Padres Spring Training Report – Feb. 19, 2015

It’s great to be back in Peoria for the start of another Padres Spring Training!  Today was the report date for pitchers and catchers.  The complex is in great condition with players’ lockers filling up with gear, and emerald green grass covering the fields.

There’s no more optimistic a day for players than the first day you report to spring.  That’s even more true for this year’s Padres players.  For the returning Friars it’s a day filled with smiles, and bro-hugs as you see the guys you battled along side with last year for the first time since last season’s last game.  For the new faces, and there will be plenty of them in camp with only 28 of the 60 players from last year’s spring returning, it’s a lot of “Nice to meet you” hand shakes, but still with anticipation surging through their veins none the less.

Anticipation may end being the most overused word to describe this year’s Padres camp.  Anticipation…for the start of spring training, for the start of a new season, for the chance to make a good first impression with your new team, teammates, coaches, and fans, for the chance to cleanse any struggles from last year, for the early confirmation that last year’s season of personal improvement was no fluke, and for everyone in the organization, whether returning or new, for the start of what many believe to be the start of a new era in Padres baseball.

Tomorrow will be the first day of workouts for pitchers and catchers.  It will include bullpen sessions, and the first of many hours of pitchers’ fielding practice (PFP’s).  There are always questions heading into spring, and some for this year’s pitching staff will include:

• Who will be the team’s 5th starter?  Shields, Ross, Cashner, and Kennedy are you locked in first four.  Despaigne, Erlin, Morrow, and Wisler would seem to be the front runners for the fifth spot, with Morrow and Despaigne the early picks in that order.  Maurer also has starting experience but is probably more likely to start the season in the ‘pen, and Casey Kelly will try to show that his elbow is healthy.
• Who will fill the last spot in the bullpen?  Benoit will close, with Quackenbush, Thayer, Vincent, S. Kelly, and Torres presumably setting him up. If Buddy goes with a 7-man ‘pen and 5-man bench to start the season does Maurer get the last spot as the long man? Do they go with two lefties as Frank Garces did an fine job in his short debut time last season, and Elbert is looking to rebound from TJ surgery after having excellent 2011 and 2012 campaigns with the Dodgers?  Does C. Kelly make a bid in his return from TJ surgery, or does someone else unexpected emerge?
• How close are the TJ guys? Johnson, Luebke, Kelly, Elbert are all coming back from recent TJ surgeries and get back to the big leagues.  Kelly and Elbert are ready to pitch right now. Johnson and Luebke will not be ready for a few months at best, but if either or both can continue their progress they could be possible welcomed additions for the second half.
• Which youngster(s) will be unexpected surprises this spring? Last year it was Jesse Hahn that opened my eyes early on, and proved it was not illusion as he came up last season and dealt. Who will it be this year?
• Will everyone come out of spring healthy for the opening bell?  Last spring it was Johnson who looked so strong early on, then had to pull out with eventual TJ shortly before opening day.  Let’s NOT have a repeat!

Stay tuned, I’ll try to keep you posted on these developments and all the others that emerge this spring for this revamped 2015 Padres roster.

Let the fun begin, and the flames of anticipation be fanned as that ever exhilarating sound of fastballs popping the catchers’ mitts echoes throughout the complex tomorrow morning!

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