San Diego Padres: Winners/losers in 7-2 win over Brewers

The San Diego Padres topped the Milwaukee Brewers in their first Spring Training game. Let’s look at the winners and losers from it.

After Saturday’s rainout delayed the San Diego Padres’ Spring Training debuts, Zach Davies took the mound against his former team. And while Sunday’s lineup looked vastly different from what was posted the previous day, everyone must have their chance to shine.

Regarding scoring plays, the Padres took advantage of Brett Anderson‘s inability to locate the strike zone in the top of the first inning, tallying a run on a bases-loaded walk and an RBI groundout from Jake Cronenworth. A wild pitch in the top of the second inning scored the third run of the game.

Moving to the top of the eighth inning, Webster Rivas doubled to left-center, scoring both Jason Vosler and Gabriel Arias to make the score 5-1. And in the top of the ninth, Edward Olivares and Vosler both knocked in runs to make it a 7-2 score, and that ended up being the final score.

Let’s look at the winners and losers from the contest:

Winners

Zach Davies

Davies has been vastly underestimated throughout his career because he doesn’t throw in the high 90s. Heck, he doesn’t even touch 90. However, he does a terrific job utilizing deception and off-speed pitches to earn his outs, and he turned in an impressive performance, tossing two innings while facing the minimum and not allowing any hits or runs.

Luis Perdomo

Perdomo is on a long list of relievers trying to secure seven or eight spots. Last season, the 26-year-old posted a 4.00 ERA in 47 appearances and struck out 55 batters in 72.0 innings. On Sunday, he tossed a scoreless inning while allowing one hit but struck out two of the four batters he faced. His performance is one of several that will be needed to uproot several candidates ahead of him.

Losers

Austin Hedges

Oh boy. Hedges’ performance on Sunday is another step towards him being shown the door. He went 0-3, including two strikeouts. The team’s former second-round pick of the 2011 MLB Draft has batted .201 in five big league seasons, and his defense can only carry him so far.

Ty France/Greg Garcia

Who wants to be the backup at second base? I understand it’s the first game of the spring, but the duo of France and Garcia combined to go 0-4 with four strikeouts. Given Garcia’s inability to be productive when putting the ball in play, and France’s limited ability to perform at the big league level, it’s an uphill climb for both.

Especially with the team adding Brian Dozier on a minor-league deal before Sunday’s game.