3 under-the-radar starters who could join Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove in Padres rotation

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The San Diego Padres' starting rotation will look very different heading into the 2024 season. Though still unsigned, it's a virtual certainty that Blake Snell will not be coming back to America's Finest City. The Friars also lost Nick Martinez, Michael Wacha, and Seth Lugo to free agency this offseason.

But the Padres did bring in several new hurlers after trading Juan Soto to the New York Yankees. It's a good bet that Michael King will be joining Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove atop the Padres' starting rotation when the upcoming season begins.

But the back end of the rotation looks a little less settled. Sure, Pedro Avila and Randy Vásquez will both receive opportunities to land one of those coveted roster spots, but there are a handful of under-the-radar pitchers whose strong spring could earn them a slot in San Diego's Opening Day rotation.

1. Jay Groome

Jay Groome brings one thing to the San Diego starting rotation that no one else on the roster can - he's a left-handed pitcher. The Padres have failed to add a left-handed starter this offseason, and that alone vaults Groome up a few spots.

However, he's going to have gain some measure of command, because a 16.7-percent walk-rate just isn't going to cut it. In 30 starts last season in the minor leagues, Groome walked nearly as many batters (112) as he struck out (137). If he doesn't get that straightened out once spring training begins, Groome can kiss his chance at a spot on the Opening Day roster goodbye.

There is another thing working in Groome's favor, and that's minor-league options; he has none left. Oftentimes, teams hesitate to jettison young players from the 26-man roster without the ability to yo-yo them back and forth between the major and minor leagues. Groome's lack of options would force San Diego to DFA the southpaw and hope he passes through waivers in order to keep him as part of the organization.

Groome is far from a lock to make the Padres roster coming out of spring training, but his repertoire is impressive. The lefty feels like more of a spot starter that a team would typically stash on their Triple-A roster, but there's an outside chance that Groome could do just enough this spring to sneak onto the Opening Day roster and join the Padres rotation.

2. Jhony Brito

Jhony Brito was part of the return San Diego received in exchange for Juan Soto earlier this winter. In addition to Brito, the Friars also landed pitchers Randy Vásquez, Drew Thorpe and Michael King. While Thorpe is still a young prospect and Vasquez and King are seen as likely starters for the Padres, Brito is a bit of a swingman.

San Diego carved out the same type of role for former pitcher Nick Martinez last season. The right-hander has since signed with the Cincinnati Reds and will operate as both a starter and reliever for David Bell's ball club. That could be how Brito is used in San Diego this year, especially during the early part of the season.

Last season with the Yankees, Brito appeared in 25 games and made 13 starts. It was his first taste of the big leagues, and it showed. While his 4.28 ERA is not horrible for a young pitcher, Brito's splits reveal that he was much better in relief than he was as a starter.

Coming out of the bullpen, Brito posted a tremendous 1.43 ERA and allowed opposing batters to hit just .192 through 37.2 innings of work. As a starting pitcher, Brito allowed the opposition to post a slash line of .277/.345/.544 and saw his ERA hover above 6.00.

But everyone knows the lights of New York City shine brightly, and perhaps the mellow atmosphere of Southern California will allow Brito to take a different approach. While it's assumed that the right-hander is a better fit for the San Diego bullpen, Brito is certainly an under-the-radar candidate to make a run at the starting rotation.

3. Jairo Iriarte

It'll take a strong effort from Jairo Iriarte to show that he's worthy of an Opening Day roster spot. But the San Diego Padres have a long history of dismissing those so-called timetables, and judging their young prospects strictly on merit. While Iriarte would seem to be a better midseason call-up, he's already on the 40-man roster.

The Padres don't have to make a corresponding move in order to add Iriarte to the active roster. They've done that already. In order to protect one of their top young prospects from last year's Rule 5 Draft, Iriarte was added to the roster back in November. That's one hurdle cleared. Now, it's up to the pitcher himself.

And that'll be the hard part. Iriarte, if he were to make the Padres Opening Day roster, would effectively skip Triple-A altogether. The 22-year-old also has fewer than 30 innings at the Double-A level, but his stuff plays in the big leagues already.

Last season, while splitting time between High-A Fort Wayne and Double-A San Antonio, Iriarte went 3-4 in 28 games with 128 punchouts in just over 90 innings of work. A 33.2 percent strikeout rate will make every GM and manager in the league take notice.

Though not viewed as a Top 100 prospect, the Padres still have high hopes for Iriarte. Some view the right-hander as a reliever in the future, but Iriarte closed out his 2023 campaign with three straight starts and 24 strikeouts over 13.2 innings pitched.

Iriarte will definitely be considered a long shot to gain a foothold in the Padres Opening Day rotation, but don't sleep on the youngster when the Padres descend upon Peoria next month. With so much turnover in the pitching staff and a new manager at the helm, watching who emerges to anchor the back of the rotation will be one of the more intriguing storylines this spring.

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