Padres Spring Training Thoughts

By: Steve Atkinson

After watching the first week of spring training games for the Padres I’ve noticed two things. One is I wouldn’t put too much stock into the results of games because the games don’t count and mostly the prospects play the game. Second, the pace of play is so much better with games finishing in under 3 hours. The pitch clock is the best thing that’s happened to Major League Baseball. People don’t want to see the batter and the pitcher fixing themselves for 20 seconds, getting in the batter’s box, and throwing the pitch.

Padres Being.500 In Spring Training means nothing

The Padres got no-hit on Friday night against the Cubs and people are all up and arms about it. The starters in the lineup only get like two at-bats then the prospects play. The Padres will not get no hit during the regular season. Their rotation is pretty solid but their loss to Joe Musgrove to start the season is a dagger. But I don’t think it will be that much of a loss considering the talent they do have on offense. They should be able to hit and score runs on a nightly basis no excuses.

The Pitch Clock has Made Padres Games go by faster

Since the pitch clock was installed, the games have gotten quicker.  For the Padres first game of spring training, the game time was two hours and twenty-nine minutes. In the eight games the Padres have played so far this spring the average game time is two hours and thirty minutes. The longest games were against the Diamondbacks last Sunday when they scored over 14 runs and the Dodgers the other day. What a difference though and the pitch clock should’ve been installed years ago. You really get more baseball because of the clock than you did when the batter and the pitcher had more time fixing themselves after every single pitch.

Manny Machado will be a Padre for the next 11 years. He officially signed his contract the other day and held a press conference.

“This has been a long journey,” Machado said. “We’re here. We signed a contract four years ago. We had long conversations, and it was great. [The Padres] have gone above and beyond for this organization, for this city, made a lot of promises that have come true.”

Owner Peter Seidler isn’t afraid to spend money on high-end talent to improve the team so they can win a World Series.

“Padres fans everywhere — we heard from you,” Padres chairman Peter Seidler said. “And I’ve heard from you since it became official. It is a big thing for us to know that we’re going to be able to show up at Petco Park and see this man — this superstar — play for us for the next 11 years, and maybe beyond.”

Most of the team will be leaving this week to head to the World Baseball Classic. So that may mean the Padres could lose more spring training games. Relax though I would only be worried if they were .500 in the regular season with the lineup they have. Xander Bogaerts, Manny Machado, Nelson Cruz, Juan Soto, and others are expected to represent their respective countries in the WBC.

I never really cared for the tournament because what if a player gets hurt from your major league team and is out for the year? They are really playing with fire having the tournament so close to the end of the season. Have it in January when it’s not so close to the regular season starting. That way players don’t have to leave in the middle of spring training.