San Diego Padres Welcome Back Tyson Ross Tonight

Tyson Ross makes his much anticipated return to the San Diego Padres tonight, as he takes on the Colorado Rockies.

Tuesday night in San Diego will be a night of reunions and ,hopefully, firsts. Tyson Ross, 30, makes his return to Petco Park tonight as the San Diego Padres look to secure their first win of 2018.

When Ross takes the mound he will see a familiar face in the Rockies dugout, his former manager with the Padres, Bud Black. Black managed Ross for three seasons, including his 2014 All-Star season. Ross posted a 13-14 record with a 2.81 ERA and 1.21 WHIP that year.

Current Padres’ Manager Andy Green had this to say about Ross earning a rotation spot and Tuesday night’s start,

"“That game in Glendale against the Dodgers sort of cemented everything in my mind that I was seeing through spring training,” continued Green on Ross. “This guy has worked incredibly hard to fight back from the shoulder injury and shoulder surgery. His stuff is back and his stuff was really good.”"

Tonight is the night. Tonight, the San Diego Padres finally win their first game of the 2018 season. With the Dodgers and Giants struggling to score runs and win ballgames, the time is now for the Padres to put together a few wins and make things interesting the NL West.

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Ross is coming off a spring training where he was the underdog. He is still, except now with a little less pressure. Signed in the offseason to a minor league deal, Ross had to earn a spot with the ballclub, battling against fellow veteran Chris Young and a plethora of rookie arms and guys returning from injuries.

Ross emerged as the last man standing after a terrific spring performance. Over 15 innings, Ross allowed only five earned runs and 10 hits while striking out 11. He held hitters to a measly .192 batting average over his five appearances.

We don’t know the exact lineup the Colorado Rockies will use tonight, however, according to Baseball Reference, Colorado hitters with experience against Ross are hitting only .233 against him.

Back in the comfort of the friendly confines of Petco Park, Ross will look to show doubters that his 7.71 ERA, 37 BB, 36 K performance with the Texas Rangers wasn’t the last he had in the tank. The energy will be high tonight and Ross will have an entire fanbase behind him, desperate for a Friar win.

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Ross has 531 career strikeouts with the San Diego Padres, good for 13th best in franchise history. His 3.16 career ERA with the Friars would qualify as third best in team history, if he had enough innings. Here’s to a great outing and a Padres’ win tonight. A big win against a divisional-rival on the night Ross returns could be a huge moral boost for this team.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 pm PT and can be seen live on Fox Sports San Diego or MLB.TV. #LetsGoPadres!

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