The San Diego Padres put together a formidable lineup on Monday afternoon, as they get closer to Opening Day on March 28th. Their lineup was another potential Opening Day lineup that could potentially be constructed by Padres' manager Andy Green against the Giants in a couple weeks.
Today's #PadresST lineup ------vs the #Indians:3️⃣ Ian Kinsler | 2B3️⃣0️⃣ @TheRealHos305 | 1B1️⃣3️⃣ Manny Machado | 3B3️⃣2️⃣ @La_Mole_13 | DH4️⃣ @wilmyers | LF3️⃣3️⃣ @Franchycordero | RF7️⃣ @manuelmargot | CF1️⃣8️⃣ @austinhedges18 | C9️⃣ @LuisUrias03 | SS---3️⃣7️⃣ @JoeyFuego44 | P
— Padres Radio (@PadresRadio)
March 4, 2019 Not only was the lineup looking like a regular season lineup, so did the man on the rubber for the Padres today in Joey Lucchesi. The 25-year old left-hander displayed why he is being considered to be the Opening Day starter for the Padres. Against the Indians on Monday, Lucchesi pitched three strong innings, not allowing any runs and only surrendering one hit. He also had three strikeouts and did not hand out any free passes to Indian hitters.
At the plate, Padres hitters were able to put up eight runs against the Indians starting in the first inning with Franmil Reyes driving in Eric Hosmer on a two out double to center field.
Oh baby, baby, baby... we're off to a good start today, thanks to @La_Mole_13! #PadresST pic.twitter.com/4UkIk2wAzY
— San Diego Padres (@Padres)
March 4, 2019 In the fourth inning the Padres would add to their lead, as newly acquired Manny Machado led off the inning with a double to deep center, which was his first hit in a Padres uniform.
This is what Machado’s first hit in a Padre uniform sounded like on -- @973TheFanSD--: @jesseagler pic.twitter.com/PyNzwMosBK
— Padres Radio (@PadresRadio)
March 4, 2019 Manny hits. Manny scores. We could get used to this --#PadresST pic.twitter.com/5vvrWA2wHu
— San Diego Padres (@Padres)
March 4, 2019 Machado would come around to score a couple batters later off the bat of Franchy Cordero, who also doubled to center field, giving the Padres a 2-0 lead after four innings.
Matt Strahm would then come in to relieve Joey Lucchesi and picked up where Lucchesi left off. Strahm went three strong innings in relief, allowing only two hits and one walk, while striking out two batters and preserving the shutout that Lucchesi started for the Padres. Strahm, who is a vying to be in the Padres rotation full time, had another nice outing as he tries to adjust to a bigger workload coming out of the bullpen.
Offensively, the bats remained hot after the majority of the Padres starters were done for the day. San Diego put up a run in the fifth inning and then an additional five runs in the sixth inning, with most of the runs coming off the three run double by Javy Guerra.
Javy Guerra cleaned up the bases. This brought us joy! #PadresST pic.twitter.com/a7NSSQOi8J
— San Diego Padres (@Padres)
March 4, 2019 San Diego was able to finish off the Indians in the next three innings to preserve a 8-0 win.
Cleveland rock(ed). #PadresST pic.twitter.com/DHkxLqL4o9
— San Diego Padres (@Padres)
March 4, 2019 Although it is only Spring Training and the wins and losses do not matter, the Padres are playing good baseball and are getting a lot of contribution from their young talent. The pitching has looked excellent and the position players are all making cases to crack the Opening Day roster. With the outfield being crowded and now the great infield play from Ty France and Greg Garcia, the Padres are going to have to make a lot of tough decisions in the next couple weeks. Below are the roster cuts that were made today by the Padres:
The following players were reassigned to minor league camp today. There are 59 players remaining in ML camp:Alex DickersonSeth Mejias-BreanEsteban QuirozBuddy ReedJacob ScavuzzoT.J. WeirBoog PowellAllen CraigRyan BollingerEric StoutJerry KeelKyle McGrathDavid Bednar
— Padres Radio (@PadresRadio)
March 4, 2019 Most notable are Poway High School alum Alex Dickerson, long time veteran Allen Craig, and 2019 Future's Game star Buddy Reed.
The Padres will play their next game tomorrow against the Chicago White Sox from their Spring Training site at Camelback Ranch. First pitch is at 12:05pm with coverage on 97.3 The Fan starting at 12pm.
