Padres Spring Training Report – Feb. 25, 2014

Life of the catchers during spring.

GAMES…we need GAMES!!!  Practice is necessary, practice is nice, but these guys need to start playing some GAMES!!! We’re two days away from the annual kick off charity game against the Mariners, and you can sense the anticipation and readiness of everyone here at camp.

Buddy announced the pitching schedule for the opener.  Eric Stults will get the ball first and will go one inning.  After the rotation’s sole lefty will follow, possibly but not necessarily in this order, Donn Roach, Anthony Carter, Patrick Schuster, Tony Sipp, Blaine Boyer, and Kevin Quackebush.  All have thrown well in their bullpens and live BP, but now it’s show time.  For some there really isn’t much pressure.  Donn Roach and Kevin Quackenbush are established prospects and will have a place to pitch at the higher levels of the organization no matter what happens in their big league spring outings. For others there’s quite a bit riding on how well these spring training games go.

I’m particularly interested in seeing how Patrick Schuster, the Rule V guy, does facing MLB caliber hitters for the first time, having never pitched above A ball.  He’s shown pretty good control of his repertoire in the early workouts so far, and despite his low 3/4 arm slot from the left side is supposed to be really tough on right hand batters as well as lefties,  eating them up with his cutter and slider.  If he can show that his stuff plays at this higher level he has a chance to stick with the club, and work as a combination second lefty/long man which could be extremely useful to Buddy in managing his ‘pen.

Part of today’s drills to get ready for the games was a workout for the outfielders in the main stadium here at Peoria Sports Complex.  It was great just to walk in there and see the perfectly manicured lush green grass.  It brought back memories of the first time I walked in to that stadium during it’s inaugural year as a member of the Brewers in 1994. It looked beautiful then, and it’s aged well.  Dave Roberts ran the exercise, and as has been the tone throughout the spring he conducted a fun yet focused practice, more than once ordering guys to “do it again” if they didn’t pick the ball cleanly on the charge, or hit a cut off man in the chest.  It’s clear that there is a level of expectation that Buddy and his staff have for this group of players, and they have been consistent in getting the message across at every stage of the workouts that a lot is expected this year, and they will push to get everything out of each guy.

As mentioned in yesterday’s report, the live BP sessions are essentially over with only Josh Johnson throwing to hitters today, and the rest of the pitchers needing work doing it in the bullpens.  The hitters took rounds of BP today against coach pitching, and in the cages.  It’s a little bit of a backed off program now, and this is how it will basically remain throughout of the rest of spring with games now entering the mix.  There will still be a team stretch, and morning team fundamental, and some specialized stations, but for not quite as long as they have been doing.  Time now needs to be allowed for the position players to get their routine pregame batting practice in, and for that day’s pitchers to rest their legs a little before first pitch.

Other news from camp today included LHP Alex Torres being in route to the complex and possibly reporting tomorrow.  Chase Headley had his MRI yesterday and as expected the report came back that he has a calf strain; specifically a grade 1 strain of the gastrocnemius muscle.  The prognosis remains a 2-3 week span before he returns to action.  Buddy also announced that Friday’s starter will be the fireballing right hander Andrew Cashner.  No other names of hurlers scheduled for that game were released.  One final injury update, Jonathan Galvez is back and fully functional after missing a few days with a strained right groin.

That’s it.  One more day of routine practice, and then it’s time for what we’ve all been waiting for…GAMES!!!

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