4 Padres who have failed to impress in spring training

With about a week left of spring training games, some players are running out of time to grab the attention of the Padres coaching staff. Several players have not quite lived up to their potential, and now, their status of making the Opening Day roster is shaky.

Elias Díaz, Martín Maldonado, Ron Marinaccio, and Robert Suarez have not been great this spring, and they will need to ramp it up this week to cement their standing on the MLB roster.

4 San Diego Padres players who have failed to impress in spring training

Elias Díaz

Perhaps the biggest position competition at Padres' camp this spring is at catcher. Mostly, it seemed like Luis Campusano was the one who should be most concerned, but now, every catcher is under-performing.

Díaz's biggest draw for the starting nod is his bat. Named the MVP of the 2023 All-Star Game, he is capable of reaching double-digit home runs, but he hasn't found a groove this spring. Through 11 games, he is batting .160 (4-for-25) with seven strikeouts and zero RBIs. If Díaz is unable to produce runs, which is his strongest tool compared to Campusano and Maldonado, then he will have a hard time cracking the starting lineup at all.

Martín Maldonado

Maldonado is here with the Padres to be a leader, which bodes well for him and manager Mike Shildt's biggest desire: for his catchers to be able to simply make the pitchers better. While Maldonado will undoubtedly be that guy, he still needs to somewhat be able to hit. Granted, he has not batted over .200 in each of the last four seasons, but, the Friars would like to see that there at least an ounce of life in his bat.

This spring, he has one hit in 17 at-bats. It's imperative for any position player to have a little bit of a presence in the batter's box, and Maldonado has lacked that this spring.

Ron Marinaccio

Marinaccio's career has declined mightily the last year or so. He was designated for assignment by the New York Yankees last September, then picked up by the lowly Chicago White Sox. Despite Chicago's historically bad season, they still didn't want Marinaccio on the team. They traded him to the Padres for cash.

There is still some life in the 29-year-old's arm, but he hasn't put it all together with the Friars just yet. He holds a 6.75 ERA through 5 1/3 frames. So while that isn't a very large sample size, Marinaccio was never going to get a ton of opportunity anyway. He needs to make the most of what's given to him. He does have eight strikeouts over this stretch, but has alternated good outings with bad too many times to currently convince Shildt that he should be on the Opening Day roster.

Robert Suarez

Robert Suarez has arguably been the most disappointing player out of Padres camp this year. Saving 36 games last season, and winning nine, Suarez appeared to be the closer of the future in San Diego. Now, he might get traded, but only if other teams think he is still going to be good on the mound.

This spring has been a nightmare for Suarez. In 3 2/3 innings (five appearances), he has surrendered eight runs on 10 hits with four walks. The scary part is that he's only allowed runs in two of his five outings. So when it rains for Suarez, it definitely pours - which is exactly what will keep a pitcher out of holding down a closing role in the bullpen.