Padres Press Clips Wednesday, March 28, 2018
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Padres Press Clips Wednesday, March 28, 2018 Article Source Author Page Yet another change seen for Padres' Wil Myers this season SD Union Tribune Acee 2 Pink Pony chat: What MLB scouts say about Padres, others SD Union Tribune Krasovic 5 Padres' opening-day starter Clayton Richard creates legacy as he SD Union Tribune Acee 10 Finally, Padres land a legit opening-day shortstop in SD Union Tribune Miller 13 Freddy Galvis 2018 Padres: An 'R.B.I. Baseball' simulation SD Union Tribune Sanders 15 Walk the walk? Padres hope to boost OBP MLB.com Cassavell 18 Cimber earns surprise bullpen spot MLB.com Cassavell 20 Bowden: Is this the year the rest of the NL West catches The Athletic Bowden 22 up to the Dodgers? Petco Park Again Offering New Lineup of Improvements FriarWire Center 24 for 2018 Happening Homestand Report: March 29–31 FriarWire Lafferty 29 San Diego Padres Opening Day: Everything You Need to NBC 7 Bledsoe 32 Know Opening Day survey: $400 million for Harper? A Yankees ESPN.com Crasnick 365 letdown? MLB execs size up 2018 1 Yet another change seen for Padres' Wil Myers this season Kevin Acee There was talk about the 20 extra pounds to help him not just be stronger but for longer. There was talk about the work with a sports psychologist assisting him working through his difficulty handling baseball’s inevitable failures, with the hope he can learn to not work himself deeper into slumps. There was talk about the signing of Eric Hosmer taking the burden of being the man from Wil Myers’ to-do list, allowing him to concentrate on his own game. There was talk of his position change, from first base to a split between the corner outfield spots. And well, there’s another thing Wil Myers worked on recently: His vision. He really couldn’t see as well as he needed to. “I didn’t tell anybody,” Myers said this week. “I don’t give excuses.” A couple days before spring training games began, Myers got his first pair of contacts. With them in, his vision in his right eye improves from 20/20 to 20/15 and in his left from 20/30 to 20/20. As Myers explained the change, he had just returned from hitting in the cage and was not wearing his contacts. He puts them in just before batting practice and removes them after each game. “I don’t know,” he said. “I can see a little clearer. It’s not one of those things that’s like ‘Oh my gosh.’ But it can only help, right?” Myers hit .362/.373/.621 this spring with four home runs and three doubles. He walked once and struck out 14 times in 58 at-bats. Last spring: .407/.500/.729 with four homers and five doubles in 59 at-bats, walking 11 times and striking out 12. His torrid pace continued into the season’s first month, when he hit .310/.325/.593 before falling into what was essentially a four-month slump. 2 He said earlier in the spring he believes the work with the sports psychologist was the most important thing he did all offseason. But seeing the ball better might work out for good too. “Yeah,” he said. “It can’t hurt.” 3 Pink Pony chat: What MLB scouts say about Padres, others Tom Krasovic Spring training is over, finally. And that means the Pink Pony Scouts Chat is here. What did big league scouts see from the Padres the past six weeks? You'll find their comments below, along with appraisals of San Diego’s four rivals. Eight years ago, I created the Pink Pony chat in honor of the late Phil Collier, a longtime Padres beat writer for the San Diego Union. The Pink Pony steakhouse in Scottsdale was one of Phil's Cactus League hangouts where he talked ball with scouts, managers, coaches, players, broadcasters -- everybody. So, pull up a chair. PADRES “Future looks brighter than it has for a long time. But, they’re still a ways away.” “I’d guess they’re three years away from starting to make a lot of noise, and a lot of that is contingent on their young pitchers staying healthy.” “Can they be a 75-to-80-win team? If their pitching holds up, and they overachieve, and the young guys sneak up into the rotation and give them a shot in the arm.” “I’d be surprised if they clear 75 (wins).” “They’re getting better. I think their position-player group will be pretty good. Pitching’s the question.” “Offensively, they’re OK, but still below average.” “People undersell their pitching every year, but they always seem to overachieve with (coach Darren) Balsley and the pitching environment.” “They have more pitching prospects than player-position prospects. There’s more attrition and risk with pitching prospects.” 