and Los Angeles having lost five of their past six. Clearly, the Padres are struggling during one of the toughest parts of the 2009 schedule. This trip is in the middle of a run when the Padres play 15 of 18 (and 21 of 28) on the road and at the start of a 17-game in 17-day stretch. Monday night's game in Denver is the first of three against the Colorado Rockies. The Padres then ..."

Chris Young has Giants' number

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April 23

San Diego Union-Tribune

"Chris Young has San Francisco's number in 2009. Zero. In two starts against the Giants, Young has allowed no earned runs on six hits over 14 innings. When he first faced the Giants on April 12 at Petco Park, Young retired the first 12 hitters he faced. Eventually the Giants got four hits and an unearned run. In both outings, Young didn't allow a hit until a leadoff single in the fifth. Wednesday, Young walked two Giants over the first four innings before Travis Ishikawa got the first of two singles against Young. In between the two starts against the Giants, Young gave up seven runs on nine hits in just 3 2/3 innings Friday night in Philadelphia. "He and (Barry) Zito had a good ..."

Young aiming to get back on track against struggling Giants starter Zito

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April 22

San Diego Union-Tribune

"This is a big day for the Padres. Beat San Francisco on Wednesday afternoon in the final game of an abbreviated two-game series and the Padres stop their first two-game losing streak of the season and return home from a winning 5-3 road trip. Lose and they'll have dropped three straight going into Friday night's opener of a three-game homestand against Pittsburgh at Petco Park. And the road trip will be a push. The good news is the Padres are facing left-hander Barry Zito, who is again struggling at the start of a season. The bad news is that Chris Young has not had great success at AT"

Young can answer questions with bounceback season

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February 22

East Valley Tribune

columnist Scott Bordow

"I'm supposed to be the one asking the questions, but Diamondbacks center fielder Chris Young gets in the first query. "You're not going to ask me what I have to improve on, are you?" he says. I pause for a second. Is Young not willing to talk about his 165 strikeouts last season? Or the fact he stole just 14 bases, down from 27 in 2008? And what about all those low-and-outside sliders he chased but never seemed to hit? If we don't talk about his disappointing season after signing a six-year, $30 million deal, what are we going to talk about? As I'm trying to figure all this out, Young cracks a smile and says, "It's OK. I'm just fooling around." Ask anyone in the Diamondbacks' clubhouse ..."

Young is against releasing names of all players who tested positive in '03

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February 11

San Diego Union-Tribune

"Chris Young admits to curiosity, but he is disinclined to pry. Like Boston's Curt Schilling, the Padres pitcher would like to know the identity of the 103 players other than Alex Rodriguez who produced positive samples during baseball's 2003 survey test for performance-enhancing drugs. Unlike Schilling, however, Young would prefer that the results remain private. "I am all for a stringent testing program," Young wrote in response to an e-mail question. "The game cannot proceed without it." But citing the confidentiality agreement that preceded the 2003 test, the possibility of "false positives," and the likelihood that some of the culprits were not caught, Young is opposed to releasing ..."

Young's huge game falls just short of cycle

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September 22

East Valley Tribune

"Chris Young might not have felt at the top of his game, but his numbers looked it. Young drove in four runs, scored four and was a double short of the cycle in the Diamondbacks' 13-4 victory over Colorado on Sunday. "I wasn't feeling sexy by any means," Young said. "I mean, I felt all right. Then that first blooper fell in …" Young's bloop single to center field in a five-run first was only the beginning. He hit a bases-empty home run in the second inning and a three-run triple in the fifth before walking and scoring in the seventh. He had three of the D-Backs' season-high 19 hits. "You can kind of breathe a little," Young said of the outburst. "Honestly, it was one of those days where ..."

Young, fastball on rise for Padres

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September 21

San Diego Union-Tribune

"Want a reason to believe the Padres can turn things around in 2009? Here is a 6-foot-10 reason: Pitcher Chris Young. Young still throws a "rising" fastball that most hitters cannot accurately judge. Because of injuries and rust, he hasn't been the same pitcher for most of this season, but now that he is back in reasonable shape, Young is showing he still has that special fastball. Saturday night, the Padres rode seven scoreless inning from Young, plus the pitcher's first career home run, to a 6-1 win at Nationals Park. "He does a good job of hiding the ball," Nationals slugger Ryan Zimmerman said after Young allowed only two hits despite not being in top form. "It's deceptive." ..."

