Quote from Brian Connelly on March 7, 2021, 10:05 am

Quote from fenn68 on March 7, 2021, 6:51 am

Anyone heard what is up with Austin Adams who seemed destined to be a key bullpen factor in 2021. A week in ... a lot of pitchers made appearances ... no Adams. No minor league options. Injured?

On the positive side, Kela made his debut yesterday and 3 up / 3 down all be strikeout. Seems healthy for now.

Adams is scheduled to go today.  He & Kela last to appear this ST (of healthy roster guys) with their arm issues most of last season.

Quote from JasonE135 on March 7, 2021, 12:18 pm

Quote from fenn68 on March 7, 2021, 7:04 am

Padres seem to be giving the young prospects a lot of exposure in ST .... Abrams and Marcano are holding their own and really Marcano may be a better prospect than we have been thinking (he can hit) .... on the other hand Means and Hassell seem way over matched with Hassell striking out a lot / making little contact.

In the battle for the last bench slot ... no player seems to be winning based on performance. Actually Mateo has been better than O'Grady but considering O'Grady has not hit and has been a strikeout machine that is not saying much. Since O'Grady has a minor league option (Mateo does not), not looking good for him but 3 weeks to go. With Profar getting work in CF and Mateo exclusively being worked in the OF, the clock it ticking.

All that I really care about with the prospects is whether or not they look like they can hit at the ML level. It seems Tucupita Marcano can hit. He still needs to work on his eye though. Unfortunately for him he is competing with Profar and Kim for a backup slot. He won't get a real shot until next year.

Quote from 84padres on March 7, 2021, 3:21 pm

Darvish looked great in his 2 innings today.

Quote from fenn68 on March 7, 2021, 5:01 pm

Quote from JasonE135 on March 7, 2021, 12:18 pm

Quote from fenn68 on March 7, 2021, 7:04 am

Padres seem to be giving the young prospects a lot of exposure in ST .... Abrams and Marcano are holding their own and really Marcano may be a better prospect than we have been thinking (he can hit) .... on the other hand Means and Hassell seem way over matched with Hassell striking out a lot / making little contact.

In the battle for the last bench slot ... no player seems to be winning based on performance. Actually Mateo has been better than O'Grady but considering O'Grady has not hit and has been a strikeout machine that is not saying much. Since O'Grady has a minor league option (Mateo does not), not looking good for him but 3 weeks to go. With Profar getting work in CF and Mateo exclusively being worked in the OF, the clock it ticking.

All that I really care about with the prospects is whether or not they look like they can hit at the ML level. It seems Tucupita Marcano can hit. He still needs to work on his eye though. Unfortunately for him he is competing with Profar and Kim for a backup slot. He won't get a real shot until next year.

I would not expect Marcano in the ML until 2022 ... maybe 2023 if the roster clogs up. The only thing that gets him in SD this year is a spate of injuries to the INF and since he is on the 40 man roster easy short term fill as a back-up.

Probably more of competition with Mateo / O'Grady since an INF that has been given reps in the OF ... but still too much development needed to sit last on the bench.

Quote from Ben Davey on March 7, 2021, 6:50 pm

None of the prospects are competing for roster spots this spring.  The fact that we are seeing as much of Hassell and Mears has more to do with a lack of Triple-A guys as it does anything else.  Remember MLB teams could only invite 60 players to big league camp this year.  So who do you bring?

The players that you see a lot of late in ST games this early on are usually guys who were in Double-A and above last go around.  Well, Preller has made A LOT of trades.  From that 2019 Texas League Sod Poodles team, Luis Torrens, Owen Miller, Edward Olivares, Taylor Trammell, Buddy Reed, and Hudson Potts are all gone (among hitters).  Ivan Castillo and Jorge Ona have made it into games.  Everyone else is now 25+ and havent been in a game in almost 18 months (Kohlwey, Overstreet, Zunica, etc...).  Heck even from the Lake Elsinore team, Arias, Edwards, J. Rossario have all been traded.  Campusano and Eguy have gotten into games.  Not sure where Tirso or Allen Cordoba is.  But the cupboard is bear when it comes to the Double and Triple-A teams this year.  Heck, Tucu was in Fort Wayne in 2019 and Abrams got into two games in FtW before leaving injured the rest of the year.