4 “May want to manage expectations. It’s great to see 20- and 21-year olds get to the big leagues. People are excited. But the ultimate result is how good of big leaguer they are. I think development matters.” “They have a plan; they’re sticking to the plan. I think the Padres fans should be excited about their future, I really do.” “They’ve got starting pitching prospects who are nearing the big leagues.” “Their system probably has the best stable of upside starting pitchers in baseball. They’ve done a good job of evaluating talent and being aggressive.” “I think a lot of their higher-end prospects are worth their high-profile status, as of right now. Especially a lot of their pitchers. They have some real arms coming.” FERNANDO TATIS, JR. “Exciting. He’s big, he’s athletic. He’s got power, he’s got tools. Average to plus runner, surprisingly. Whether he becomes the third baseman or the shortstop of the future, they have reason to be excited.” “Tatis is a good-looking player. He’s extremely talented offensively. I don’t think he stays a short.” “Poised. Didn’t look overmatched, which is really rare. Hit an opposite-field home run that was really impressive. Has plus bat-speed. Swing is a tad long, but it’s not bad. Has a pretty good idea. Will chase it a little bit, which you expect from a young kid.” LUIS URIAS “What will he become? I don’t know. Very advanced hitting approach. Limited power. Doesn’t run. You like him. He can hit. You wouldn’t say he has tremendous upside. Kind of a split camp on him.” “I like him a lot. He sees the ball really well. Short backswing. Has a good idea up there. Low- risk, safe, everyday guy. I don’t think he has the tools to be a star.” “A pretty safe bet to be a good everyday player. He’ll be a gritty, tough out.” JOEY LUCCHESI & ERIC LAUER “Lucchesi and Lauer kind of go in the same basket. Both have a chance to be legitimate major league starters within the next year to year and a half.” “Lucchesi, I love his competitiveness, his mindset, his preparation — things that a lot of times get overlooked. Hitters don’t see him well. Lot of ingredients there to be a good mid-rotation starter.” “They could pivot a couple of months into the season and go with Lucchesi and Lauer. Maybe that helps their rotation be closer to average.” 5 “Lauer looked like he had a good feel for pitching.” “Lauer keeps his composure well. Fastball plays up. It’s deceptive. Good command. He and Lucchesi — they’re pretty safe bets to be 3 or 4s sooner than later.” “I love that they pitch with their fastballs.” MACKENZIE GORE “Everyone you talk to loves Gore. He may be a fast-track guy, like (Clayton) Kershaw or Steve Avery. He might blow through the system by age 20.” “Big-time fastball. No. 1-type stuff. Good breaking ball. Good late life. Hitters have trouble picking him up. He has the frame and the fastball to be a horse up top.” “Delivery looks athletic. Guess he had a blister this spring. I will be interested to see how he handles adversity for the first time. You can tell he’s never really been hit around.” ERIC HOSMER “Plays the game right. He’ll be good for the culture.” “Obviously it’s a huge investment. I don’t understand the knock on it. Quality hitter. Good oppo- power. He can play defense. He’s young (28), he’s coming into his prime. You feel better about him as the face of your franchise than Wil Myers.” “I do think he is a good player. The makeup and character are worth something. I think signing a player, not unlike the Tigers with Pudge and Nats with (Jayson) Werth, to jump start a turnaround is fine. But, he is a first baseman, and relative to others on the market, you probably could get more bang for your dollar.” “Hosmer, they went out and spent some money to get a quality player. In time, they’re going to have to fill some holes. It looks like they’re willing to spend money when needed.” “It wasn’t the best spring from him, but he’s a solid guy. They didn’t acquire him on a whim. They knew what they were getting. Quality person, quality baseball player. He’s going to help that team for years to come.” FREDDY GALVIS “They have a real shortstop, at least for the short term.