Young catches hard liner, sparking a scary flashback for pitcher

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September 8

San Diego Union-Tribune

"Lost in the aftermath of Gabe Kapler's perfect-game-killing homer Sunday was the ensuing play - a line drive right back at Chris Young off the bat of Bill Hall. That was the first line drive Young fielded since he was hit in the face by a shot off Albert Pujols' bat on May 21. "This wasn't hit nearly as hard, but I've been waiting for one to come right back at me," said Young, who caught the ball and walked off the mound to a standing ovation. The fans, of course, were honoring Young for his near-perfection. They had no idea of the significance of Hall's line drive. But Young did. "It sort of completed the circle," he said. Young missed 10 weeks because of the Pujols liner. Five weeks ..."

Young eager to pitch, saying 'arm's had enough rest this year'

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August 23

San Diego Union-Tribune

"Don't tell pitcher Chris Young that he should stay on the disabled list to protect his right arm. Even though the Padres couldn't see the playoff race with the Hubbell Telescope, Young said it's crucial that he get back on the mound for them. "My arm's had enough rest this year," said Young, who has recovered from a strained forearm. "I need to pitch. It's not fun to sit around. I don't get paid to sit around. "I want to be out there competing and getting better." After making 10 consecutive starts to open the season, Young missed two months to recover from the multiple facial fractures and skull fracture he suffered May 21. He returned July 29 and made three starts before developing a ..."

Young returning to his stealing ways

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July 27

East Valley Tribune

"Chris Young is back to being himself on the bases, and that could give the Diamondbacks another weapon down the stretch. Young has two stolen bases in the last three games and three the last six, giving him eight for the season. %u201CI definitely have the speed to do it,%u201D Young said. %u201CIt kind of comes down to having the guts to do it.%u201D Young looks again like the player who set major league history in 2007 as the first rookie to hit 30 home runs and steal 25 bases in the same season. He got his 25th stolen base here, on Sept. 12. %u201CIt%u2019s something I said I was going to do, and it%u2019s something I should have been doing all year, no doubt about it,%u201D Young said. ..."

Young takes step at Lake Elsinore toward his return to big leagues

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July 22

San Diego Union-Tribune

"In two rehab starts with the Lake Elsinore Storm, Padres right-hander Chris Young already has re-established himself as the flyball pitcher he was before that devastating Albert Pujols single off his face on May 21. Some of the fly balls, oddly enough, just seem to go farther in Single-A. Monday night, two months to the day since he broke his nose and fractured his skull, Young completed a five-inning, 72-pitch, 47-strike stint against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and said he feels sufficiently ready to return to the major league club."

Young encouraged after making first rehab outing at Lake Elsinore

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July 17

San Diego Union-Tribune

"A year ago at this time, he was coming off his first All-Star Game appearance. Now he's coming off his first appearance in the California League, a rehab start against the Inland Empire 66ers, some of them still teenagers. Pitching in an actual game for the first time since taking an Albert Pujols liner off his face on May 21, Young threw 3 2/3 innings, finishing one pitch shy of his prescribed limit and coming away encouraged."

Young shows he can still pitch; soon he'll be able to breathe

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June 29

San Diego Union-Tribune

"Chris Young faced live hitters Saturday for the first time since he was struck in the face by an Albert Pujols line drive on May 21. Young, who will have surgery Monday morning to repair a deviated septum and clear his nasal passages, called the three-inning, 45-pitch simulated game "just a step in the process" of returning to the rotation. But it was a giant step. For one thing, Young worked without a protective screen. "Not one time did that enter my mind," said Young. "And not one time did I think about the ball coming back at me." The possibility of using a screen was raised by pitching coach Darren Balsley but quickly rejected by Young -- which is what the Padres were hoping to ..."

Young throws off mound for first time since Pujols line drive

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June 22

San Diego Union-Tribune

"Chris Young said he was very encouraged Saturday after throwing off the mound for the first time since an Albert Pujols line drive left him with multiple nasal fractures and a fractured skull. Young, who was hit on May 21, said his arm and legs felt strong throughout the 40-pitch session but that his breathing was labored because of a deviated septum, which is to be realigned on June 30. "I felt strong," Young said. "Hopefully I can build on it." The timetable for his return will become clearer a few days after his surgery, but the pitcher said a return in late July is possible."