Twitter Says...Laugh Out Loud.

In my opinion, the #1 way to enjoy a game besides sitting at Petco Park is slumped up on the couch, computer open, and following my Twitter timeline. Hilarious doesn't even begin to describe how much Twitter makes the Padres games not only more bearable, but actually enjoyable. A 2-1 loss can still be a great game in my book from the comedy that comes out 140 characters at a time.

I'll admit, I am not always the best with my fingers and my jokes do not always hit the mark. To be honest, they mostly fall short of the mark, but I am trying so that is what counts, right?

So this morning, as I prep for my day at work, I wanted to see what the Twitter airwaves were saying about our Padres team by doing some simple searches. This is what I came up with:

Search: Padres hitting

Chris Denorfia is the #Padres best player and he's hitting eighth.. Gotta love Bud Black
— Kevin Charity (@kevin_charity) April 23, 2014

Mr. Charity does have a point. Batting .333/.353/.485, #Norf is currently the Padres best all around hitter. I am no baseball strategist by any means, but do you not want your best hitters hitting higher in the order to get more at bats? Deno should be in the 2 hole every night. Gets on base, can hit with 2 strikes and has some pop now and agin.

As hitting coach for this excuse of an offense Phil plantier is flat out STEALING a paycheck!!! #Padres #FriarNation #sdpadres #FSSD
— David Moore (@bmozmo) April 23, 2014

It is suspicious why the Padres bats are starting off so cold. I would not say the Padres are a top notch lineup by any means, but they have been scrappy enough in years past and have a few batters capable of hitting close to .300. Currently, the Padres are hitting .223 which lands them at 27th overall. This got me thinking, how have then done in previous years? 2013: .245 (23rd), 2012: .247 (22nd), 2011: .237 (29th), and even in the mighty 2010: .246 (28th). Last in 2009. 28th in 2008. 28th in 2007. Every year, same concept. Padres can't hit. Padres have not cracked the top 20 for nearly 10 years!

Is this all Coach Plantier's fault? I don't know. The personnel hasn't exactly been there, but 23rd of worse since 2004. Yes, the last time the Padres were a top 20 hitting club, the Expos were still around.


Search: Padres Cashner

#Padres are undefeated in games where Andrew Cashner plays left field.
— Geoff Young (@ducksnorts) April 25, 2014

Last night, in the hilarity that was a Padres baseball game, Bud Black trotted star pitcher and savior, Andrew Cashner, out to left field. For one out. This led to a lot of people scratching their heads to why Bud Black wasted their best hitting pitcher in an extra inning game while Tommy Medica sat the bench. He subbed in after one out, later struck out, and in the extreme irony, Medica tripped in left field in the bottom of the 12th that allowed Bryce Harped to double.

Which of course led to all of these:

What the Medica. Perhaps Cashner should have stayed in LF?
— Mitchell Stehly (@StehlyMitchell) April 25, 2014

Medica falls ... should have left Cashner out there.
— Harry Pavlidis (@harrypav) April 25, 2014

YES! Tommy Medica falls down in left, putting Bryce Harper on second. ANDREW CASHNER MAKES THAT PLAY BUD
— Drew Fairservice (@DrewGROF) April 25, 2014

And my personal favorite:

Best explanation of Cashner being out in left? Tommy Medica was crapping, needed some more time to take care of things.
— Stuart Wallace (@TClippardsSpecs) April 25, 2014

OH! And for those who didn't see yesterday, Bud Black wrote his lineup on a piece of toilet paper. I mean, I know people think this team is crap, but that may be one step too far!

@Padres will only be using toilet paper for all written communication from here on out. Tommy John surgeries don't pay for themselves.
— EM (@eriksean85) April 23, 2014

@Padres is this written on toilet paper? Looks like 2Ply
— Andrew Sanchez (@KillaThaStunna) April 23, 2014

I guess all of this doesn't really have a point again beside I enjoy Twitter and I am allowed to say so in my blog. I encourage everyone to join the fun. It may be worth it just for the Amarista jokes. Go Padres!

