Quote from Randy Manese on February 26, 2023, 2:16 pm

Anderson Espinoza getting rocked.  If he has anything left, keep him in extended ST and then down to San Antonio as the more pitcher-friendly location to work on his location.

Quote from Henry Silvestre on February 27, 2023, 8:26 am

Crismatt starting today.. and Dahl in CF.. Engel calf injury may land him on the IL to start the season with the way Azocar and Dahl are playing ... and Teheran looked terrific yesterday...

Quote from Randy Manese on February 27, 2023, 9:29 am

Good article today in Baseball America regarding the potential demise of Regional Sports Networks (RSN's).  If it happens, owners who don't make their teams competitive likely will lose hundreds of millions in TV revenue because fans won't sign up to see them or just drop subscriptions once they fall out of contention (which could be very early in the season); hard to do with RSNs which usually are tied into some cable company's menu.  Teams like the Padres that are gaining interest nationwide and really worldwide would benefit greatly by direct consumer by-in to their valued product rather than be tied to a basic RSN.  Looks like Seidler may be ahead of the curve on this strategy.

Quote from Randy Manese on March 1, 2023, 12:36 pm

Soto showing his calf is just fine - doubling and then stealing 3b!  Martinez goes 4 innings - looks like he could have a future as a SP.

Quote from MrPadre19 on March 1, 2023, 1:29 pm

Nick Martinez in fine form.

Yes it's the Rangers B team...but 25 pitches with 21 strikes is good no matter who you're facing.

 

Quote from Randy Manese on March 1, 2023, 1:55 pm

Good to see Weathers getting a lot of his outs on ground balls.  Watching him last season at EP, he looked like a slow pitch softball pitcher with line drives and deep fly balls smashed against him.  Niebla magic + more Weathers commitment?  Should have taken him out after that 2nd inning pitched.

Quote from fenn68 on March 2, 2023, 4:09 am

Quote from Randy Manese on March 1, 2023, 1:55 pm

Good to see Weathers getting a lot of his outs on ground balls.  Watching him last season at EP, he looked like a slow pitch softball pitcher with line drives and deep fly balls smashed against him.  Niebla magic + more Weathers commitment?  Should have taken him out after that 2nd inning pitched.

Well it is ST … Padres probably are more interested in giving the pitchers the opportunity to build pitch count, work on specific pitches, experience sitting down after an inning and returning the next after sitting as they build up as a SP. Really don’t care about results.

Thought Weathers looks much better than the last time I saw him … not sure on the velocity but seemed in rhythm with the pitch clock with good command. Early but the new delivery seems to work for him.

Based on 2022 did not have Weathers on the radar for impacting the Padres in 2023 (or maybe ever) … I am softening that opinion but maybe more in 2024 (since he has minor league options for 2023) and with Groome, Morejon, and others may cover the potential FA departures of much of the current SP.

Quote from BoosterSD on March 2, 2023, 7:30 am

Quote from Randy Manese on March 1, 2023, 12:36 pm

Soto showing his calf is just fine - doubling and then stealing 3b!  Martinez goes 4 innings - looks like he could have a future as a SP.

Dont see a problem with the ability, at this point in time, the amount of innings he can pitch seems to be the only issue. He has thrown 161 innings in JPL, but that was in 2018. Then must have been injured in 2019, as he only threw 4 innings. Only 83 innings in 2020, and then back up to 149 innings in 2021.

So how many innings does he have in his arm this season? Its the same question with Lugo and Wacha as well.

There are probably going to be occasional "tight calves" that will require short stints on the IL, so that SD can have these arms rested for the playoff push in September. Meaning, when called upon, Weathers, Groome, and a couple others will need to be able to perform to a reasonable ML level while Martinez, Lugo, and Wacha have "strategic" IL stints.

Quote from Randy Manese on March 2, 2023, 8:47 am

With the way Martinez was used last year and the many times he warmed up as a RP, believe he can easily go 155 and possibly hit 165 IP.  That would be around 25 starts, possibly more.  Agree that 180+ would be too much to bank on and several others are going to have to come through.

Not so sure about Lugo's workload.  Most IP in the majors is 101 and that's back in 2017/2018 as a SP then part-time SP.  He does have the frame to be a workhorse so he might surprise but I'm tempering my expectations around 115-120 IP, so just cracking the low 20 starts range with a less innings pitched per start than Martinez.  Wacha's injury history indicates about the same number of starts as we might get out of Lugo, but more innings pitched, say around 130-140.

For these reasons (and because we don't know when Musgrove will be back, whether Darvish will remain as healthy as last year and which Snell will be on the mound the majority of the time), definitely have to have several back-up starters ready to go.  Groome and Teheran for sure and not counting out Morejon and Honeywell just yet even though they look more like long men out of the pen.  Weathers could surprise but I've got to see a lot more in ST/El Paso to raise my comfort level with him.  Right now, I'd but Avila or Knehr ahead of him.

Given the fragility of arms and how quickly mechanics can go off kilter, wouldn't surprise me if there is at least one mid-season/trading deadline deal for a SP before the 2023 season ends.