2017 Season Preview
April 9, 2017
The San Diego Padres are now officially one year into the Luke Armstrong era, and a simple glance at the team's 2017 Opening Day roster shows that the GM has been plenty busy in his brief tenure. Out of the 25 players on the big league squad, only 5 (Spangenberg, Jankowski, Ross, Cashner, Quackenbush) are holdovers from the beginning of last season. "As an organization we are very excited to see what all these guys can do," Armstrong told the press recently. "We hope the fans are excited too. We didn't want to stand pat and just accept being a fourth place team. We want to win, and we want to win today."
The biggest buzz surrounding the Padres as they gear up to begin 2017 is the presence of rookies Manny Margot and Lucas Giolito, the team's top two prospects who will both begin the year with the big league club. Margot impressed in spring training with his defense and speed and surpassed expectations with his bat by hitting .293, so he has earned the starting job in center field out of camp. Giolito struggled more than the club would have liked, posting a 7.04 ERA with no wins, but as the #1 prospect in baseball his talent is undeniable and the Padres feel ready to let him loose. These two are the faces of the youth movement in San Diego but they are hardly the only ones; in fact, only 5 players on the current roster are 30 or older. The team hopes this influx of young talent can elevate them in the standings and compete with the rest of the talented NL West. Expectations for the Padres are all across the board; team owner Ron Fowler has indicated that his goal is for the team to not "suck completely" (a ringing endorsement) but analysts at the Baseball News Network predict an 86-76 finish and a wildcard spot for San Diego. Here now is a look at the players that will try to get the team to the latter half of that spectrum (2016 stats in parenthesis):
Youth invasion: Wilmer Flores (25) and rookies Manny Margot (22) & Boog Powell (24) lead San Diego's offense
Starting Lineup
CF Manny Margot (.251/.286/.374, 2 HR, 25 RBI @ AAA)
RF Randal Grichuk (.260/.311/.449, 21 HR, 100 RBI w/ STL)
1B Jose Abreu (.258/.320/.452, 29 HR, 86 RBI w/ CHW)
SS Wilmer Flores (.279/.310/.483, 17 HR, 53 RBI w/ NYM & SD)
2B Cory Spangenberg (.253/.318/.405, 13 HR, 67 RBI)
3B Martin Prado (.263/.312/.387, 12 HR, 64 RBI w/ MIA)
LF Boog Powell (.260/.345/.344, 0 HR, 4 RBI, 27 G w/ SEA)
C Wilson Ramos (.266/.324/.392, 11 HR, 47 RBI w/ WAS)
Bench
C Dioner Navarro (.246/.298/.314, 3 HR, 21 RBI, 74 G w/ CHW)
2B Jeff McNeil (.290/.367/.391, 4 HR, 41 RBI @ AA)
3B Jose Rondon (.273/.339/.358, 1 HR, 53 RBI @ AA)
OF Travis Jankowski (.273/.330/.381, 5 HR, 41 RBI, 27 SB)
OF Tommy Pham (.261/.313/.431, 6 HR, 40 RBI w/ STL)
Armstrong's comments: "There's a lot of buzz around our young guys, and it's justified. We can't wait to see what they can do. Manny and Randal and Boog out there in the outfield, they're going to do a lot of good things for us. And now with Abreu and Flores there in the middle of the lineup, we have a chance to do some real damage. Top to bottom, this is such a more dangerous lineup than we've had in the past. I think we're going to surprise some people."
The trio of Sonny Gray, Michael Wacha, and ol' reliable Tyson Ross look to shut down the bats of the NL West
Starting Rotation
RHP Sonny Gray (10-8, 3.65 ERA, 216 K, 221.2 IP w/ OAK & SD)
RHP Michael Wacha (16-8, 3.35 ERA, 179 K, 196 IP w/ STL)
RHP Tyson Ross (13-9, 3.84 ERA, 186 K, 190 IP)
RHP Lucas Giolito (15-5, 3.09 ERA, 156 K, 166.2 IP @ AA)
RHP Andrew Cashner (5-16, 4.24 ERA, 168 K, 187 IP)
Bullpen
RHP Carter Capps (DNP in 2016)
RHP Liam Hendriks (7-8, 2 SV, 3.38 ERA, 71 K, 83 G w/ OAK & SD)
LHP Boone Logan (11-3, 17 SV, 2.44 ERA, 84 K, 85 G w/ COL)
RHP Mike Morin (5-7, 3 SV, 3.69 ERA, 61 K, 74 G w/ LAA & SD)
RHP Kevin Quackenbush (6-5, 39 SV, 2.85 ERA, 79 K, 72 G)
LHP Josh Smoker (6-4, 2 SV, 3.47 ERA, 77 K, 63 G @ AAA)
RHP Tony Zych (5-13, 14 SV, 3.97 ERA, 107 K, 75 G)
Armstrong's comments: "I don't know if I've really been able to get across how excited I am about this pitching staff. Because I'm really, really excited. We have multiple guys who could take the hill in game one of a playoff series in Gray and Wacha and Ross. We have a proven vet in Cashy [Andrew Cashner]. We have the top rookie pitcher in the league. We have built a squad of guys out in that bullpen that should be able to shut anybody down in the final innings. Capps and Zych are gonna close things out in the 9th, and we expect them to do a very good job. Can you tell how excited am I yet?"
Personnel
General Manager: Luke Armstrong, 39 (Inexperienced)
Assistant GM: Larry Beinfest, 59 (Excellent)
Manager: Ron Washington, 64 (Good)
Bench Coach: Joe Pettini, 62 (Fair)
Pitching Coach: Doug Henry, 53 (Good)
Hitting Coach: Leo Gomez, 51 (Good)
Scouting Director: Norio Yamaguchi, 60 (Outstanding)
Team Trainer: Stan Conte, 57 (Outstanding)
Top Prospects
SP Lucas Giolito, MLB (4.5 stars) (1st overall in MLB)
CF Manny Margot, MLB (4.5 stars) (5th overall in MLB)
CF Victor Robles, AA (4.5 stars) (35th overall in MLB)
SP Luis Diaz, AAA (3.5 stars)
LF Auston Bousfield, AAA (3.5 stars)
LF Boog Powell, MLB (3.0 stars)
3B Jose Rondon, MLB (3.0 stars)
System Rank: 3rd
Financial Summary
Budget: $140,000,000 (t-21st)
Payroll: $85,306,500 (23rd)
$ for FA: $22,617,692
$ for Ext: $23,241,500
Market Size: Average
Fan Loyalty: Very Good
Fan Interest: 72
Ticket Price: $17.00