@woedoctor can Amarista play 3rd and CF at the same time?
— Nathan Veale (@VocalMinorityNV) April 25, 2014

I know it is not the answer to all of our problems, but....

12 runs is 6 games is not much better.

 And when your RBI leaders are Seth Smith and Alexi Amarista, the lineup may be in a teeny, tiny slump. I appreciate the home run yesterday, but hopefully they aren't relying on late inning heroics from pinch hitters to get the Padres back in the game. Still, 6 games, 2 wins, and 3 very quality starts from pitchers. I could very well be worse and we could have lost the home opener as well. 

I know these guys can hit and maybe Alexi's home run was just what the Padres needed to wake them up. Baseball works in mysterious ways and my early season optimism is still here. We are going to need Quentin back, though. After Thursday's off day, the Padres play 20 games in a row. Using the law of Buddy Black averages, that means at least 7 starts for Amarista over that span. 

If the team slump continues, do they look to their AAA team and maybe call upon Ryan Jackson or Kyle Blanks or do they ride the way until Cameron Maybin gets back? I can never know in which direction this team is going though because all of the sudden they can win 6 of 7 and make it look like they are real contenders.

I know this post does not really have a point, but all I am asking is for the Padres to give us something to go off of. Even if we lose, score some runs, get some hits, make it exciting and give up hope. All we need is a little hope and we can run with that, but right now, I almost feel as my slow pitch softball lineup can compete as well as the Padres are.

Five Games in...Can We Panic Now?

Not yet, Ron, not yet....well maybe just a little bit.


Five games. 3 home, 2 road. One win, Four straight losses. 8 runs.

Yes, 8 runs in 5 games, and 25% of those runs came off two swings of the bat from our power-hitting, offseason acquisition, Seth Smith, which had to have set Josh Byrnes and Ron Fowler into a series of fist pumps and chest bumps.

6 extra base hits and Nick Hundley as the highest average man on the team. That can leave a few people scratching their heads. But don't worry! The Padres have 40 strikeouts in the 5 games alone, including 7 from Gyorko, 6 from Headley, and 5 from 2013 Team MVP Will Venable.

It is no secret the Padres rank dead last in Average, OBP, Slugging and OPS.

Maybe if I got an extension around here, I would start hitting better....

Let's face it, the pitching hasn't been much better, aside from Cashner. 21st in ERA (4.40) , 17th in average (.257), and 20th in WHIP (1.44).

Padres are 15th in fielding though, thats good, r-right?


All these being said, yes the team is not doing very good right now. Can it be put on coaching as several members of the internet have concluded?

@FollowThePadres if Amarista in the game bumps Venable to RF why is Venable our starting CF? No logic behind Buds decisions #firebudblack
— Ben (@bentrb4) April 6, 2014

So 5th game of the year and the 5th different! So much for guys getting in a groove. #Padres #FireBudBlack
— GoSeeThePads (@FakePadsGM) April 5, 2014

Must be baseball season, cause #firebudblack is trending... ;)
— Shannon M (@ShannonsParty) April 6, 2014

I do not think it is time to yell and scream quite yet, but I do have to wonder what is going on. Notorious for different lineups, Bud is already on his 6th one of the year and he has not even attempted to challenge a call even though there have been situations to warrant it. Bud, they don't carry over to the next game.

But it is five games and as the usual Padres optimist in me, there is no place to go but up from here right? I know the team is better this year and I know some injuries (although reoccurring) have altered the Padres plans. Let's give five more games before the witch hunt begins.

We're coming for you, Bud!

Carlos Quentin vs. Zack Greinke ROUND 3

For those of you Padres fans who were living in a hole last night, the Padres and Dodgers game took quite an interesting turn.

Zack Greinke hit Carlos Quentin with a pitch, Quentin didn't like it, so he charged the mound creating a benches clearing, bullpen clearing brawl.

