Padres Press Clips Saturday, March 18, 2017

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Padres walk off against Dodgers UT San Diego Lin 2

Alex Dickerson back in camp, expected to make UT San Diego Lin 3 full recovery

Minus NFL & Bolts, SD sports scene sees more global spin UT San Diego Lin 5

Despite Spring Hiccups, Anderson Espinoza Shows America Cooper 7 His Heady Potential

Wallace delivers as Padres walk-off vs. Dodgers MLB.com Schlegel 8

Capps thrilled with back-field return to mound MLB.com Schlegel 9

Dickerson at peace with taking time to rehab MLB.com Schlegel 10

Chacin's gem vs. DR a case for SD's rotation MLB.com Kelly 11

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Padres walk off against Dodgers

BY: DENNIS LIN

San Diego Union Tribune

March 17, 2017

Padres pitching prospect Walker Lockett and rotation candidate Christian Friedrich each threw three innings in a 3-2 walk-off victory over the on Friday night.

Lockett, the youngest starter left in camp, surrendered a home on his second pitch of the game, yielded another run later in the inning and held the Dodgers scoreless thereafter. In his three innings, he yielded three hits and a walk, striking out four.

“I thought he settled in nice,” said. “I love that he came in to lefties, thought he did that very well.”

Lockett pitched at four minor league levels last season, ending up at Triple-A El Paso. While it’s unlikely he will break camp with the big-league club, his debut could arrive sometime this year.

“It’s a long shot for him to start the season with us, but he’s done a nice job,” Green said.

Following Lockett on the mound, Friedrich recorded his cleanest outing of the spring. The left- hander allowed one hit, didn’t allow a run or a walk and struck out three batters. Over his first two Cactus League appearances, he had permitted eight earned runs.

“His stuff’s kind of picking up a little bit, and hopefully he’s starting to feel the flow a little bit,” Green said. “Kind of been a slow progression through spring for him. I don’t think he’s felt great. He hasn’t necessarily been hurting, but he hasn’t felt like himself. I think he looked a little bit sharper today.”

Padres right fielder went 2-for-4 with his second double in as many days. also had a double, his third in fourth games.

Relievers Logan Bawcom, Carlos Fisher and Jose Torres each threw a perfect inning. Through six scoreless innings this spring, Torres, who struck out the side, has allowed one hit and one walk, striking out nine.

The Padres walked off in the bottom of the ninth when pinch-runner Peter Van Gansen, called up from the minors for the game, scored on a throwing error.

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Alex Dickerson back in camp, expected to make full recovery

BY: DENNIS LIN

San Diego Union Tribune

March 17, 2017

After being diagnosed with a disc protrusion this week, Alex Dickerson will miss and an unknown period of time beyond that. Doctors have prescribed three to four weeks of rest before the Padres is re-evaluated.

For Dickerson, the news was maddening and, to some extent, reassuring.

“It’s a little bit of a relief,” Dickerson said of learning the cause of his back trouble. “Obviously, not happy with the start I got to the season this year, but it’s a good to have a guideline and go off that. The doctor’s very optimistic that I’m going to make a 100 percent recovery after this thing. It just needs rest.”

Due to lower back stiffness, Dickerson, whom the Padres hope will be a prominent part of their outfield, did not make his Cactus League debut until last weekend. On Sunday night, his back flared up again, prompting a visit to a spine specialist in San Diego. Dickerson on Thursday returned to the Peoria Sports Complex, where he will be on full rest for a couple weeks before he begins core-strengthening exercises.

“It’s just been irritating me now for probably a month, and I basically just never gave it the full time to rest,” Dickerson said. “I was pretty active because I was trying to come back, and just didn’t really give it that chance to heal. Right now, being told ‘hey, you need to heal this’ I think makes it a little easier on me.”

Dr. Neel Anand, an orthopedic spine surgeon and director of spine trauma at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said disc protrusion is fairly common, even for people in the same age range as the 26-year-old Dickerson.

“It’s not uncommon for young people to have back problems or flare-ups,” Anand said. “Sometimes it’s really not an injury. It’s just a flare-up.”

According to the Laser Spine Institute, a disc protrusion, also known as a bulging disc, is a degenerative spine condition that occurs when one of the discs between the vertebrae “has been compressed and, as a result, protrudes out of the natural alignment of the spine.”

