Padres Editorial: Five Padres Who Need A Good Spring Training

By Jason Evans |

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We’ve reached February finally which means baseball season is right around the corner. Spring Training is a time for optimism and hope. A time when every team thinks they can win. A time where team executives can see what they have with their shinny new toys they brought in (or in the case of the Padres many new toys).

With that in mind, it’s time to look at some San Diego Padres players who need to show something during the Cactus League season. There’s all sorts of different reasons for these guys to be on the list. Some it’s to prove they can start at this level or get back to their former level of production. In one way or another, the Padres will need these five players to perform and to get ready for 2015.

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Anyone should be able to contend in the National League. The Padres may not be able to hang with the Dodgers, but maybe they can give the Giants or the Pirates or any other team competing for a wild card birth in the National League.

All you have to do now is get into the tournament as the Giants and Royals showed last October. With that in mind, here are the five Padres that need to have a good Spring Training.

OF- Carlos Quentin

The 32-year old outfielder has yet to play in more than 86 games in a season since coming to the Padres back in 2012. You can see why the Padres had to import an entirely new starting outfield. Quentin’s got one year and $8 million coming to him this year. That’s mighty expensive for a bench player, especially when you are in the NL and can’t exactly DH him.

Quentin has to come out in Spring Training and show he can hit. If he does, A.J. Preller can ship him off to a team that is looking for some right-handed pop. A team like the Minnesota Twins or Cleveland Indians come to mind, especially since Quentin can DH for them.

Quentin had a really awful year last year, posting a .177/.284/.315 with four homers and 18 RBI in just 50 games due to various ailments including a knee injury that led to him being shut down.

Quentin has to show he can be healthy in order not only for the Padres, but for him to improve his career as well.

1B- Yonder Alonso

One of the few positions A.J. Preller hasn’t touched (yet) is first base. Yes Will Middlebrooks can play there (more on him later) but the guy who will more than likely be the one to play there will be Alonso. After putting up promising numbers in his age-25 season a couple of years ago, the soon to be 28-year old is in a big year for him.

Alonso is the only left-handed bat the team has in its possible everyday lineup. Alonso doesn’t have to hit 25 homers with guys like Justin Upton and Matt Kemp around, but 15 with a ton of doubles would be a good help to the middle part of the order.

Being healthy would help too. He only played in 84 games last season and put up a .240 average with a .682 OPS. Tommy Medica is there to compete for at-bats along with non-roster invitee Brett Wallace. Alex Dickerson is coming back from injury as well.

If Alonso can’t get the job done, then it makes the Padres very right-handed and it has them in a tough spot to figure out first base.

SS- Alexi Amarista

It’s Amarista’s time to shine. H’es been used as a utility player, playing everywhere but first base, but now, he can be the starting shortstop and even got a two-year deal after avoiding arbitration. With Everth Cabrera gone and only Clint Barmes and Ramiro Pena as his main competition, Amarista has a shot at being a starter for the first time.

Amarista hit .239 with a .600 OPS. He had 12 steals in 148 games and is going to need to use some speed out of most likely what will be the eighth hole in the lineup.

If Amarista can hit .260 with some speed and play good defense, the Padres will take it. With some question as to how good the defense will be in the outfield, the infield defense needs to be as strong as it can be.

Championship teams are strong up the middle, especially defensively. If Amarista can catch the ball and hit a bit he’ll be fine, but he needs to help prove it in March.

P- Josh Johnson

I had to pick a pitcher, so why not go with one who’s coming off Tommy John surgery? Johnson was a part of the big Marlins to Blue Jays deal a few years ago. He went 3-6 with an ERA over six. He signed a one-year deal with the Padres, but needed Tommy John surgery. The Padres re-signed him to a very incentive-laden contract.

Johnson needs to prove he can actually pitch again. The Padres basically have two open spots and about five or six guys who will get a shot, and most of them, like Johnson are coming off of the surgery.

Johnson is coming into a big time prove it season. He was once one of the best up and coming pitchers in the game. If he can show anything, he could put himself in line for a very big pay day next season. Next off-season has a whole slew of big time potential free agent pitchers, so Johnson will need this year to try and stand out a bit.

There are questions you can ask about every potential starter on the Padres. If Johnson can give them some innings and show some velocity, then putting him in the four spot behind Ian Kennedy, Tyson Ross and Andrew Cashner could prove to be a formidable rotation.

3b/1B Will Middlebrooks

I wrote earlier in the off-season how the third base compeitition between Middlebrooks and Yangervis Solarte should be pretty competitive. Here’s another potential caveat. If and when Hector Olivera gets cleared and if the Padres sign him, it’s another name he may have to compete with. What about Cory Spangenberg? Could Jedd Gyorko play some third as well?

All of those questions can be put to rest if Middlebrooks proves he can hit like he did with the Boston Red Sox when he came up in his rookie season. A fresh start in a new place might be just the thing for Middlebrooks.

Power doesn’t grow on trees anymore, and it’s hard to find power bats for your lineup. The Padres’ thinking made sense in their trade for Middlebrooks especially since they only gave up Ryan Hanigan for him.

Middlebrooks being an RBI threat in the bottom of the order could make the lineup quite deep. We know Matt Kemp and Justin Upton will have their opportunities, and it should take pressure off Middlebrooks having those guys around.

Middlebrooks doesn’t have to live up to anything in San Diego. He can relax and try and do his job. He’s not replacing anyone like Kevin Youkilis. He doesn’t have Xander Bogaerts breathing down his neck. He can let it fly and see what happens.

Next: Padres Options At Shortstop

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