Padres Rotation is Coming Into Focus & Other News/Notes
AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin
Just last week here at East Village Times, I wrote a four-part series detailing the San Diego Padres’ rotation options, and who looked to be in line to earn a spot this spring of 2017.
Over the last week since then, the rotation has come into clearer focus.
As it currently stands, it appears the trio of Jered Weaver, Jhoulys Chacin, and Clayton Richard have all more or less earned rotation spots, with all three now vying for the honor of getting the opening day nod.
That leaves us a multitude of pitchers vying for the final two rotation spots. With the demotion of Cesar Vargas earlier in spring training, that left the Padres with one less option. Now the Padres appear to be down to seven players for those two spots, although the number appears to really be down to five after Wednesday.
So Green now has basically confirmed that neither Tyrell Jenkins nor Zach Lee will be a part of the big league rotation out of spring training. At this point, it looks like one will find their way to the bullpen, in the aforementioned long relief role, while the other will likely head back down to Triple-A for further seasoning or to be used at a later date.
This leaves the Padres with just five options for those last two rotation spots: Trevor Cahill, Luis Perdomo, Jarred Cosart, Christian Friedrich, and Paul Clemens.
Right now, it really could go a number of different ways. All five of these pitchers have had their ups and downs, and all five still have a good chance of making enough of a statement to earn one of those spots. With just under three weeks until Opening Day, the Padres rotation battle could get very interesting.
Green said Lee and Jenkins competing for long-relief roles. Cahill, Perdomo, Cosart, Friedrich, Clemens still in the mix for rotation spots.
— Dennis Lin (@sdutdennislin) March 15, 2017
Other News and Notes:
-One player who is not looking good in the Padres rotation battle is right-hander, Trevor Cahill. After looking fairly sharp in his first few appearances, Cahill imploded a bit on Thursday afternoon, giving up five hits and seven runs, three of which were unearned, in an inning and a third. While the Padres did make several errors early on, Cahill struggled to recover after a leadoff walk and several big hits from the Royals.
-In a bit of an injury scare, Wil Myers left the game Thursday with a neck injury. It was later revealed to be a muscle spasm, and it appears Myers will be fine. Padre fans can breathe a big sigh of relief.
-In other injury news, Alex Dickerson was officially diagnosed with a disc protrusion in his back. He will not need surgery, but he will miss at least three to four weeks before he is reevaluated. In his absence, Jabari Blash should now have a very good shot at making the Opening Day roster. The Padres have also discussed getting Rule-5 selection Allen Cordoba and Cory Spangenberg more time in the outfield in Dickerson’s absence.
–Carter Capps made his in-game debut of the spring, pitching on the backfield. According to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune, there were said to be no real surprises in that game and Capps said he felt fine after.
-Padres farmhand, Jose Castillo, had a big time moment for the Venezuelan Team on Wednesday night in the World Baseball Classic, which included back-to-back strikeouts of Christian Yelich and Nolan Arenado.
-In other WBC news, Jhoulys Chacin looked strong for the Venezuelan National Team on Thursday, giving up only one earned run against a stacked Dominican lineup. This was a great step forward for Chacin, who gave up five earned runs in relief in his first WBC appearance.
Editorial and Prospect Writer for East Village Times. Twenty-five years young, Patrick has lived in San Diego for his entire life and has been a Padres fan nearly as long. Patrick lives for baseball and is always looking to learn new things about the game he loves through advanced stats.