Gurriel, Iglesias, Sheets and Maldonado will be on Padres’ opening-day roster; one bench spot remains
PEORIA, Ariz. — The race for the final spot on the Padres’ bench appears headed for a photo finish.
Those who make the decisions say they don’t know who the final 26 will be, and it is apparent there is no consensus within the ranks of the men who have spent the spring evaluating the players in camp.
Four decisions have been made, according to multiple sources.
Yuli Gurriel, Jose Iglesias, Martín Maldonado and Gavin Sheets will be on the team. All those players were informed they have made the club, those sources said.
Healthy disagreement is normal among those in the baseball operations business — scouts, coaches, the manager and executives.It is productive. But this spring has been on another level for the Padres, as several players have demonstrated an ability to help the team.
Mike Shildt has been asked by members of his staff whether this is the most difficult decision-making process he has been involved in in regard to position players.
“It’s not even close,” the Padres manager said Sunday morning. “This has been a very, very competitive camp. All those guys have played their way onto a team that only has so many spots.”
President of baseball operations A.J. Preller said Sunday there was still discussions happening regarding the final roster spots, and he would not confirm which decisions had been made.
With the revelation about the four players that were told they are on the team, that leaves four players vying for one spot — first baseman/corner outfielder Connor Joe, outfielders Oscar Gonzalez and Brandon Lockridge and infielder/outfielders Eguy Rosario and Tyler Wade.
There is also the matter of the final bullpen spot and final two spots in the starting rotation.
This story will be updated.
Spring training update: Jackson Merrill homers; Manny Machado stays hot as Padres tie D-backs
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Padres and Diamondbacks tied 5-5 at Salt River Fields.
Batter’s box: Jackson Merrill hit his fourth home run of the spring. … Xander Bogaerts, Jason Heyward and Manny Machado all hit their second doubles. … Machado has four hits in his past eight at-bats. … Fernando Tatis Jr. was 2-for-3. … Luis Arraez was 0-for-1 but drew his first two walks of the spring. He is batting .357 (15-for-42).
Balls and strikes: Logan Gillaspie might have made a winning push for the final bullpen spot with four strong innings at the start of the game. He spread out five hits and allowed one run on a homer. … Ron Marinaccio, who started spring strong, allowed four runs on five hits and a walk in his 1⅔ innings. That stumble may have also helped Gillaspie. … Left-handers Yuki Matsui and Wandy Peralta pitched for a second consecutive day for the first time this spring. Matsui faced two batters and allowed a single, but he got two outs with help from an excellent defensive play. He then intentionally walked a batter to create a situation wherein Peralta could come in with a runner on. Peralta retired the one batter he faced to end the inning. … Lefty Adrián Morejón worked around a double and a bloop single for a scoreless inning. He pitched eight scoreless innings and allowed three runs in another outing this spring.
Extra bases: The Padres’ regulars are scheduled to start and get one plate appearance in Monday’s spring training finale. … Center fielder Brandon Lockridge ran down a Junior Franco single in the gap and threw across his body to second base, where Franco was tagged out. … Catcher Elias Díaz threw out one runner trying to steal second with help from a fantastic catch and tag by Bogaerts. Díaz would have caught another runner had Tyler Wade not dropped the ball trying to make the tag.