Some people, Anand said, may have a disc protrusion without knowing it. Symptoms manifest when the protrusion impinges on a nerve, causing the discomfort most patients feel.

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“I had a similar issue in high school,” Dickerson said. “It cleared up eventually and was perfectly fine for 11 years. This is the first incidence I’ve had since. ... From the looks of it, it’s not a huge bulging disc. Just enough that it’s got a little bit of inflammation.”

Anand agreed with the course of action the Padres are taking with Dickerson.

“The right thing to do is to give it some rest, let it calm down,” Anand said. “The recovery rate is very good. It’s very rare that it becomes persistent. … Ninety-five percent of the time it goes away. That’s the good news.”

Said Dickerson: “Surgery isn’t even on the docket for it. To me, that tells me it’s an issue that’s going to be resolved.”

Long-shot option

According to a report by the Arizona Republic, the have demonstrated a willingness to listen to offers on Nick Ahmed. The Padres, sources say, previously have expressed interest in Ahmed, but it seems unlikely that the D-backs would trade him within the West, especially to a team now managed by Green, Arizona’s former third base .

One source said that the Padres made inquiries regarding Ahmed in 2015. Veteran ’s name was brought up in conversation, but those talks never developed into anything of significance. Last July, the Padres jettisoned Kemp to Atlanta in what was essentially a salary dump.

Sources indicate that the Padres, who also moved most of their other veterans, are in no rush to thin out their recently reloaded farm system. Still, their search for a long-term solution at shortstop continues. San Diego has looked at other trade possibilities this offseason, including Detroit’s Jose Iglesias and, according to FanRag Sports, Cincinnati’s Zack Cozart.

So far, however, no match has materialized. Sources say Travis Jankowski has been discussed as a potential trade chip, but with Dickerson out indefinitely and Manuel Margot also less than 100 percent, the Padres are likely to hang on to the young center fielder for now. Jankowski won’t become arbitration-eligible until 2019, and the club likes his upside.

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Minus NFL & Bolts, SD sports scene sees more global spin

BY: TOM KRASOVIC

San Diego Union Tribune

March 17, 2017

Good morning.

Buenos dias. Bonjour. Buongiorno. Guten Morgen.

The time to leave San Diego is drawing near for the NFL cartel and Dean Spanos, the overly enabled team owner who will move his club out of Chargers Park by July 31st.

San Diego will be without Chargers football for the first time in 57 years. Who’s kidding who? An NFL season sans the Bolts looms as a Seau Wow-level, decleater hit to many locals.

What the sports vortex will pull into San Diego, who knows exactly, but aspirations are brewing.

What stands out most is the flavor. It’s international. Unusually so. Title this still-fictional chapter, “From Hostile to Hostel.”

Padres architects foresee a transformative youth movement that draws upon not only American talent but Padres signees from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Mexico, Japan and other countries.

The United Nations secretary-general, one imagines, will throw out a first pitch at Petco Park. “Cuban Cigar Night” will set back Padres ownership a hefty sum in 2021.

A shame won’t be around to pronounce so many exotic names, although the idea is they’ll become the norm.

Truly, on any given night several years downstream, Padres bosses envision players from an array of countries will take the field in the East Village.

Meantime, in east Mission Valley and a few miles north, a global movement even more robust is planned to unfold starting in 2020.

The “SoccerCity” vision, it’s dicier, hinging as it does on a complicated real-estate play involving two Chargers sites.

By leveraging San Diego public land, local hedge-fund sharps will in effect gain a subsidy to buy a soccer team. That’s a clever play to gain a sports franchise, yet one that not even the NFL or

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MLB tried in San Diego. While the sharps say San Diego stands to gain numerous windfalls, the idea of subsidizing a sport team’s purchase may not sit well with some folks. Opponents have warned of potential traffic gridlock stemming from the housing-dense planned development. City Hall not staging an open auction for the site is another objection.

IHOP, emphasis on the international, would be an apt team sponsor if the initiative passes.

Where the Chargers have trained off Murphy Canyon Road since 1997, the SoccerCity planners envision futbol teams from Europe, Mexico and perhaps South America.

Expected to bring fans with them, these visiting teams who are to their home cities what the Cowboys are to Dallas/Ft. Worth would also play exhibition matches at a 30,000-seat, soccer-first stadium on the northeast part of the current Qualcomm Stadium site.

