San Diego Padres Have Been On A Power Surge in Peoria

Four players have homered (so far) for the San Diego Padres since Cactus League games began. Hopefully, this added power dynamic will find a permanent home with the Friars this season.

Things have gotten off to a powerful start for the San Diego Padres. In their four Cactus League matchups thus far this spring, four Friars have gone yard. If they can continue to hit the long-ball throughout Spring Training, this team could have an added dynamic that simply wasn’t there last season.

Wil Myers and Hunter Renfroe led the way in home runs for the Padres last season with 30 and 26, respectively. Last year’s edition of the Friars was not what one would call a “power-hitting team”. The Padres’ collective slugging-percentage, as a team, in 2017 was a paltry .393.

If guys like Austin Hedges, the newest Friar, Eric Hosmer, and super-utility man Cory Spangenberg can contribute to this team’s incumbent heavy-artillery arsenal in Myers and Renfroe, we could see an entirely different team-identity in Petco Park this season.

San Diego Padres have been going yard in Peoria

Since Cactus League games began last Friday against the Seattle Mariners, we’ve seen some impressive home runs hit by the San Diego Padres. In the spring opener Fernando Tatis, Jr. hit a. gorgeous opposite-field shot that turned a lot of heads.

Luis Urias was within a couple of feet of his own line-drive finding it’s way out of the park that day, as well. Although neither of these players will find themselves in the major leagues (outside chance of Urias coming up in September), it’s nice to see what’s coming down the road.

The next day, versus the Oakland Athletics, Franchy Cordero hit an absolute bomb off. Cordero is a guy who we could very well see make the Padres’ Opening Day roster as a bench player and extra outfielder.

Austin Hedges showed off his new stroke with yet another opposite-field shot yesterday, giving Friars fans hope that he will continue to improve and increase his power output from last season (18 HR). And so far today (writing this at exactly 1:24 PM PST), the Padres have added two more jacks to their Cactus League totals.

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In the bottom of the second inning, Hunter Renfroe hit a monster two-run homer to dead centerfield and the very next batter, Christian Villanueva (a potent power-threat in his own right) followed up with his own home run.

Here’s hoping the long-balls keep coming as we get closer to Opening Day!

Updated 2/26/18 2:26 PM: Franchy Cordero hit an inside-the-park HR in the bottom of the sixth today. Still counts!

Updated 2/26/18 2:31 PM: Franmil Reyes crushes a ball to left-center. That one definitely counts!