Padres Roster Prediction

An educated guess at who the 25 men will be on Opening Day

After watching the Padres beat their advanced A-ball affiliate 4-2 at The Diamond in Lake Elsinore there is no doubt San Diego’s system is flush with talent. It’s young talent but it is serious, freaky, athletic talent.

Some of the Padres’ young talent is going to be on display at Petco Park this year, a whole lot sooner than most people thought. On the eve of FanFest at Petco Park, I figured it would be fun to try and predict the Opening Day roster. Here’s how I see the 25-man shaping up for the April 3 opener at Dodger Stadium:

PITCHERS (13)

RHP Jhoulys Chacin
LHP Clayton Richard
RHP Trevor Cahill
RHP Jered Weaver
RHP Luis Perdomo
RHP Brandon Maurer
RHP Christian Bethancourt
LHP Ryan Buchter
RHP Jarred Cosart
LHP Brad Hand
RHP Craig Stammen
LHP Jose Torres
RHP Miguel Diaz (Rule 5 draftee)

Yes, 13 pitchers and that means the concept of so-called “bullpenning” would very much be on the table for this team this year. The idea there, in a nutshell, is no pitcher … not even the starter … goes more than once or twice through the opposing team’s lineup. That’s something we’ll get in to more on another day because it is a fascinating discussion worth more analysis than we have time for here.

CATCHERS (3)

Austin Hedges
Hector Sanchez
Luis Torrens (Rule 5 draftee)

They want to hang on to Torrens because the kid was one of the top prospects in the incredibly deep Yankees system. He’s on 20 years old, though, and since Hedges is just 31 at-bats over the rookie limit they need another veteran in the mix. Sanchez has done a nice job filling that role.

INFIELDERS (6)

Wil Myers
Yangervis Solarte
Erick Aybar
Cory Spangenberg
Ryan Schimpf
Allen Cordoba (Rule 5 draftee)

They also want to hang on to Cordoba because the kid was one of the top prospects in the incredibly deep Cardinals system. He is also the only natural shortstop to give Aybar a breather. Now I know what you’re thinking. If they have six infielders then that only leaves them three roster spots left. This is where position flexibility is likely going to come in handy.

OUTFIELDERS (3)

Manuel Margot
Hunter Renfroe
Travis Jankowski

I understand not every guy can play every day for 162 games. But keep in mind Poway native Alex Dickerson is expected back soon from a back injury so that will change things. Also keep in mind Spangenberg, Cordoba and Myers can all play the outfield, as well, and Solarte can back up Myers at 1st if Wil has to spell someone at his old spot.

If it plays out like this it means the Padres will have three Rule 5 draftees on the roster and a total of six rookies (Diaz, Torrens, Cordoba, Torres, Renfroe, and Margot) in the mix. Padres General Manager A.J. Preller is still in the talent accumulation phase of the great San Diego rebuild so it stands to reason that they’ll let the kids take their lumps this year hoping it pays off a couple of years down the road.

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