Results: Carlos Quentin, Matt Kemp and former Padres Jerry Hairston, Jr. were all ejected from the game. And oh yeah, Zack Greinke has a fractured collar bone and will miss the next 6-8 weeks of the season.

Why did Quentin charge? Well, apparently, from what he said, there was some history behind it between the two players. Quentin is 6-26 against Greinke with 3 HRs and now 3 HBP.

In 2008, Greinke hit Quentin and again in 2009 when they played for their former teams, the Royals and White Sox. In the case of 2009, Quentin was immediately restrained by the umpire and Royals catcher which could have been a near charge situation.

So, yesterday, when Quentin got hit on 3-2 count in 2-1 ballgame in the 6th inning, he believed that history was part of the incident and took it into his own hands.

I got the Vin Scully version, because well, he is just awesome.

Anyways, my play by play of it. Carlos gets hit, take a few steps to the mound, he says Greinke said something to him and the 240lb frame of Quentin charged at the smaller Greinke, Greinke threw down his glove ready to brawl and resulted in cracking his collar bone and creating a full out brawl.

After watching the replay several times, I cannot tell what Greinke said and from Quentin's press conference, he says watch the replay. Greinke also had no comment on in, but it looks as if Greinke says one word. Whether it was a trigger word or not, Quentin took this personally.

Post game interviews after the game didn't ease any tension neither. Bud Black seemed very fired up and short with reporters and Don Mattingly came out calling Quentin an "idiot" and "shouldn't play a game" until Greinke comes back from his injury in a few months.

What Quentin said  about this? "The situation could have been avoided," he uttered several times at his locker interview.

But the fight did not stop there. It took to the tunnels of the stadium as Matt Kemp and Carlos Quentin had a heated exchanging of words which led to Kemp calling Quentin a B-word and Clayton Richard, looking all jacked, came in to break up the probable fight. If anything, Kemp should have been thankful, last thing they need is for him to get suspended on top of it, although it would have been his best hit of the season so far. ZING!

So, now we get to Monday, the Padres and Dodgers take a three-game series in L.A. My opinion, I would leave Quentin behind on this trip for his own personal safety. Also, the Dodgers also have eyes for an unnamed player currently as well. Safe to say, tensions will not be settled and things could get ugly really fast. If I were a fan, I stay avoid going to that series next week. Dodgers fan have a well...not so kind reputation when it comes to hurting other teams fans.

Just ask Bryan Stow what he thinks of the situation.

Winners and losers of this?
WINNER: The Padres. They needed something to really fire them up and whether it being justified or not, the fight definitely lit a fire under their but and hopefully will get them playing a little better before Headley comes back at the end of this month.

WINNER: The Giants. You tell me Bruce Bochy isn't sitting back enjoying Greinke being out 6-8 weeks? You would be nuts not to think so.

LOSER: Carlos Quentin. Already struggling through the early part of this season, and now you are going to slap a 5 game, maybe more because of a big injury to a big time player, and most likely a hefty fine. Not during yourself any favors, Carlos.

LOSER: Grienke. This dude is an idiot. Whether intentionally or not, if Quentin charges out at you, don't throw your glove down and get ready to scrap. MOVE, he is WAY bigger. Now, he has a broken collarbone and he is super socially awkward.

Lastly...

LOSER: Matt Kemp. He has now gotten himself in the middle of a big incident being ejected, who knows if that will lead to suspension, I am not sure what he did, and now has a target on his back going after Quentin in the parking lot.

I guess time will tell what really is going to come of it. Go Padres!

Some side notes...
Since his freshman year at Stanford, Quentin has been plunked 280 times, including 5 times in one game against Florida State which still stands as an NCAA record. Since his debut in 2006, he has been hit more than any MLB player at 116 HBP. Ouch.

Who is Kyle Blanks? The man behind the mask.

Kyle Blanks. 6'6", 265 lbs. Crushes the ball....when he hits it.

As a reference, Dave Roberts is 6'7''

And that has been the problem for Blanks, hitting the ball and staying healthy.

