Hope springs eternal for Padres players in Spring Training
Michael King is healthy, Ethan Salas is learning, José Miranda is making loud contact, and the SDSU men's basketball season isn't doomed (yet). Also, checking in with college basketball before March!
For a number of different reasons, I have not been putting out a ton of content lately. One of those reasons is because I am tired of doing podcasts by myself.
So, coming later today and tomorrow, I’ll be doing podcasts about the San Diego Padres with a couple of people that offer perspectives very different from my own.
I figure, at this time of the year when there’s nothing real to react to and everyone is looking forward, it was a good time to get philosophical about baseball.
Now, onto the links…
San Diego Padres
Padres’ Michael King gets in good, quick work in Cactus League debut - San Diego Union-Tribune
For late February, it’s oddly warm to start Cactus League action, so Michael King certainly broke into a sweat Wednesday afternoon.
At least literally.
Figuratively, the 30-year-old breezed through two innings in his Cactus League debut so much so that he came out for a third frame. That didn’t go nearly as well, but getting a jump start on building his stamina was the point as King looks put last year’s injury-riddled season behind him.
Padres mailbag: Possible sale timeline, A.J. Preller’s contract, rotation depth - The Athletic
Speaking of records, there has been growing expectation around the industry that the Padres will end up fetching more than the $2.42 billion Steve Cohen paid for the New York Mets in 2020. The upcoming expiration of MLB’s collective bargaining agreement and a widely anticipated lockout are sources of significant uncertainty, but the Padres’ franchise value has potentially tripled since 2012, and San Diego presents an attractive buy-and-hold opportunity.
Baseball school: Not all was lost for Padres prospect Ethan Salas - San Diego Union-Tribune
Salas collected only 41 plate appearances in the Texas League last April before he was shut down, and he had a .599 OPS in 2024 after opening the 2024 season as the youngest player in the Midwest League.
All of that is reason why Salas’ stock has fallen as the prospect industry goes — he’s down from No. 8 before the 2024 season to No. 90 at Baseball America this year and entirely outside the top-100 at MLB.com.
But Salas seems to have a healthy understanding of how that works, too.
“They love you when you’re hot,” he said with a laugh, “and they hate you when you’re not.”
Padres’ non-roster invite is rewriting his camp narrative faster than anyone expected - Friars On Base
Miranda went 5-for-6 with a home run in his first six at-bats of spring training, but the chance he makes the opening day roster remains slim.
While he is definitely turning heads, Miranda is competing against Castellanos, France, Andujar, and even Sung-mun Song for a bench spot. He will need to keep this type of production up in Cactus League action.
Miranda is coming off a down year with the Minnesota Twins, where he only appeared in 12 games, slashing .167/.167/.250 with a -0.3 WAR. But he seems to be turning it around in spring training, which is a sign you love to see.
San Diego State Aztecs
San Diego State beats Utah State, moves into first-place tie - San Diego Union-Tribune
“Probably our most complete game of the season,” said SDSU coach Brian Dutcher, whose team rebounded after last week’s losses to Grand Canyon and Colorado State. “We did what we had to do. We fought through a tough stretch of two really hard losses, and we got back on the winning track. … So our fate is in our hands.”
The Aztecs played with the “urgency” junior forward Miles Byrd said was necessary to finish out the regular season right. They avenged a 71-66 loss to the Aggies along the way.
SDSU women clinch Mountain West regular-season title with win in Boise - San Diego Union-Tribune
San Diego State’s women’s basketball team clinched the regular-season Mountain West title Wednesday night with a 66-64 win at Boise State.
The Aztecs took the lead to stay at 59-56 with 5 ½ minutes to play as Naomi Panganiban hit a 3-pointer off a pass from Natalia Martinez following a Bailey Barnhard offensive rebound.
The Aztecs then kept the Broncos at bay by hitting seven free throws down the stretch. Guard Nala Williams hit two free throws with a second to play to give the Aztecs a 66-61 lead. Boise State hit a three at the final buzzer.
Odds & Ends
An early spring training study guide - The Bandwagon
It’s a fun time for young pitchers. MLB has a preponderance of recently debuted, highly intriguing starting pitchers. Some of them were immediately sterling or showed out in the spotlight. The Mets’ Nolan McLean, the Yankees’ Cam Schlittler and the Blue Jays’ Trey Yesavage come to mind. Jacob Misiorowski of the Brewers and sneaky Cubs difference-maker Cade Horton also deserve mention as headliners in an interesting new generation.
Arte Moreno Is Done Pretending To Care - Defector
It has been five days since Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno made the claim that his team’s fans view winning baseball as a low priority, and the reaction has been, well, fairly low priority. It could hardly be any other way, because “low priority” is the Angels in a nutshell.
A 30-year search for a long-lost baseball player comes to an unexpected end: ‘I could finally exhale’ - The Athletic
In the ’90s, Kula set out to collect a photo of every player to appear in a game for the Cleveland franchise, a charter member of the American League in 1901. He located photos of club cornerstones and of little-known part-timers, of Gen X sluggers with tobacco lodged in their cheeks, and of pre-World War I pitchers in wool jersey tops. He found photos of household names like Bob Feller and Albert Belle, as well as old-timey characters like Braggo Roth and Bris Lord.
Over the years, he whittled his targets from more than 2,000 to a few hundred, to 50, to 20, to a handful, and then, for the last 21 years, just one: Charles William “Shorty” Gallagher, who spent one afternoon in the majors on Aug. 13, 1901.
Shorty has hidden in baseball’s shadows ever since.
No. 15 St. John’s misses 24 straight shots to end blowout loss to No. 6 UConn in historic defeat for Rick Pitino - Yahoo Sports
The Red Storm made just two field goals and managed only 14 total points in the second half in a 72-40 loss at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford. It marked the team’s fewest points scored in a game since 2013 and was easily the most lopsided loss of the Pitino era. It was the fewest points a Pitino-led team had ever scored. The longtime head coach, who has been in the sport for five decades, had a previous low of 43 points when he was with Boston University in 1981, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander.
Men’s college basketball Power Rankings: Duke rises to No. 1 - ESPN
For a team with the cachet of Duke, it’s a testament to the strength of this season’s contenders that it took this long for the Blue Devils to rise to No. 1 in the AP poll and these Power Rankings.
But there was zero debate about their ascension this week, particularly after they looked so impressive in their win over Michigan in Washington D.C. on Saturday night. They looked every bit like the nation’s best defensive team, keeping the Wolverines off the offensive glass and out of transition. And while the Blue Devils don’t look as explosive on the offensive end as some of the other top teams, they sandwiched that Michigan win with two games against Syracuse and Notre Dame in which they scored 201 total points.
(Of course, it helps that they have National Player of the Year favorite Cameron Boozer leading the way.)