Barring injuries, the Padres will open the season with a top three in their rotation. Nick Pivetta, Michael King again Joe Musgrove he has had great results being one of the top halves in the National League.
Musgrove is coming back from Tommy John surgery, and King was limited to 74 1/3 innings last year (including the playoffs) because of nerve damage in his shoulder and inflammation in his left knee. There are no restrictions this spring. Musgrove will make his debut tomorrow against Great Britain in the World Baseball Classic. King has already started two games this spring.
The picture isn’t very clear from there. Yu Darvish he will miss the rest of the season. Free agent download Griffin Canning he has yet to make an appearance this spring as he works back from an Achilles tear suffered last June. He is likely to start the season on the injured list.
That’s true of the knuckleballer as well Matt Waldronalthough it would be close to the IL minimum stay for a right-handed person. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported yesterday that Waldron plans to throw a grudge this week and hopes to start before the end of Cactus League play. However, he will not be healthy enough to start the season on the active roster. Waldron is out of options, so the Padres will need to dig for an MLB spot when he’s ready or risk losing him via trade or waivers.
That all but confirms that Randy Vásquez will get a trade spot for the season opener. Manager Craig Stammen said at the start of camp that the righty had a leg up on the job. Vásquez is out of options and is needed to make the team at a certain level. He performed better than average peripherals for most of last season but improved his strikeout rate to league average in September. He finished last season with a 3.86 ERA in 133 2/3 innings.
That probably leaves the Padres to fill one spot. The front office has taken a quantitative approach to the back of the roster, adding a handful of veterans on cheap one-year deals or minor league contracts to see who sticks. They added enough options that it didn’t come out of the question they opened by rotating six people.
Pitching coach Ruben Niebla left that open over the weekend, though he did say they prefer a five-man lineup (link via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com). Niebla said the group is preparing those who will start the normal five-day work. If more deep arms get on the roster, they could go to six personnel, but that needs to be reduced to a seven-man bullpen.
If there is only one place available, German Marquez entering the camp as a favourite. The former Rockies righty signed a $1.75MM deal in mid-February. His spot on the MLB roster feels secure, not so for the undrafted invitees Walker Buehler or Marco Gonzales. Márquez can be relieved if one of Buehler or Gonzales beats him for the fifth starting role. That situation (or a six-man rotation) probably won’t bode well for a franchise running out of options Ron Marinaccio ask to stick to the list.
On the left JP Sears and is in rotation trouble, or San Diego’s series of veteran additions means he may be headed back to Triple-A. Sears hit hard in five MLB starts after being acquired from the As in the Mason Miller trade. He still has a minor league option left.
Sears also didn’t have an encouraging start to camp, giving up five runs on seven hits (including two homers) in 3 2/3 innings. Márquez allowed three runs on four hits in two innings in his weekend debut. Gonzales, who missed last season with flexor reconstruction surgery, gave up five runs in 4 2/3 frames over two spring starts. Buehler has yet to pitch in an official Spring Training game but took the KBO’s NC Dinos out of the backfield over the weekend, giving up two runs over three innings.