In a regional grudge match, the Tijuana Xolos and a San Diego team of Major League Soccer would square off. (If San Diegan Philip Rivers attended — and he would — it’d be Xolos & Bolos).

The SoccerCity group envisions owning as well a European team, installing another international link to San Diego.

Mexican journalists tell me MLS soccer is inferior to Xolos soccer, but they say fans in Tijuana would come to MLS matches. Also, Mexican journalists said a match in Mission Valley pitting the Xolos and a San Diego MLS team would attract numerous unauthorized San Diego residents from Mexico who’d love to see the Xolos in person now but can’t.

SoccerCity supporters say their sporting vision, Olympian at its core, will bring cultures together and nurture “The Beautiful Game” in San Diego, home to a thriving youth soccer culture.

A slogan of the SoccerCity visionaries is to build bridges, not walls, between San Diego and Mexico.

Oddly enough, the NFL is making its own international push.

Targeting London for more football games and perhaps a franchise, the League sees foreign markets as a new feed trough for the revenue beast.

By late next decade, the League forecasts to nearly double its pie. American dollars alone won’t add the $11 billion in anticipated gains.

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Despite Spring Hiccups, Anderson Espinoza Shows His Heady Potential

BY: J.J. COOPER

San Diego Union Tribune

March 17, 2017

PHOENIX—It’s , and it’s early.

And if you’re a minor leaguer, where the games have only just begun, it’s even earlier.

But for Anderson Espinoza, early in his workup to the start of the season, Friday’s outing was a step in the process.

In his previous outing Espinoza’s command was scattershot, which is surprising for a young whose command has always been advanced for his age.

On Friday, Espinoza wasn’t in midseason form. He barely used his changeup, a pitch that was above-average or better almost every time out last year. In the first of his three innings of work, he didn’t have the feel for his , either. The one he threw didn’t break at all as he lost the grip on it.

But even with all those caveats, Espinoza showed again why he’s one of the best pitching prospects in baseball.

Pitching against the Royals’ high club, the Padres’ No. 1 prospect showed better fastball command than he’d shown in his previous outing, and with a 93-95 mph fastball with excellent run, that’s sometimes enough by itself.

“I think he’s progressing,” said Padres pitching coordinator , the former Cubs ace. “Anderson is probably harder on himself than most of us. But we also forget he’s only 19 years old. He’s still learning as a pitcher—what he has to do to be successful within a game.”

In his warmup pitches for his second inning of work, Espinoza kept trying to throw his curve, but he continued to struggle to break it off, much less land it in the zone.

The first one out of his hand in the second inning wasn’t much better. But he stuck with it and before long, he threw a few much tighter curves that were much closer to the above-average breaking ball he’s shown at his best in the past.

“He controlled the zone a lot better,” Prior said. “He’s got a big curve, but it’s still a learning process of how to land it, where to land it and how to use it properly. To go with his fastball, he’s got to learn to use them to complement each other.”

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Espinoza touched 97 mph at his best on Friday. Even with him relying on his fastball heavily on Friday, he showed the kind of pitch separation that gives hitters fits. His mid-90s fastball requires hitters to gear up. His mid-80s changeup has solid separation in velocity and deception and his 75-78 mph curveball is nearly a full 10 mph less than his changeup.

And Espinoza has another look as well. With two strikes, he showed an ability to drop his release point. It gave his 95-mph fastball the look of a much slower breaking ball out of the hand. Wallace delivers as Padres walk-off vs. Dodgers

BY: JOHN SCHLEGEL

MLB.com

March 17, 2017

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Brett Wallace's bases-loaded grounder in the ninth gave the Padres a 3-2 walk- off win over the -rival Dodgers on Friday night at Peoria Stadium.

Joc Pederson blasted a solo to lead off the game, but the split-squad Dodgers had only three more hits the rest of the way.

To score the winning run, the Padres used an error, a single and a walk to load the bases. Pinch- runner Peter Van Gansen was called safe at home with the winning run when the Dodgers attempted a 4-2-3 double play on Wallace's grounder.

Pederson greeted Padres starter Walker Lockett, a right-hander who moved up three levels to Triple-A last season, with a blast the opposite way to deep left-center. Andrew Toles followed with a single, scoring on a sacrifice fly to put a two-spot on the board before the Padres got their first turn to bat.

"He settled in nicely," Padres manager Andy Green said of Lockett. "He left a fastball out over that gets hit out by the first batter and he kind of ran into some trouble in the first, but his next couple of innings were clean."

