Padres ST 2018: Game Preview/Thread 03/12 @ Royals

Bryan Mitchell will take the ball for the Padres today in Surprise against the Kansas City Royals. While all but guaranteed a spot in the rotation this season since his acquisition from the Yankees, Mitchell has had limited exposure so far in Spring Training. Bryan has only pitching 4 innings (0.00 ERA) and allowed 2 hits with 2 strikeouts and 2 walks and may not get stretched out today either; he’s scheduled to split duties with Tyson Ross.

The latest lefty competition mentioned by Andy Green is now in the outfield. The skip has stated that the team may not carry both Travis Jankowski and Franchy Cordero on the Opening Day roster and one may open the season in El Paso.

“It’s probably tough to find room for both of them. Right now, I’d say it wouldn’t make a ton of sense to carry both those guys. Not that you don’t believe in the future and the value of those two guys. But deciding which one plays and which one sits at that point in time. I’m not going into the season expecting both to be on the club. They’re fighting for a spot right now.”

Though Cordero has been described as having louder tools and has flashed that talent throughout ST so far, Jankowski has shown he can rake as well after a 2 HR afternoon on Saturday against the Indians. Both are capable of backing up all 3 outfield positions and the debate as to who should be the 5th outfielder looks to go well into the latter end of spring.

A couple of relief arms were sent to minor league camp over the weekend:

Both lefties are on the 40-man roster (as Rule 5 protection) and could be first in line for major league action in case of a trade or injury. The move will result in Jose Castillo’s first taste of AAA and Brad Wieck’s chance for redemption after a poor showing for the Chihuahuas last season.

Today’s game starts at 12:05 PM PST. Hopefully you’ve adjusted to the time change by now! Tune in to MLB.com or your At-Bat app to catch the action.