Padres Spring Training Report – March 31, 2015

No Padres W tonight as they fell to the Royals 4-1.  Not a heck of a lot of action to report on tonight either as the Friars were for the most part shut down by the Royals’ pitchers.  The pads defense was shaky for one of the few times this season, committing only 1 official error but misplaying several balls that would normally routinely be made.

Here are the few bright spots:

• Derek Norris – Hit a double tonight to keep his late spring hot streak going.  He’s hit safely in 6 straight and has 9 hits during the streak while raising his average .150 points.  His timing seems to be arriving just in time for the regular season.  He also threw out two would be base stealers tonight, nailing speedsters Dyson and Cain.
• Jedd Gyorko – 2 hits tonight, and 8 in as many games is putting a hopeful finish to the spring after a very slow start.
• Frank Garces – Once again came in to get the lefties out, and once again did his job flawlessly retiring both and striking out one to end the 5th.  His consistent performance this spring is one of the reasons the Padres were able to part ways with Alex Torres.
• Chris Rearick – The other lefty fighting for a spot in the bullpen allowed two hits in his inning of work, but still posted a zero in his rebound outing after a rough previous effort.
• Nick Vincent – Has yet to allow a run this spring, and mowed them down 1-2-3 in his inning of work tonight.  Hope he saves some of those goose eggs for the regular season!
• Jose Valverde – Looked good posting his second consecutive scoreless frame.  Doubtful that he makes the opening day roster, but has shown enough to make one think he can help at some point with his experience, still filthy split finger, and renewed fastball.

I wish I could give you more good news, but that’s about it for tonight. The best news is that we’re one day closer to opening day!

Tomorrow the Pads take on the White Sox at Camelback. First pitch is at 1:05, with Shields going for the Friars. Hope you’ll join Ted Leitner and myself for the webcast at Padres.com!

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