Alex Wood, in line to secure the No. 5 spot in the Dodgers' rotation, had an impressive outing, lasting 4 1/3 innings, allowing a run on two hits and striking out five while walking none. He threw 54 pitches in his fourth Cactus League appearance.

Wood was perfect the first time through the lineup, but the Padres got to him in the fourth. Erick Aybar ripped a one-out single, moved to third on a single and scored on a Hunter Renfroe single.

"I don't think we swung the bats great but was good early, I thought he spotted up really well against us," Green said. "It was nice to scratch a run across against a guy who's doing it that well." 8

Renfroe, who finished 2-for-4 with an RBI, hit a one-out double off Steve Geltz in the seventh and would be driven home on a sacrifice fly by Franchy Cordero to tie the game.

Dodgers up next: One day before the Dodgers play Team Japan, Kenta Maeda gets the start on Saturday against the White Sox and highly regarded prospect Carson Fulmer. Rob Segedin and Ike Davis are expected to rejoin the club from the World Baseball Classic. The matchup can be seen live on MLB.TV at 1:05 p.m. PT.

Padres up next: Luis Perdomo, vying for a rotation spot, will get his third start in Cactus League play when the Padres make the trip across the Valley of the Sun to Hohokam Stadium in Mesa to meet the A's in a 1:05 p.m. PT start Saturday. Listen to the matchup live on Gameday Audio. Capps thrilled with back-field return to mound

BY: JOHN SCHLEGEL

MLB.com

March 17, 2017

PEORIA, Ariz. -- It didn't matter that it was on a back field against Minor Leaguers. When Carter Capps took the mound for the first time this spring, it was nothing short of a big deal.

That he was on any mound throwing to live hitters a year and eight days after undergoing Tommy John surgery was an impressive feat in itself. So the one inning he pitched Thursday at the Padres' complex was a significant step.

"It's nice to face hitters, obviously -- that's huge mentally," Capps said Friday, feeling fine the day after his spring debut. "It's not really anything physically different. It's just the mental aspect. Somebody in there taking hacks is something you've got to get used to."

Capps, acquired from the Marlins in the Andrew Cashner deal last July after his procedure, said it has been "mentally draining" to go through the rehabilitation process. But he's very much on the good side of the 12-18-month recovery process from Tommy John surgery.

So much so that he has the goal of being ready for Opening Day in his sights, and he could be available to the Padres in the late innings from the outset of the season.

"I've been fortunate," he said. "I haven't had any issues or anything. It's really all depending on when you get your range of motion back or if you get soreness in regular throwing, so it's very up in the air as far as how each individual reacts to the grind of the rehab."

So far, so good for Capps. He'll make one more appearance on the back fields before getting his first Cactus League action, but that first step toward Opening Day has gone smoothly.

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"It was good for him to get out there, good for him to compete, good for him to be in a game setting," Padres manager Andy Green said.

Worth noting

• got his work in on a back field himself, along with veteran relievers Brandon Maurer and Brad Hand. Weaver threw four innings and issued 67 pitches, getting his work in and being hidden from the Dodgers in the night game.

"I'd prefer them to have as few looks at him as possible going into Opening Day," Green said.

• It's almost as though Wil Myers never came out of Thursday's game with neck spasms. He was right back at it Friday and back in the lineup for the game against the Dodgers, feeling perfectly fine after being pulled from the previous day's game in the fourth inning after feeling a twinge in his neck.

• Green watched the Venezuela-Dominican Republic game in World Baseball Classic action Thursday night and was pleased to see how all three Padres on the team performed. got some playing time and responded with a pair of hits, young left-hander Jose Castillo continued to impress despite allowing an RBI single to Robinson Cano, and Jhoulys Chacin made the start and went 4 1/3 innings, allowing one run on three hits.

"It's fun watching him compete," Green said of the free-agent acquisition Chacin. "He's one of the ultimate competitors, in my mind." Dickerson at peace with taking time to rehab

BY: JOHN SCHLEGEL

MLB.com

March 17, 2017

PEORIA, Ariz. -- While Alex Dickerson would love to be hitting the field with his teammates and going through the routines of Spring Training, he knows he has to give his back time to heal if he wants to come back strong and stay there.

One day after the Padres announced that Dickerson has a bulging disk in his back and will be out of action for 3-4 weeks -- meaning he won't be ready for Opening Day -- the 26-year-old outfielder was in the team's clubhouse and prepared to do the one thing his back needs the most right now: rest.

