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Padres spring training 2017: 03/01 game preview vs. Athletics, Rockies

Split squad action in Arizona today for the Padres.

San Diego Padres Photo Day Photo by Rob Tringali/Getty Images

Fresh off their first win, the Padres will try to tack on two more in the W column today with the first split squad action of the Spring today.

In Peoria, San Diego native Trevor Cahill makes his Padres debut (on his birthday, by the way) against the visiting Oakland Athletics, the team that drafted him back in 2006. Last year as a member of the World Champion Chicago Cubs pitching staff, he pitched in 50 games (only one start) and posted a 2.47 ERA. Cahill signed a one-year, $1.75 million deal with the Padres in January after turning down offers from several other teams in order to have a better shot at a starting job.

The A’s will send Sonny Gray to the hill against the Padres, making his 2017 debut. The righty is coming off his worst season in the big leagues. In 22 starts last year he went 5-11 with a 5.69 ERA and 1.496 WHIP - all career-worsts for the 27-year old.

This game will also feature Christian Bethancourt, making his Cactus League pitching debut as a reliever. The super-duper-utility player, who is being turned into a pitcher-catcher hybrid for the Padres, has already thrown live BP twice this Spring. He also pitched this past offseason in the Panama Winter League, appearing in seven games as a reliever.

Meanwhile, Paul Clemens takes the mound on the road at Salt River Fields against the Colorado Rockies. Entering his second season with the Padres, Clemens is hoping to secure a starting job coming out of Spring. But he’ll have to do a lot better than he did in his 2017 debut last Saturday. The right-hander threw two innings and allowed three earned runs on four hits and a walk. In 2016 he went 4-5 for the Friars, posting a 4.04 ERA and 1.44 WHIP through 18 games (14 starts).

Tyler Chatwood will start the game for the Rockies. He’s coming off a record year in which he posted the lowest road ERA (1.69) in all of MLB for the season, and the lowest ever for a Colorado pitcher. Overall, he went 12-9 with a 3.87 ERA and 1.373 WHIP through 27 starts. This was following a 2015 season that he missed entirely due to Tommy John surgery.

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