The San Diego Padres have chosen their 30-man opening day roster. It looks like this:
Right-Handed Pitchers (12)
- David Bednar
- Zach Davies
- Javy Guerra
- Pierce Johnson
- Dinelson Lamet
- Chris Paddack
- Emilio Pagán
- Luis Perdomo
- Cal Quantrill
- Garrett Richards
- Craig Stammen
- Kirby Yates
Left-Handed Pitchers (4)
- Tim Hill
- Joey Lucchesi
- Drew Pomeranz
- Matt Strahm
Catchers (2)
- Austin Hedges
- Francisco Mejía
Infielders (7)
- Jake Cronenworth
- Ty France
- Greg Garcia
- Eric Hosmer
- Manny Machado
- Jurickson Profar
- Fernando Tatis Jr.
Outfielders (5)
- Trent Grisham
- Wil Myers
- Josh Naylor
- Edward Olivares
- Tommy Pham
The club also optioned right-hander Michel Baez and catcher Luis Torrens to the alternate training site and placed left-handed pitcher José Castillo, infielder Jorge Mateo and right-hander Trey Wingenter on the injured list. Mateo was acquired in a trade with Oakland on June 30 but has yet to appear with the Padres after testing positive for COVID-19. This roster is somewhat temporary. After two weeks, they'll cut it down to 28 players.
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The Friars are only keeping two catchers. MLB rules for this shortened season mandate a three-player taxi squad for road trips, with one of them being a catcher. That role falls to Luis Torrens, who pushed Austin Hedges and Francisco Mejia for one of the 30 spots.
There are eight players making their first opening day roster.: infielder (and former Aztec) Ty France, outfielders Josh Naylor and Trent Grisham, and pitchers Cal Quantrill, Javy Guerra and David Bednar all appeared in Major League games last year.
Outfielder Edward Olivares and infielder/pitcher Jake Cronenworth will both make their big league debuts. Olivares, the team’s 19th-ranked prospect, according to MLB.com, played his way onto the club with a fantastic spring training that continued during summer camp. Cronenworth (San Diego’s 17th-ranked prospect) is capable of coming out of the bullpen with mid-90s heat but, according to Padres General Manager A.J. Preller, made the club primarily as an infielder. He’ll be the main backup at shortstop to Fernando Tatis Jr. but can play the other infield spots.
Preller also said opening day starter Chris Paddack, Dinelson Lamet and Garrett Richards will start the first three games. After that, they’ll consider Zach Davies, Joey Lucchesi and Cal Quantrill for the final two spots in the five-man rotation.
The Padres open the season on Friday, July 24, with a four-game set at Petco Park against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
