This story was excerpted from AJ Cassavell’s Padres Beat publication. To learn the complete publication, click on right here. And subscribe to get it often in your inbox.
This assortment of Padres — the group slated to formally report back to Spring Coaching over the following eight days — will assuredly not be the identical assortment of Padres that breaks camp subsequent month.
That is the truth of a roster with playoff aspirations however main query marks.
Nonetheless, the Padres are set to report back to Peoria, Ariz., in earnest, starting Sunday when pitchers and catchers maintain their first formal exercise, adopted by the complete squad on Feb. 16.
The present roster vacancies ought to make for an intriguing camp. Some holes can be crammed internally by way of prospects and non-roster invitees. Others can be crammed externally by way of free company and/or trades. With that in thoughts, listed below are three main storylines price watching from Padres Spring Coaching:
1. Reinforcements on the way in which… however when?
The common season is six weeks away. The Padres nonetheless want at the least one starter, most likely two. They nonetheless want at the least one outfielder — virtually definitely two. Their bench is remarkably skinny.
In different phrases, basic supervisor A.J. Preller has work to do.
Preller has room to maneuver, following an offseason’s price of offers designed to release payroll flexibility — most notably, the Juan Soto commerce. As such, it is honest to wonder if the Peoria Sports activities Advanced would possibly quickly grow to be one thing of a revolving door.
On high of that, Shildt should navigate a shorter-than-usual spring, with the Padres and Dodgers slated for his or her Seoul Collection in Korea on March 20-21 — that means their season will start eight days sooner than the remainder of the league.
So that is the backdrop — a heightened sense of urgency, regardless of an incomplete roster.
The Padres, in fact, have misplaced fairly a number of contributors from final season. Particularly, their finest hitter (Soto), their finest starter (Blake Snell) and their finest reliever (Josh Hader). On paper, this roster is worse than the one which received 82 video games and missed the playoffs final season.
However the video games aren’t performed on paper. The Padres insist they are much higher than their 2023 document would point out. It is as much as Shildt and Co. to show it.
3. Well being, well being, well being
In the end the Padres misplaced this offseason, their roster stays star-studded. There’s loads of high-end expertise in San Diego, however the depth is undeniably skinny — and a variety of these stars are coming off injury-riddled seasons.
Most notably, Joe Musgrove (shoulder) and Yu Darvish (elbow) had their 2023 seasons come to an early finish. Each are getting ready for the season with their standard throwing progressions. If all goes effectively, they may begin the 2 video games in Seoul. However first, the true check of their well being will come after they ramp up throughout Spring Coaching.
In the meantime, Xander Bogaerts’ wrist is price watching. It is most likely no coincidence that he batted .321/.364/.493 after receiving a cortisone injection in the course of the All-Star break — and will San Diego ever use that model of Bogaerts in 2024.
The Padres nonetheless have the foundational items to view themselves as playoff contenders. However when your depth is missing, and your foundational items consist largely of gamers older than 30 with harm considerations, the margin for error is skinny.
