Padres Opening Day Roster Recap
The San Diego Padres made some interesting decisions when building their opening day roster.
Okay, first….some perspective.
I know it’s hard to reset your brains, especially with a pandemic still going on, but the 2020 MLB season was a sprint to the finish line where every game meant almost as much as a series win/loss would regularly. The 2021 season is not that.
We’re back to a marathon. We’re back to a month not meaning all that month, if it’s missed by a player with an injury or if it’s a measure of time for uncommon behavior (lots of wins or losses).
So, while the Padres made their opening day roster yesterday (following their final spring training game), this roster could be very different for most of the regular season and the playoffs.
That being said, there were some surprises!
The Padres identity: No fear of youth
Just like when the team started the 2019 season with Fernando Tatis Jr. and Chris Paddack on the opening day roster, the Padres once again showed that they are not afraid of starting the clock of their top prospects and also don’t seem to mind bringing those prospects onto the MLB team to play smaller roles.
Three of the Padres’ top six prospects made the opening day roster for the Padres, and they’re all expected to play small roles to begin the season.
Ryan Weathers - Once I did the math, it was easy to see that Weathers would make this team. He’s been tapped for a bullpen role, and is the obvious long reliever of the group, but will get a chance to start occasionally as a swingman/6th starter when the Padres’ schedule gets especially tough.
Luis Campusano - This one surprised me a little bit only because the Padres didn’t seem to hesitate to start the clock on their #3 overall prospect (behind only Gore and Abrams) for him to play a backup role, but I suppose they didn’t have a lot of options with Austin Nola’s injury. This might be the first sign that the Padres’ depth is going to rely heavily on rookies and player development this year.
Tucupita Marcano - Marcano hit the hell out the ball all of spring training and is now on an MLB roster despite never officially playing above A-ball in the minors. The interesting thing about Marcano is how many positions the team put him at during the spring and how he excelled at all of them. He’s a utility infielder with experience playing 2B/SS/3B, but he showed in the spring that playing any of the OF spots is something he’s comfortable with.
A quick overview
Starting Rotation
Yu Darvish
Blake Snell (L)
Joe Musgrove
Chris Paddack
Andrian Morejon (L)
Bullpen
Emilio Pagán
Drew Pomeranz (L)
Keone Kela
Mark Melancon
Tim Hill (L)
Craig Stammen
Ryan Weather (L)
Taylor Williams
Nabil Crismatt
Catcher
Victor Caratini
Luis Campusano
Infielders
Eric Hosmer
Jake Cronenworth
Fernando Tatis Jr.
Manny Machado
Ha-Seong Kim
Tucupita Marcano
Jorge Mateo
Outfielders
Jurickson Profar
Tommy Pham
Wil Myers
Impending changes
Some of the surprises on the opening day roster probably won’t last very long.
Nabil Crismatt will likely lose his spot once Austin Adams is healthy.
Taylor Williams will likely lose his spot once Dinelson Lamet is ready, unless the team decides to send down Ryan Weathers to get regular starts in El Paso.
Tucupita Marcano will likely be sent down once Trent Grisham is healthy enough to play.
All of those above things are assuming that more injuries don’t occur, which is silly. The fact that these players are on the opening day roster means they’re on the 40-man roster, which means we’ll be seeing a lot of them year as the bottom of the roster churns through injuries over the next half-year.