Mears and probably Hassell will be ticketed for Low A (Lake Elsinore), so them getting playing time has more to do with them actually being at the alt training site last year and more game ready this year then 25 year olds who havent picked up a bat in a Padre uniform since 2019.

Quote from fenn68 on March 8, 2021, 6:31 am

3 Weeks (Mar 29) is the last ST game ... maybe a lot of roster decisions are made but not all that much time for the bubble calls.

Have to consider:

1. The slow walk of SP to build up innings in ST may remain since the desire is to control innings over the season and have the pitchers in peak form in OCT ... that suggests (and is expected) will result in a 14 pitcher opening day roster. Tingler is open to a 6 man rotation to start the season.

2. Appears that Strahm (maybe out all of APR), Castillo is out, Guerra is likely to the IL for an undetermined time. Lamet is a TBD but beginning to sound as though he may held on the IL for a few weeks. Makes for some “interesting” pitching decisions for opening day.

3. With likely only 12 positions players most have been thinking the last bench slot is between Mateo and O’Grady. However, some thinking that Kim may start the season at the alternate site as he continues to acclimate to ML level of play. Also, Pham is having a poor offense start to ST ... rebound from the stabbing plus issues adjusting to his new contact lens (he has had serious eye issues in the past) .. could he be an IL candidate? I guess a chance both Mateo and O’Grady make opening day ... although O’Grady has not looked good in ST so far. Alternatives ... not much ML ready quality in camp ... but open to a surprise.

3 weeks to go .... still a lot to decide even without further injuries.

Quote from 3fingersplit on March 8, 2021, 10:58 am

Pham is a head scratcher....I doubt he plays or is avail for more than 90 games this year. Everybody raves about what a "Pro" he is but   if he is such a "Pro" then why did the Cardinals trade him away, the Cards almost never trade solid, young cornerstone type players, along with $500,000 for three young guys that may or may not stick ever with the Cards  and then the Rays trade him away in what today looks like a Pham and Cronenworth for Edwards and a PTBN as Renfroe is gone ?

Something just seems kinda wonky

I hope he makes his last year in San Diego a good one because he is a really important piece....hopefully the guy that rakes and punishes the ball is the one we get and not the one that hit.212 last year......having a good year helps the Padres big time, hopefully making the playoffs and going deep into them, and it helps him heading into free agency....the potential for a BIG $$$ contract is always a great motivator

 

Quote from Brian Connelly on March 8, 2021, 11:12 am

I'm a little surprised at how many NRI P's have NOT pitched yet.  Wonder if Pads wished more of the early games were 9 IP, but were limited by what the other team wanted?

Injured/slow start:  Lamet, Strahm, Guerra, (Castillo), should see Espinoza (blister) this week, NRI:  Nix has shoulder inflammation, maybe slow starting Avila (3/19 TJ)

But also all these names who have not made an appearance yet:  Ethan Elliott, Justin Lange, Jagger Haynes, Jordan Humphreys (just claimed off waivers), Jacob Rhame, Steven Wilson, Chase Johnson, Aaron Northcraft, Mason Fox, Darius Valdez

Always needs lots of arms for injury protection, but as SP's start going longer now to stretch out & fewer IP available, looks like at least some of these guys may not get in a formal "game played" in ST?

The young OF will start playing less & less I think as moves toward O.D.  Need to max playing time for Profar, Mateo, O'Grady, any other OF experiment like Jake.

Hopefully "Pham in CF" stops before it starts

Quote from fenn68 on March 8, 2021, 11:35 am

The mix players in camp is probably not what the Padres would have chosen IF they were aware that AAA start would be pushed back a month .... but the selections were made thinking AAA would start about April 4-5 and needed to get a AAA roster in shape and sorted. Probably would have just gone with a lot fewer players in camp.

Since all these players are showcasing on the back fields (not just in games) ... it will be interesting to see if some are released after ML camp instead of being dispatched to the alternative site to workout for another month before games. Some of the real prospects ticketed for lower minors might get sent to AZ with the opening of minor league camp unless there is a need for “critical mass” at the alternate site to sim games.

Would expect they go with primarily the projected ML roster with about a week left to get all the timing down.