In 146 games in a Padres uniform, Kyle Blanks has batted .219 while fanning 154 times, or 1.05 strike outs per game. This would be accepted if he could put up numbers like Adam Dunn does, such as hitting 40 home runs a year while striking out 200 times.

Another thing holding Kyle Blanks back has been his injuries over the course of the last few years, missing large chunks of the last four seasons and leaving Padres fans wondering if Blanks could be effective if healthy full time. 425 major league at-bats, 20 HR's. Those seems like solid numbers and potential to be a great bat if he was around to play more. But the problem now is, Blanks seems to be injury free and he seems to be able to hit, and hit decently well to give more than just a glance at him.

During this years Spring Training, Blanks hit .354 in 65 at-bats in 30 games while only striking out 17 times. I feel this is a large enough sample size to suggest that Blanks is being able to put more contact with the ball without losing shades of his power with 5 doubles, 3 HRs and a .600 Slug %.

But the Padres have sent him down to Tucson to start the year. After the hot spring, I thought for sure he was going to make the roster, but back to AAA he went, where he has continued his hot hitting .294 in 17 at-bats, including a 460' blast in a game versus Salt Lake (Angels AAA).

Now the question is, if Blanks were to stay hot, where would you put him? Easy. We kill the Batman...I mean, we send Guzman down.

"Not bat boy, Bat MAN"

Nothing against Guzman, he just doesn't add much to the team. He can't really play the field better than anyone, he can't really hit well enough to justify a spot on the roster. His slugging last year was just .418 and career a .438. Just another singles hitter. Basically, just another Padres hitter.

 When comparing the two players, I just cannot see much upside to keeping Guzman around when he has had his chances instead of bringing Blanks up who has showed his upside and potential when he can stay consistently healthy. I want to see #88 up sometime soon so he can have a full chance at the MLB level once again. It could be a failed experiment, but with his ability to play 1B and the OF, the Padres wouldn't be any worse off if they had Jesus Boos-Man on the squad.

"Why can't we just sign Stanton and be done with this?"

I mean, I know sooner or later Quentin is going to get hurt anyways and Blanks will get his shot, but I think it should be sooner than later. As painful as it sounds, please Bud Black, call up Kyle Blanks.

Horseshoes and Hand grenades: Tough loss at Petco.

Well, this was probably the most exciting loss I have seen in a while at Petco Park as this game had a little bit of everything including a flare for the dramatic.

As I enter Petco today, I am greeted with a leadoff Carl Crawford home run as I make my way to my seat in right field. Cool. There goes Stults shutout streak at 5 innings. And Crawford's homerless streak. He hadn't hit one since August 2012.

"But look at my 2005 stats tho."

I thought the Padres were maybe going to catch a break today due to Billingsley hadn't started a game since August of last year. Wrong. He did well. 6IP, 1 ER, and a W.

But as I was saying earlier, the exciting stuff. I will touch up on the highlights:

-Padres pitchers struck out 8 and got out of several big jams late in the game. Bullpen went 4 shutout innings.
-Nick Hundley went 4-4. Yes, the starting catcher and Yasmani Grandal's replacement Nick Hundley. Kudos.
-Chris Denorfia was awesome once again. Went 2-5 with and RBI and threw a runner out at second from left. Oh yeah, he struck out in the 9th but still reached base and scored a run. Dude is sick.
-Yonder Alonso started the 9th inning at 2nd then moved to 3rd then moved back to second base as Kotsay pinch hit for Amarista in the 8th. Unfortunately, on Kotsay's PH AB, he was robbed of a potential RBI single by a diving catch by Skip Schumaker.

"Yes Yonder, 2nd base"

-Padres scored 2 runs in the ninth on clutch hitting and running only to fall short on a Yonder Alonso flyout with 2 on with a full count.

Enough bullet points and game recap, now for my personal analysis.

As fun as the game was, I was somewhat disappointed in the San Diego crowd in many ways. As usual, they got out-cheered by Dodger fans. By a longshot. Petco was quiet. They had a decent amount to cheer about tonight as well. They had 11 hits, solid pitching, and late inning near-heroics and I feel I could have had a conversation with a fan in the next section over.

