It was an eventful final Friday before the regular season for the Padres. At a workout inside Petco Park on Friday, manager Bud Black had all kinds of information to share.
Buddy confirmed LHP Robbie Erlin has made the team. Erlin will be the team's 5th starter until Josh Johnson returns from his forearm injury. Joining Robbie on his first Opening Day roster is rookie Donn Roach, the sinkerball specialist who came to the franchise (along with Alexi Amarista) in a trade with the Angels for Ernesto Frieri in 2012.
So, the pitching staff is set, but the position players are still awaiting word on who will be in uniform at Petco Park against the Dodgers.
OF Carlos Quentin's left knee is giving him trouble and it's a "possibility" he will start the year on the disabled list. Quentin bruised the knee going after a ball on March 16. If there's good news here it's this is not the knee Quentin recently had surgically repaired, and he's not expected to need a procedure for this latest ailment.
Fellow OF Chris Denorfia's shoulder injury has healed enough for him to get back on the field. Deno was DH for the Padres' night game against the Indians at USD's Fowler Park (he went 0-2).
It's probably a good thing he and Quentin were not in the outfield. They would have had a lot of balls to chase down.
The Indians batted around in the first and second innings and rolled to a 16-4 win. Padres RHP Matt Wisler started on the mound and only lasted one inning. The first seven Indians hitters not only reached base, but scored. Asdrubal Cabrera hit a 3-run home run to make it 7-0 before an out was recorded.
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Wisler is one of top pitching prospects in all of baseball. The best thing for him is to forget what happened Friday night as fast as humanly possible.
Besides, he is certainly not the only pitcher to struggle against one of the most underrated lineups in the Majors. Veteran Blaine Boyer also gave up seven runs in the second inning.
Offensively for the Padres, Yonder Alonso had a pair of hits, including a home run, to run his Spring Training batting average to .449.
The Padres and Indians play one more time on Saturday afternoon in Linda Vista, then the games start to count.
