San Diego Padres: Opening Day Roster is Announced

The San Diego Padres announced their Opening Day 25-man roster on Saturday, and there were several surprising moves made ahead of the opener on Monday.

San Diego Padres skipper Andy Green announced his 25-man roster before Fan Fest on Saturday. The rotation is composed of Jhoulys Chacin, Clayton Richard, Trevor Cahill, Jered Weaver, and Luis Perdomo.

The Friars are carrying only three outfielders not including Christian Bethancourt which are Hunter Renfroe, Manuel Margot, and Travis Jankowski. The infielders include Ryan Schimpf at third, Erick Aybar at short, Yangervis Solarte at second, and Wil Myers at first with Luis Sardinas and Rule 5 pick Allen Córdoba being the backups. The Padres are surprisingly carrying four catchers including Austin Hedges, Luis Torrens, Bethancourt, and Hector Sanchez.

Now you might have noticed there are some big surprises in the roster. The biggest one is Cory Spangenberg being optioned to Triple-A El Paso. Another notable move is Jabari Blash also going to El Paso. Andy Green said at the beginning of spring that he wanted both of them on the big league roster. There wasn’t much room for them with carrying four catchers and essentially three shortstops.

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The Padres should be getting back Alex Dickerson though after he returns from the DL to start the season to be the fourth outfielder.

If you are wondering where the other pitcher who was competing for the starting rotation went, he is in the bullpen. That player is Jarred Cosart. The Padres already gave spots to Chacin, Weaver, and Richard as the veterans, so they filled the remaining two slots with Cahill and Perdomo who will start the home opener on Friday vs the Giants.

San Diego opens up their season on the road for Opening Day on Monday April, 3rd at 1:10 p.m. in Los Angeles as Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers goes up against Chacin and the Padres.

Next: Friars on Base Staff Predictions

Get ready for an exciting season of Padres baseball!