Padres release Spring Training 2017 schedule

The Padres have finally released their 2017 Spring Training schedule, so it’s time to start planning trips out to Arizona and counting down the days until baseball is back.

It all kicks off on February 14th, Valentine’s Day - or, more importantly, Gaslamp Ball’s 12th Anniversary. Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report that day, so if you’re anything like me you’ll be spending the most romantic day of the year (again, GLB’s Anniversary) constantly checking Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat for accounts of the goings-on at Peoria Sports Complex that day. I especially look forward to pictures and videos of players arriving at the facility, and the ensuing blurry, distant shots of the action on the field taken through chain-link fences and shared by beat reporters.

The first workout is slated for the following day, February 15th. It’ll obviously be a lot of pitcher-catcher interaction, but I always enjoy seeing which of the position players show up early, as excited as us fans to get the 2017 season started. By February 17th, all position players will be required to show up, and the next day they’ll have their first full-squad workout. Then a week later the games begin, and we’ll all be spending our days at our computers or listening on the radio to Uncle Teddy, or heading out to Peoria to catch some games and get our first live looks at the 2017 World Series Champion Padres.

As per usual, the first game of Spring Training, scheduled for February 25th, will be a charity game against the Seattle Mariners, who may or may not still be the Padres’ “natural” rivals - I’m not really sure. Thirty-three more games scattered against the rest of the Cactus League with follow, with the conclusion to the Spring Training schedule on March 30th against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

One game to note will take place on March 7th. The Padres will host the Mexican National team in a prelude to the World Baseball Classic, the second round of which will take place at the Padres’ regular season home, Petco Park, starting on March 14th.

You can see the full schedule here. Only 84 days left until pitchers and catchers report!