The San Diego Padres had a rare Spring Training off day before they host the Kansas City Royals at the Peoria Sports Complex on Thursday at 6:10 p.m. For many Padres fans that just meant their attention shifted to the World Baseball Classic where the Dominican Republic and Venezuela met in a game between two undefeated teams.
Fernando Tatis Jr. and his Dominican Republic teammates surely gave the Friar Faithful something to talk about with the Platinum Glove right-fielder delivering another multi-run
homerun with an epic batflip.
The Dominican Republic used the power of four home runs including the three-run shot from Tatis to win the contest 7-5 after Venezuela failed to complete a late comeback. Juan Soto, Ketel Marte and Vladamir Guerrero Jr. all joined Tatis with home runs as part of 11 hits banged out by the D.R. who finished 4-0 in pool play.
Padres News:
- Joe Musgrove has had a tough road back to the big-league mound and it appears that road is not quite completed. Musgrove’s next start is to be determined after he was unable to bounce back from a start and a bullpen session. Cheri Bell of Gaslamp Ball believes the best course of action for the Padres is to take it slow with Musgrove as his ability to pitch in-season and in the playoffs is much more valuable.
- Spring Training is all about position battles and the elite San Diego bullpen is no different. Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon, Jeremiah Estrada, Wandy Peralta, David Morgan, and Jason Adam and Yuki Matsui (if healthy) are penciled into seven of eight potential bullpen positions. That means one spot remains and multiple players are looking to fill the role according to Lincoln Zdunich of Gaslamp Ball.
- The Padres bats have been heating up in Spring Training and Cheri Bell of Gaslamp Ball provides numbers to show that new hitting coach Steven Souza Jr. may have unlocked the power that was missing from the San Diego roster last season.
- The Padres have known they need to address a hole at the back of the rotation and that hole could become larger if any of the four prospective starters already in place, Michael King, Nick Pivetta, Joe Musgrove or Randy Vasquez, miss time with an injury. But assuming they are all healthy, Walker Buehler, German Marquez, Marco Gonzales, Triston McKenzie, JP Sears and Matt Waldron are all fighting for the final spot. The Padres Reacts Survey question to Gaslamp Ball readers for this week, is who takes the fifth and final rotation spot.
- Kruz Schoolcraft took over as the top prospect in the San Diego system this season and is making a name for himself in Padres camp.
- Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune breaks down the competitions for roster spots on the San Diego roster.
- Miguel Andujar is the focus of the Padres roster review by Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Baseball News:
- Pittsburgh Pirates top prospect Konnor Griffin has had a solid Spring Training, but at just 19 years old, he may not make the Pittsburgh roster to start the season.
- Corbin Carroll, who is returning from Hamate surgery, is using an axe-handle bat to help protect his hand now that he is returning to Spring Training action.
- The Houston Astros announced closer Josh Hader will start the season on the injured list.
WBC News:
- Team USA advances to the next round of the WBC after Italy beat Mexico to remain undefeated. Vinny Pasquantino made WBC history with three home runs in the game.
- Canada beat Cuba to win the pool, allowing them to advance in the tournament for the first time.
- Keeping up with the standings and matchups of the WBC can be difficult, but MLB.com provides all the information needed to follow the competition in the coming stages.
