Padres make their first camp cuts with the Opening Day funnel officially underway

With Padres stars on the way to their respective countries’ locations for the World Baseball Classic, we are beginning to see a ton of roster movement regarding prospects who look to make a run for the opening day roster.

On Tuesday, the team sent a pair of left-handers in Jagger Haynes and Ryan Och, as well as a pair of right-handers in Manuel Castro and Justin Yeager, back to minor league camp. The Padres narrow their roster ahead of the start of the regular season.

Padres officially start shaping Opening Day roster with first spring cuts

Jagger Hayes pitched four innings over three games. He allowed seven hits and two earned runs, putting his ERA at 4.50. At 23 years of age, the Padres think he should sit in the minors another season.

Ryan Och, on the otherhand hasn’t had the worst spring thus far. Over 3.1 innings pitched, and he’s got himself a nice 2.70 ERA. Only four hits and one earned run allowed over that span. At 27 years of age, it’s honestly a shock that neither Preller nor Stammen gave him a shot to prove it in the bigs.

The decision to send Manuel Castro back to the minors was made, as he posted a 7.36 ERA over 3.2 innings. However, at age 22, he will have plenty more time to work it out in the minor leagues.

Justin Yeager, a non-roster camp invite, posted an 18.00 ERA in three innings, allowing six earned runs off nine hits. It would not be a surprise if he were designated for assignment, as at 28 years old, he just hasn’t seemed to figure it out.

We can only assume more roster cuts are on the way, and this is just the start of many difficult decisions made by the front office. As it stands, 67 players remain in training camp, but that number will thin sooner rather than later.