"I don't want to say it's a relief being told that you've got to rest three or four weeks, but having a game plan on how you're going to heal and eventually put it on the back burner and not have to worry about it, that kind of helps my mind a little bit," Dickerson said on Friday. "I've just got to focus on what I can do now and let it heal." 10

Dickerson came into camp with a head of steam, hoping to do whatever he could to ensure he's on the field for Opening Day after some struggles down the stretch last year. He did do everything he could but the back issue was a roadblock from early in camp, keeping him out of Cactus League play until March 11 -- the one and only game he played before back spasms sent him to a spine specialist in San Diego earlier this week.

Now, the main thing Dickerson has to exercise is patience. After about two weeks of full rest, he'll begin work to strengthen his core and then work his way back into baseball activities. That patience will be tested the longer he's out and the closer we get to Opening Day.

"You get anxious," Dickerson said. "Sort of what made me want to rush in the first place was we always had the pressure of Opening Day looming over your head. Once you take Opening Day off the table and you've just to focus on yourself feeling good, there is a little bit of relief.

"Once it all starts happening, you're going to get anxious. You're going to see all your buddies playing and see your team out there and you're going to want to be out there with them. But I've got to focus on what I can do to make sure when I am back out there, I don't have to miss any more time."

Padres manager Andy Green said Friday that he's glad to see Dickerson has the mentality he'll need to make this a relatively short-term issue with the happy ending of as much of the season as he can play once he's healthy again.

"He's frustrated. He's a competitor. He wants to be out on the baseball field. He wants to be getting ready for a game," Green said. "But he understands the wiser course of action right now, and I think he's going to handle it very well. It's just a slow couple of weeks for him before he starts re-engaging in activities." Chacin's gem vs. DR a case for SD's rotation

BY: MATT KELLY

MLB.com

March 17, 2017

Right-hander Jhoulys Chacin is preparing to pitch for his fifth team in four seasons in 2017, but his newest squad -- the Padres -- may be catching him at an optimal time.

Team Venezuela manager Omar Vizquel gave Chacin the ball for what was essentially a must- win game against Team Dominican Republic on Thursday in Pool F action of the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Though Chacin ended up the hard-luck loser in Venezuela's 3-0 loss to the Dominican, the righty brought his "A" game -- in terms of both his final line and by Statcast™ metrics -- while facing a lineup that essentially doubles as an All-Star team.

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Chacin had seen his four-seam velocity hover between 88-89 mph for several years until it spiked to 90.9 mph in 2016 -- his highest since 2012, according to pitch F/X data. But he was at another level on Thursday night at Petco Park. With the adrenaline pumping, the 29-year-old averaged 92.9 mph on his four-seamer, according to Statcast™ -- two miles per hour faster than his average last season, and faster than his average for any of his eight seasons in the Major Leagues.

Added velocity translated to better results for Chacin, who posted a 4.81 ERA and 18.8 percent rate that were below league average last season. He gave up only one run -- a solo homer by Gregory Polanco -- and struck out three over 4 1/3 innings, including two punchouts on the four-seam fastball. Overall, the D.R.'s powerful lineup went hitless in five at-bats that ended against Chacin's four-seamer, while his only run-scoring mistake, to Polanco, came on a two- seam fastball.

"I think it was an incredible pitching game [for] Chacin," Vizquel said afterward. "He was incredible in this game. The whole game plan, he executed it precisely."

With the back end of the Padres' Opening Day rotation still very much in the air, Chacin will take every advantage he can get to win a spot. If he can maintain this newfound velocity through the rest of March, that extra life on his fastball could be the edge he needs.

The World Baseball Classic runs through Wednesday. In the U.S., games air live exclusively in English on MLB Network and on an authenticated basis via MLBNetwork.com/watch, while ESPN Deportes and WatchESPN provide the exclusive Spanish-language coverage. MLB.TV Premium subscribers in the U.S. have access to watch every tournament game live on any of the streaming service's 400-plus supported devices. The tournament is being distributed internationally across all forms of television, internet, mobile and radio in territories excluding the U.S., Puerto Rico and Japan. Get tickets for games in San Diego's Petco Park and the Championship Round at Dodger Stadium, while complete coverage -- including schedules, video, stats and gear -- is available at WorldBaseballClassic.com.

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