Notes: Grisham's hamstring, Paddack's curve
Anthony Castrovince
@castrovinceCenter fielder Trent Grisham will be out of the Padres¡¯ lineup for at least a couple of days, but the team is hopeful that the left hamstring injury he suffered Thursday is not serious enough to hold him out for more than one week.
Manager Jayce Tingler said Grisham¡¯s injury is a Grade 1 sprain in the hamstring.
¡°He was walking well [Friday morning], he was moving around,¡± Tingler said. ¡°When I saw him, he was going into the training room just to heat up and do his treatment and all that. He thought, I think his words were, ¡®I expected it to be more sore in the morning,¡¯ and he was surprisingly feeling pretty good.
¡°We¡¯re hopeful it¡¯s a couple days. If it¡¯s a couple days, that¡¯s great. If it¡¯s a week, we feel pretty good that it¡¯s got a chance to be pretty mild.¡±
Grisham is a vital player for the Padres not just for the Gold Glove defense and the top-of-the-lineup production he provided in 2020 but because of the relative lack of insurance behind him in center field. Because Brian O¡¯Grady and Jorge Mateo are viewed more as bench pieces, it could fall on utilityman Jurickson Profar to serve as Grisham¡¯s true backup in center field.
Profar has shown a lot of versatility in his big league career but logged just one game in center.
¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯re in that situation [of needing a replacement for Grisham],¡± Tingler said. ¡°But you think of all scenarios and the things that could happen. We¡¯ve got a lot of confidence in a couple guys, and the first guy who comes to mind is probably Profar.¡±
Put me in, coach
It was Tommy Pham in center field for Friday¡¯s game against the A¡¯s, and it¡¯s been Pham in the lineup a lot lately.
Veteran players typically filter in and out of the lineup during the exhibition season, particularly prior to the last week to 10 days before the regular season. Yet Pham has now started seven of the last eight Cactus games either in the outfield or at DH.
¡°His off days, when he¡¯s not in the game, his workload is probably two to three times amount greater than the game,¡± Tingler explained. ¡°Honestly, we¡¯ve got to be careful with giving him too many days off, because otherwise he¡¯ll put a heavy workload on us.¡±
Tingler said Pham, who has a rare eye disorder called keratoconus, recently received a new shipment of the contact lenses he needs to properly track pitches.
¡°It's a somewhat complicated process, but he is on top of it,¡± Tingler said. ¡°He¡¯s been doing this a long time and he knows which lens work and which ones don¡¯t.¡±
Curve a focus for Paddack
In his third start of the Cactus League season, Chris Paddack was finally tagged for his first run when he gave up a groundball RBI single to the A¡¯s Carlos Perez in the third inning of Friday¡¯s game. Nevertheless, the three innings of work were a continuation of what has been a strong and efficient camp for Paddack, who is trying to shake off a disappointing 2020 season in which his ERA (4.73) and WHIP (1.22) were both significantly elevated from his 2019 rookie breakout (3.33 ERA, 0.98 WHIP).
But the key to the spring -- and perhaps to Paddack¡¯s career -- is the continued development of a curveball that he can use to keep the opponent guessing. His 2019 season was predominantly the product of his four-seamer and changeup. That success did not carry over into 2020, and Paddack acknowledges the curve, which he threw just 7.4 percent of the time last year, is important.
¡°It¡¯s definitely going to be a weapon that I have to bring out multiple times in a game,¡± he said, ¡°to show teams that they have to respect that pitch.¡±
Paddack felt good about his curve Friday.
¡°It¡¯s coming along,¡± he said. ¡°I always say it¡¯s a confidence pitch. But it¡¯s getting better. The more I throw it in spring, the better it will be in the season.¡±
Oppo for Abrams
Shortstop CJ Abrams is baseball¡¯s No. 8 overall prospect per MLB Pipeline because of what scouts call ¡°loud tools¡± -- athleticism, speed and pure hitting ability. And in Friday¡¯s game, he had a loud bat.
Abrams pinch-ran for Fernando Tatis Jr. mid-game, then, much like Tatis in the first inning, smacked a no-doubt-about-it home run in the sixth. The left-handed-hitting Abrams crushed a first-pitch fastball from Daulton Jefferies.
The oppo blast, which broke a 1-1 tie, was the first of the spring for the 20-year-old Abrams, who spent 2020 at the Padres¡¯ alternate site. Abrams was the sixth overall pick in the 2019 Draft.
Up next
Left-hander Adrian Morejon gets the start when the Padres face the D-backs at 12:10 p.m. PT on Saturday at Peoria Sports Complex. Arizona will counter with right-hander Josh Green.