Padres Press Clips Monday, January 22, 2018
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Padres Press Clips Monday, January 22, 2018 Article Source Author Page Six Padres prospects listed in Baseball America's new top-100 SD Union Tribune Sanders 2 Young pitching prospects knocking on Padres' door SD Union Tribune Sanders 4 Padres roster review: Matt Szczur SD Union Tribune Sanders 8 Case study: Trevor Hoffman's Hall credentials SD Union Tribune Sanders 10 Urias ranked No. 2 on MLB's top 2B prospects MLB.com Cassavell 12 Padres hope Galvis solidifies SS spot in '18 MLB.com Cassavell 14 San Diego Padres' ballpark is about to get baseball's CNBC Frangoul 16 biggest solar power system 1 SD UNION TRIBUNE Six Padres prospects listed in Baseball America's new top-100 Jeff Sanders Officially, Fernando Tatis Jr. is the Padres’ best prospect since … Sean Burroughs. The fast-rising shortstop is ranked No. 9 in Baseball America’s updated top-100 prospect list, the highest ranking for a Padres prospect since Burroughs rose from No. 7 to No. 6 to No. 4 from 2000 to 2002. Other Padres listed in Monday’s unveiling are left-hander MacKenzie Gore (No. 26), right-hander Michel Baez (No. 28), second baseman Luis Urias (No. 32), right-hander Cal Quantrill (No. 52) and left-hander Adrian Morejon (No. 66). Tatis is just the fourth Padres prospect to crack the top-10, joining Burroughs, right-hander Matt Clement (No. 10 in 1999) and catcher Ben Davis (No. 10 in 1996). Of that trio, Clement enjoyed the most significant major league career, pairing an 87-86 record with a 4.47 ERA and 1,217 strikeouts over parts of nine seasons. The former third- rounder was 25-29 with a 4.82 ERA in three seasons in San Diego before he was traded to the Marlins in March 2001 for Mark Kotsay. Meanwhile, Davis and Burroughs were first-rounders who never lived up to expectations. The Padres selected Davis No. 2 overall in 1995 but flipped him to the Mariners in December 2001 for Brett Tomko, Ramon Vazquez and Tom Lampkin after he posted an underwhelming .677 OPS over the first four seasons in the majors. Davis was released four times over a three- year period before playing his final game in independent ball in 2010. Burroughs was the ninth overall pick in 1998 but packed his bags for Tampa Bay (Dewon Brazelton trade) after slugging just .360 over his first four years with the Padres. He was released twice in two years after his December 2005 trade. A comeback attempt after a five- year hiatus saw Burroughs hit just one more homer in 88 games split between the Diamondbacks and Twins from 2011 to 2012. 2 The Padres, of course, have grander expectations for Tatis, who arrived in the James Shields salary dump. Tatis, 19, paired a .278/.379/.498 batting line with 22 homers, 75 RBIs and 32 steals as he zoomed from low Single-A Fort Wayne to Double-A San Antonio in his first full season in pro-ball. His No. 9 ranking is his first appearance on Baseball America’s top-100 list. The No. 3 overall pick last year, Gore debuted in the preseason list at No. 26 after posting a 1.27 ERA, 34 strikeouts and an 0.98 WHIP in his first 21 1/3 innings in the Arizona Rookie League in his pro debut. The 22-year-old Baez and Urias are also on the preseason list for the first time. Baez went 7-2 with a 2.54 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 63 2/3 innings split between rookie ball and low Single-A Fort Wayne after signing out of Cuba for $3 million. Urias, meanwhile, was an All-Star after starting 2017 as the youngest player in the Texas League. He hit .296/.398/.380 with three homers and 38 RBIs in 118 games with Double-A San Antonio. The No. 8 overall pick in 2016, Quantrill moved from No. 96 last preseason to No. 52 after going 7-10 with a 3.80 ERA, 110 strikeouts and a 1.47 WHIP in 116 innings as he moved from high Single-A Lake Elsinore to Double-A San Antonio. Morejon also took a big leap – from No. 98 last February to No. 66 – as he went 3-4 with a 3.86 ERA, 58 strikeouts and a 1.29 WHIP in 64 innings split between short-season Tri-City and Fort Wayne in his first action since signing out of Cuba for $11 million. Right-hander Anderson Espinoza, who missed all of 2017 due to a Tommy John surgery, dropped out of Baseball America’s top-100 after opening the year at No. 21. Outfielders Manuel Margot (No. 24) and Hunter Renfroe (No. 44) graduated from last