San Diego Padres: Wil Myers Will Be Just Fine in RF

The San Diego Padres have had to shift a few positional players around since the arrival of their new first baseman. One of those players is sure to receive his fair share of scrutiny this season at his new spot, but I think he’ll be just fine.

No matter what the ultimate effects are, bringing in Eric Hosmer to play first base for the San Diego Padres made this team better. The fact that the Friars didn’t exactly need a first baseman holds no bearing whatsoever.

Padres’ GM A.J. Preller seized the opportunity to improve his team. If incumbents must move out of their natural positions in order to accommodate the newest Padre, so be it. Wil Myers is one of those incumbent positional players that is being forced out of his comfort zone in the field.

The Padres are counting on Myers, 27, to take over in rightfield this season. Some baseball pundits are overly concerned about his defensive efficiency as if Myers has never played the outfield before.

The San Diego Padres trust Myers in RF, and so can you!

Wil Myers is a baseball player, above all. Not only has he played over 1,300 innings in right over the course of his career, he has done so more-than-capably. As inaccurate as fielding percentage is at measuring a players proficiency in the field, his is a respectable .987 during his time spent in right field.

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Sure, Myers made a mistake on the very first ball that came his way in right this spring. So what? How does the old adage go, again?

If at first, you don’t succeed…Well, he’s sure to get plenty of opportunities to try, try again over the course of a full season in the Padres outfield.

Plus, with the surplus of talented ballplayers who also play the outfield (quite well, actually) at the San Diego Padres’ disposal, even if Myers should falter at some point, there is no shortage of capable replacements on this team.

Guys like Matt Szczur, Cory Spangenberg, or even Franchy Cordero could give him a breather every now and then and the Friars wouldn’t miss a beat.

Next: Franmil Reyes Keeps Raking

I guess that’s the beauty of building an incredibly deep organization, jam-packed with talent, and then adding in a perennial All-Star; this collection of high draft picks and blue-chip prospects are all, at their very core, baseball players. Give them a glove, tell them where to play, and they’ll do it.

Wil Myers has sufficient experience at his “new” position for the San Diego Padres. There’s no reason to think that this is some experiment that is doomed to fail. After all, he’s a baseball player.