Attendance was dreadful. This is a Dodgers series and Petco barely made it to half full with 22k fans tonight. I know it was a Wednesday, but that much of a drop off in one day after a big win? I want to know what it would have been like if they were playing the Rockies. Can't see it breaking 20,000 considering half the people were from LA.

Lastly, I was very confused by some of the calls by Bud Black this game. Failing to hit and run early in the game resulting in a double play, questionable substitution which resulted in bad placement by Alonso late in the game which almost cost a run and clearing the bench of all replacements. If the Padres did manage to send it to extras, they would have lost because they didn't have anyone left. Just odd few moves and throw in Bud Black pinch-hitting Eric Stults yesterday leaves me scratching my head. I guess he knows better than I do though.

2-6, but not as bad as it sounds. I can see some good blossoming. I want to see a lot more of Chris Denorfia and I want to see the bat of Nick Hundley continue to stay hot. Hold off for a tiny bit longer and our savior will be back in the lineup at third base.

Hits .400. Backs up Maybin

Go Padres.

Creating The Greatest Padre: This makes even Dr. Frankenstein queasy

So, the Padres may not exactly be strapped with All-Stars and first ballot Hall Of Famers. I get it, we are a budget ball club with budget players. I love the guys, but lets me honest, Cameron Maybin is no Mike Trout.

With the new ownership trying to secure some players this year (or at least that is what they told us?) I was thinking myself, why not keep what we've got and create a monster player? Well not everything of everyone just some essential part.

First, the body of Kyle Blanks. This dude is massive. Imagine the 6'5'' 265lb frame of Kyle Blanks? Makes Josh Hamilton look like a shrimp side by side. With this height, our dream player will be able to use his body for maximum power when up to bat and hit jacks for days. Blanks body is a no brainer.

Hall Of Fame. First Ballot.

Speed is also a no doubter as well. We will call on the wheels of Everth Cabrera to jet our near-giant around the diamond at rapid pace (of course, when he is not hitting bombs over the Frazee Paint can in left). Everth had 44 base steals last year, leading the NL, and with another added foot in size, I think this could make our baller push for a 50/50 season. Our guy will make the road runner look slow.

Arm? Straight Cash-ner. We want our guy throwing 100MPH from wherever we decide to place him.

Bat? Homer Headley gets the nod. The dude hit 31 home runs last year and knocked in a NL leading 115 RBIs. Imagine combining these monster stats with our moster body frame of Blanks? 40+ home runs would not be out of the question and the potential to make Miguel Cabrera's Triple Crown year look like a joke as we put up video game-like numbers. Prepare yourself for 10 years of walk-off home runs


Glove? Cameron Maybin. This guy is a human web-gem and with a twitter handle like @SpiderMayb24 this guy cruises around the field like a super hero making sweet catch after sweet catch, robbing the best in the game of big hits.




Now it is time for some key pieces Padres fans need to have in a player that go beyond the playing field.

Most importantly, the high socks of Chris Denorfia. This may not be a correct statistic by any means, but I swear, whenever he wears these, the Padres win percentage jumps to about .800! Also, they just look frekin' sweet.

• The moustache of Dale Thayer. It just makes our guy look like a man. 
• The durability of Mark Kotsay. We want our guy playing up to 40 and well beyond. Satchel Paige has got nothing on us.
• The dreads of Edison Volquez. Because, why not?
• The faith of the Friar. No matter if we are down, he will be there to believe in us.

And lastly, good attitude is a must and from what I have seen and heard, Will "The Thrill" Venable is a fan favorite and all around awesome dude when it comes to fans. He never turns down a chance to sign autographs and always has a smile on his face. We need that in our All-Star. No one wants to be a jerk.

"Did someone say my name?"

Okay, okay, so this may not be possible to create the ultimate player, but after writing this, I realize I love these guys no matter what they can or can't do. They are my Padres, and I will take them as is.

