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Padres News: Preller’s Players Looking Good In Spring

By Jeremy Loeks |

In a recent game recap, Chris Haft of MLB.com wrote that San Diego Padres newcomers Wil Myers, Will Middlebrooks and James Shields played a big part in beating the San Francisco Giants this past Saturday. This got me thinking about how the other newcomers are doing, and so far it looks as though the players Preller brought in this crazy off season are here to play.

Let’s take a look at the stats the new guys are compiling and see which one has had the best spring so far.

First, center fielder Wil Myers. So far Myers has played in two games this spring and has had eight plate appearances. Of those eight plate appearances he has two hits (a home run and a single). The most promising stat in the first two games, in my opinion, is the two walks he has worked so far. The fact that he is showing plate discipline, an area he has struggled with in the past, is extremely encouraging. To put it in perspective, last spring he had zero walks in 53 at bats and the year before that he had three walks in 38 plate appearances. Add to that the home run he hit to the opposite field this weekend and I am getting ecstatic on how he looks so far this spring.

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Next up, Will Middlebrooks. So far Middlebrooks has also played in two games but has had limited success. In his seven plate appearances he has three hits (all singles) and one walk. So far it is hard to tell if any of these numbers are trending in one direction or another for Middlebrooks because he has historically crushed the ball against weaker spring competition. Last year Boston fans thought he was going to have an excellent 2014 season when he hit .353/.389/.667 in the Grapefruit League but we all know how that turned out. Hopefully success in spring training this year will translate to the regular season but only time will tell.

Lastly, there’s James Shields. In his first outing (which lasted only one inning) he looked as sharp as he did last year. Shields earned the win Saturday and faced four batters, allowing one hit and no runs. This outing is encouraging to me as Shields has previously struggled in the spring. His performance in the 2014 postseason and the command of his pitches he showed this weekend are great news for the Friars.  Hopefully his early success will continue for the rest of 2015.

While Spring Training stats don’t always translate to success in the regular season, they can provide clues on how certain players will play once the regular season begins. So far the Padres are looking good (albeit in a small sample size) and hopefully that will continue and turn into to a championship in 2015.

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