San Diego Padres: Green: There’s an Expectation Everybody Learn How to Lead

San Diego Padres manager Andy Green discusses leadership and what it means to be a Padre following another successful workout on Thursday.

There is a different sort of vibe in Peoria for the San Diego Padres during 2017 spring training. Despite expectations being as low as they possibly can be, the positive attitude of this young club is striking.

As the season inches closer, the absence of multiple true leaders is bound to have an impact. In order to combat this before a lack of leadership damages the roster in any way, manager Andy Green made a bold statement Thursday, establishing the identity of the Padres and showing a great degree of faith in his young team.

As part of his comments to the media following the workout, Green made his stance on leadership very clear.

I think that there’s a responsibility for every guy that puts on a Padre to become a leader that empowers other people to become better, that pulls people along with them into the weight room, that works in such a way that other people want to raise their level of play. I think when you say, ‘hey man, that’s just four guys’ jobs’, you’re kind of shorting the whole team. So I think there’s an expectation that everybody learn how to lead, and that everybody learn how to pull somebody along and do something better than what they would do otherwise.

While not stated, fans can assume that Green is placing more of the leadership responsibility on the young roster as a whole, alleviating some of this from star players such as Wil Myers, Yangervis Solarte, and Clayton Richard.

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While this shows incredible trust in young players, it also establishes an identity. This season, the Padres are going to be a tight knit club, and a club whose players hold each other accountable.

To Green, this sort of attitude gives San Diego the best chance at success. If players such as Hunter Renfroe are able to push their peers to go the extra mile, the team will benefit not only from the efforts of their players but by the tight knit nature of their club for years to come.

Thus far, the collaboration of the young team during spring training has been solid. The leadership of both veterans and even rookies was on display during Thursday’s workouts, as coaches are needing to intervene less and less.

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The Padres are so young, it’s scary. Even manager Andy Green has yet to celebrate his fortieth birthday. With this in mind, the only realistic way for the team to overcome their long odds is for the players to maximize each other’s potential. Since this isn’t up to a small group of veterans, every Padre will need to learn how to lead in 2017.