This message is Bud Black approved.

...unless somehow we can sign Steven Strasburg, I would take that guy.

GO PADRES!

Who Do You Got? A Pitiful Padre Pre-Season Prediction Post.

I am far from a professional baseball analyst, almost as far as I can get (currently, I professionally make sandwiches, but that is not the point), but I still get my chance to guess who is going to be taking down some sweet hardware this year. So, I am going to leave you with my pre-season predictions for the coveted end of the year trophies.


National League
MVP: Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds. It was cute last year when Buster Posey won the award, but I guess you could say he deserved it. First bold prediction: NO GIANT WILL WIN A MAJOR AWARD THIS YEAR. Not exactly bold, but back to my thought, Votto will take the crown. He should have a been a no-brainer last year. The guy was hitting .337 at the All-Star break until the pesky injury bug hit him and he never was really the same. Full season in uniform this year could return him to his 2010 MVP campaign days and bring something to cheer about in Cincy other than a first round playoff exit.

Cy Young: Steven Strasburg, Washington Nationals. Finally, they are letting Strasburg off his innings leash, which in my opinion, cost them a trip to the NLCS last year. This dude, and SDSU Alum, can throw a freakin' baseball really hard and do other amazing stuff with it, too. Several of the so called "professionals" have him as an outside chance to hit 300 strike outs this year. If Davey Johnson lets him go 220IP this year, this a no-brainer, even with Kershaw on the mound. Either way, we know it won't be a knuckle-baller taking down the trophy this year.

Rookie of the Year: Jedd Gyorko, San Diego Padres. Okay, okay, this might be a little bit of a homer pick, but I think the dude has a chance. With the injury bug hitting hard on the Padres (again...) he is getting a chance to come up early and show what he has got. No real high expectations of him and a predicted 4th place finish, so it may allow him to come in and feel very comfortable right away. He has signs of power as he hit for 30 HR, 100 RBI in the minors last year and he is going to start season off in his natural position at 3rd base. If he cuts down his K's (16 this spring), give him a shot. Lets bring home some hardware to Petco this year, Jedd.

Manager of the Year: Unfortunately, Don Mattingly, Los Angeles Dodgers. The guy basically has to screw up badly (somewhat similar to last year) not to get this award. Star studded team that will be potentially winning the NL West, make the playoffs for first time since 2009 and potentially a deep run into the playoffs. Don't mess up, Don. I am sure Bud Black would like to take that title home again if he can muster up some magic a few miles south.

American League

MVP: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers. Don't give me any of this Trout business. Dude hit for the Triple Crown last year AND his lineup got an upgrade from Brennan Boesch/Quintin Berry to Torii Hunter. More RBI chances in an already star-studded Detroit lineup. Sure, Trout is good, but his numbers went down a bit in September of last year. Will he be able to avoid a sophomore slump completely. What he did last year was incredible. I think that will be too hard to duplicate.

Cy Young: Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers. He lost the ultimate prize in dating Kate Upton this offseason, but did just collect $180 million contract that will make him a Tiger for life, so things are going well for the guy. Also, he was Cy Young in 2011, runner up last year and I think he wants to go out and prove he deserved that paycheck and that he is better than his 2012 World Series appearance

Rookie of the Year: Wil Myers, Tampa Bay Rays. Key stat in this decision: the Rays traded James Shields and Wade Davis for him AND he hit 37 bombs in the minors last year. If this kid gets a call up this year, he could get a trophy.

Manager of the Year: Ned Yost, Kansas City Royals. The last few years, people have been saying to look out for the Royals if their prospects get hot. Well, this year, they added some talented and sprinkled in the prospects in their $70M payroll. Vegas line has them for 79 wins, but if they can break .500 for the first time since 2003, the Royals manager will win a trophy.

Remember everyone, these are called predictions. They might not always be 100% accurate when things come to a close at the end of the 2013 campaign, but you better believe we are going to boast about our picks if the stars align and we did pick a few correctly out of a hat...eh.. I mean from our baseball knowledge.

