Padres Spring Training Update

The San Diego Padres haven’t exactly taken the world by storm in Spring Training so far. They sit at just 2-8, tied for last in the Cactus League and just one game ahead of the Baltimore Orioles in the overall standings who have just 1 win in 9 tries so far. Spring Training leaves much to be desired insofar as tangible trends to watch for the upcoming season.

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After all, tied with the Padres at 2-8 are the nearly consensus 2016 World Series Champion picks the Chicago Cubs. At the top of the National League Spring Training standings are the Philadelphia Phillies, whose lack of moves and apparent talent sparked talks of tanking this off-season. Yet when you read between some of the lines you can start seeing a few things as Spring Training moves more towards the spring portion of the calendar and less of the winter portion.

For example, the backup catchers Austin Hedges and Christian Bethancourt are off to a good start in Spring Training for the Padres. They both have averages of .333 with three home runs between them. Bethancourt even has a triple and both are tied for the team league in RBI with 6.

Rule V draft pick Jabari Blash hasn’t exactly figured out yet much how to get the ball in play, as he both leads the team in strikeouts with 9 and walks with 5. He looks like more of a true outcome player and has connected for one long ball.

Other top prospect Manual Margot is 5 for 15 with 2 doubles and just 1 strikeout. He has not walked yet. Hunter Renfroe, playing in his second major league spring training is 4-12 with a 2K’s and a walk.

On the pitching side of things, fellow Rule V draft pick Luis Perdomo is looking overmatched so far, as he allowed 12 hits and 8 runs in just 5 innings of work. Young starting pitcher Colin Rea has allowed 0 runs in his two starts and five innings of work. Meanwhile Brandon Maurer is his only start so far couldn’t finish 2 innings before he walked 3 and allowed 5 earned runs.

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• Padres barely missed out on high-end veteran starting pitcher
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• Failed Padres top prospect makes stunning return with minor league deal
• Padres fail to land ideal Xander Bogaerts teammate at catcher

Still a lot of spring left, and certain players will continue to rise up and make people pay attention while others that are fighting for spots (like Maurer and Rea in particular) will naturally sort themselves out.

Certainly spring training wins and losses don’t matter, but it would be nice for the Padres to play a little better as they prepare for a 2016 season where no one is giving them much thought. Will they be relevant or be fighting all year long to stay out of the cellar?