The Padres beat the Mariners 3-0 in Peoria to run their Cactus League record to 10-2 (which breaks down as 0-2 against Kansas City and 10-0 against all teams not from Kansas City). But the most exciting part of the day was the bottom of the 7th inning.
MacKenzie Gore, the Padres top prospect and the #1 pitching prospect in all of baseball, made his Spring Training debut against another team. He got three soft outs on eight pitches, teasing Padres fans with the talent that multiple talent evaluators have compared to Dodgers star Clayton Kershaw.
(OK yes I got a little excited)
But the stuff is real. Gore is probably going to start the year with Triple-A El Paso but not because of a lack of talent. The Padres simply have, for the first time in a long time, enough options in the starting rotation and don't need to rush the ultra-talented lefty to the bigs.
One of them is Dinelson Lamet, who started against Seattle and tossed 3.0 shutout innings with five strikeouts. Lamet is in the mix with Chris Paddack and Garrett Richards to be San Diego's Opening Day starter.
The big blow on offense came from Valhalla High School alum Greg Garcia, who ripped a 2-run home run in the 6th inning. On Friday the Padres have a night game in Peoria against the Rangers. Zach Davies gets another start against Corey Kluber.
