San Diego Padres: Veteran Lineup Sparks First Win

With a lineup featuring more regular starters and veterans, the San Diego Padres slugged their way to their first Cactus League win of spring training.

The San Diego Padres finally put one in the win column. I can already hear you glass-half-empty people screaming “who cares!” It may just be a spring training game, however, today’s was a fun one to watch.

The Padres banged out five home runs in today’s win, a few no-doubters, along with an inside-the-park home run by Franchy Cordero, his second home run of the spring. Just take a moment to longingly admire the wheels on this kid.

Cordero is not making Andy Green‘s job easy this spring. He is proving that his breakout winter campaign was not a fluke. He’s also playing like he wants the job and may leave Green with no choice but to play him. I’d argue that’s what a lot of Padres fans will be clamoring for after a few more games like this one from Cordero.

Adding to the home run parade were Hunter Renfroe, Christian Villanueva (an absolute rocket into left field), Franmil Reyes, and even Dusty Coleman.

Today’s lineup looked a little bit more like the possible Opening Day lineup. Newly acquired shortstop Freddy Galvis made his Padres’ debut but did not register an official at-bat. He drew two walks. Speaking of, San Diego continued their trend of drawing more walks than their opponents for a fourth straight game (5 to 3).

Wil Myers also made his debut, starting in right field. It was reported (not sure who said it, I tried to block it from my memory) that Myers was exhibiting “gold glove” potential in his early outfield workouts. He committed his first error in the field and struck out twice at the plate.

San Diego Padres

Jordan Lyles made his spring debut and held his own. He didn’t throw anything overly impressive, he simply got the job done. Through two innings of work, he gave up three hits and walked one while giving up zero runs.

I was more impressed with Tom Wilhelmsen. Wilhelmsen made his second appearance this spring, working another scoreless inning in relief. After giving up a leadoff walk to Chris Carter, Wilhelmsen recorded a strikeout, groundball out, and an infield popup to get out of the inning.

Next: Padres Are Showcasing A lot of Power This Spring

The Padres will take on the Seattle Mariners tomorrow at 12:10 pm. Eric Hosmer is scheduled to make this much-anticipated Padres’ debut. Potential Opening Day starter, Clayton Richard, will also see his first action of the spring. Fans can watch on Fox Sports San Diego or MLB.tv.