To all: Happy opening day and enjoy this baseball season. It was long awaited and may your team or any other team besides the Yankees or Giants win the World Series. We just can't have that again.

Padres win 9-3 in Spring Training opener

First thing to be said: I am not going to do this every spring training game, I just thought in honor of a first game blowout victory, I would be willing to muster up some words of goodwill.

In my short synopsis of the game, it was basically over before it really began. The Padres drop a six-run dump on the Mariners which consisted of four hits, including a Jedd Gyorko Grand Slam, 4 walks, and a dropped fly ball. Cool Padres offense. Scored 3 more times knocking in 9 total on 10 hits.

Gyorko has the ability to spit venom which could prove valuable to earn a roster spot.

On the other side, San Diego's own,Sean O'Sullivan, did the Padres well giving them exactly what they would want in a Spring Training start going two hitless, scoreless innings.


So, what now? I know it is just one swing, but what if Jedd has an amazing spring? He has power, which we saw in Tucson last year, belting 24 bombs. Also, he has been taking strides to become a good asset on defense.

“I’ve always been known as a hitter first. I also want to be known for my defense and all-around play." 

So, this could prove to be a tough decision for Buddy Black. Do you bring him up to start the season, or hand over the job to Forsythe? And lets say they get more bad news about Evereth Cabrera's potential PED mishap in Miami? If I was a better man, and I am, I would say the Gyorko may start the season with the Padres, if the numbers and the defense can back it up.

As far as O'Sullivan, the pitching rotation is wide open as far as I am concerned for the maybe 3 and definitely 4-5 spots in the rotation. A good spring for him may prove valuable, and this start only helped put his name further in the mix of 10 guys.

Hey, Bret, I am the coach you know? I got this...

All in all, good to see a Padres win and start the season off with a bang. First place in the Cactus League! Hey, I will take what I can get.

Only two secure pitching spots? Let the Hunger Games begin!

And may the odds be ever in your favor.

The Padres opened up spring training yesterday with an astonishing 36 pitchers, all fighting for spots on the roster. Right now, according to Corey Brock, Padres beat writer, only Eddy Volquez and Clayton Richard have secure spots in the starting rotation for this upcoming year.

For a team that had 15 different pitchers start a game in 2012, this means that 13 of those starters from last year are now going to be fighting for 3 slots in the 2013 rotation. Who will they be?

Lets examine, first off, the 13 candidates:

RK	Player	Team	W	L	ERA	G	GS▼	SV	SVO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG	WHIP
1	Richard, C	SD	14	14	3.99	33	33	0	0	218.2	228	110	97	31	42	107	.267	1.23
2	Volquez, E	SD	11	11	4.14	32	32	0	0	182.2	160	88	84	14	105	174	.236	1.45
3	Bass, A	SD	2	8	4.73	24	15	1	1	97.0	89	59	51	10	39	80	.243	1.32
3	Marquis, J	SD	6	7	4.04	15	15	0	0	93.2	94	53	42	14	28	79	.258	1.30
5	Stults, E	SD	8	3	2.92	18	14	0	0	92.1	86	36	30	7	23	51	.249	1.18
6	Ohlendorf, R	SD	4	4	7.77	13	9	0	0	48.2	62	44	42	7	24	39	.304	1.77
7	Werner, A	SD	2	3	5.58	8	8	0	0	40.1	45	26	25	5	14	35	.285	1.46
8	Wells, K	SD	2	4	4.58	7	7	0	0	37.1	41	23	19	6	20	19	.283	1.63
9	Kelly, C	SD	2	3	6.21	6	6	0	0	29.0	39	23	20	5	10	26	.322	1.69
9	Suppan, J	SD	2	3	5.28	6	6	0	0	30.2	34	19	18	4	13	7	.281	1.53
11	Cashner, A	SD	3	4	4.27	33	5	0	4	46.1	42	23	22	5	19	52	.244	1.32
11	Luebke, C	SD	3	1	2.61	5	5	0	0	31.0	28	10	9	1	8	23	.233	1.16
11	Wieland, J	SD	0	4	4.55	5	5	0	0	27.2	26	16	14	5	9	24	.245	1.27
14	Moseley, D	SD	0	0	9.00	1	1	0	0	5.0	5	5	5	1	2	4	.263	1.40
14	Stauffer, T	SD	0	0	5.40	1	1	0	0	5.0	7	4	3	1	3	5	.333	2.00