year’s list. 3 Young pitching prospects knocking on Padres' door Jeff Sanders Cal Quantrill is officially a San Diegan, the former first-round pick having moved his home from Canada to Del Mar this offseason. Might even become a big leaguer before too long. Once again, the Padres front office – via minor league deals instead of major league guarantees – has added veteran arms like Tyson Ross and Chris Young to the free-for-all for rotation spots this spring. New to the competition, however, is the initial wave of A.J. Preller- drafted arms that have a great deal to do with the farm system ranking among the game’s strongest. While the likes of Quantrill, Eric Lauer, Joey Lucchesi and Jacob Nix — all non-roster invitees for the first time — aren’t expected to win jobs outright this spring, their first invites to big league camp is the latest signal that the future is near. “That group of guys is beating on our door to be in our starting rotation,” Padres manager Andy Green said last week at FanFest. “They are not at the front of the line when we get to the season, but they are going to be names that we're going to look at and expect to see a lot of.” To date, Green has watched from afar with great anticipation. The first Preller-acquired talent arrived in a significant way in 2017 as Manuel Margot took over center field on a full-time basis, Carlos Asuaje got his first consistent action at second base and Phil Maton joined the bullpen as the first arrival from the 2015 draft class. As far as rotation help goes, inherited right-hander Dinelson Lamet joined the big league team last year as the top arms from the 2016 draft class – collegians in Quantrill, Lauer and Lucchesi – zoomed from A-ball to Double-A San Antonio in their first full year in pro ball. All three earned mid-season promotions to the Texas League after selections to the California League All-Star Game. The 22-year-old Nix, a high school third-rounder from the 2015 draft 4 class, eventually joined that trio in San Antonio and got the nod for a postseason start for Triple-A El Paso. Quantrill even represented the Padres in the All-Star Futures Game in July as he continued to distance himself from his 2015 Tommy John surgery. “Obviously there were some learning curves there, some bumps in the road we had to get over,” the 22-year-old Quantrill said. “But I think, all in all, I’m pretty happy with the year. I stayed off the DL, got better throughout the course of the year and got better at things I think I need to work on.” Like tightening the breaking pitches he throws off his fastball-change combo. That refinement will continue as Quantrill ramps up his throwing program as he progresses through his first offseason workouts at Petco Park. Lauer and Lucchesi also got in work in San Diego before joining veteran left-hander Clayton Richard at his home in Lafayette, Ind., for further preparation for their first big league camp. The impetus of the invite was simple. “It was a good opportunity,” the 34-year-old Richard said, “to, one, get to know each other, and two, have them see what I do to prepare for a season.” The first day started at 7:30 a.m. The trio moved through fast-paced circuits of squats to push- ups and more. They played catch. They worked out indoors at Purdue University. They went through conditioning and even arm care. “One of his warm-ups was a full workout in itself,” the 22-year-old Lauer recalled. “It was the first thing we did. It was incredible. I remember the first day we got there, one of the first things he said to us was if you have to throw up, go outside. I thought, ‘Well that's going to be a great way to start this off.’ “We came close at one point during a couple things, but I think we made it the whole time without throwing up.” The initial workout lasted well into the afternoon. Other days added Pilates and pool work to the schedule. Afterward, they’d share meals, watch movies, play ping pong and Mario Kart and attempt to survive all-out Nerf wars in the basement with Richard’s boys. 5 “He’d kick our butts,” the 24-year-old Lucchesi said, “and then we’d have time to hang out. But, boy, I was laid out on his carpeted floor. I was done. I was ready to call it a day at 2 p.m. My body was so tired.” Added Lauer: “It beat the crap out of me, but at the end of the week I ended up feeling really good because I felt like I accomplished a lot.