Of those, as said earlier, the first two are your #1 and #2 guys on the roster, and you have a few that made spot starts out of the bullpen, so we can eliminate them. Now that leaves us with with about 5 other real potential candidates.

According to Padres.com, this is the depth chart. I think #3 is most likely correct as Stults put up a solid 8-3 record with a sub 3 ERA and should be a lock in the rotation, but after that, I feel these pitchers are literally battling for the Hunger Games trophy.

Time to make your case. Lets start with Tyson Ross.

Ross came to the Padres this offseason in a trade with the A's where the Friar got him and infielder A.J. Kirby for Padres utility man Andy Parrino and lefty Andrew Werner (if you had him in your Padres 2013 starting rotation pool at work, scratch his name off the list).

In Ross' three big league seasons with the A's, he has put up, well lets say, less than stellar numbers. He boasts a 6-18 record with a 5.33 ERA and 1.60 WHIP (including last years 2-11/6.50/1.80). How the Padres project him in the starting rotation? It is beyond me. So far, he hasn't posted anything significant besides a 6.18 K/9IP that would give me any indication he is ready for an instant slot into the rotation. I know I am not Buddy Black, but I would ship him down to the bottom of my list as of now.

Next, Anthony Bass.

This guy is one of my favorites. It may be because I tweet with him on occasion or the fact my girlfriend and him share an alma mater (GO WAYNE STATE WARRIORS!), but he didn't come off such a hot season last year neither. Posting a 2-8 record with a 4.73 ERA and 1.32 WHIP. Not exactly eye popping numbers either, but Bass does have an upside. He is only 25 and last year was his first real big league experience. He had 80Ks in 92IP giving him a 7.42K/9IP. Bass walked 39 runners last year, so if he can get his control down, and focus in around the strike zone, in theory, his Ks will go up and his walks will go down. Based on potential, Bass has my nod at the #4 spot in the rotation.

#5 spot, now who to put in? A rookie or a veteran. That is the argument for this slot as Casey Kelly battles Jason Marquis. To keep inline with the Hunger Games theme a career tribute vs. Sector 12 (I am sorry if you don't read the books, go get some SparkNotes to fully understand this post).

Marquis came over midway through last season and started 15 games for the Padres going 6-7 with a 4.04 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. Once again, not eye popping, but solid numbers for a number 5. He has been consistent his whole career and the Padres did just throw him a $3 million/1-year deal, showing they have confidence in the 34-year old and have invested in him to be a starter.

Casey Kelly is a question mark. In 6 starts, Kelly went 2-3 with an above 6 ERA. Whatever. He is a rookie and a highly touted one at that. But, that being said, is he ready to make a roster spot? The Padres have him tagged as #6 and what I feel should should be opening day starter for the Tucson Padres. He has potential to do great things, as any 1st Rd draft pick does, but I don't think he is ready to do them quite yet.

So as far as opening day goes, my pitching rotation as head coach of the Padres (well if I was....) would be: Richard, Volquez, Stults, Bass, Marquis.

Still, it is to remain a mystery until everyone is through with rehab. Right now, the 23-year old Joe Wieland, former promotional jersey giveaway Cory Luebke and the fireballin', deer huntin', potential game closin'? Andrew Cashner are all out, but all 3 have started games for the Padres. Could one of them land in the rotation? Definitely. Let us fans hope that every pitcher pitches amazingly in hopes of not losing there spot, because right now, we have about 10 guys for 5 spots.

Again, let the odds be ever in your favor.

I know Jennifer Lawrence isn't in our rotation, but would that be awesome?

Go Padres.