SAN DIEGO — As Cactus League play kicks into full gear, A.J. Preller and his baseball operations crew will have to start narrowing down the list of players who will have a chance at breaking camp with the Major League squad to end Spring Training. With stars heading off to play for their respective countries, here’s how Padres camp stands as of Friday evening:
Starting rotation and bench races heat up
Starter Randy Vásquez built off the impressive end to his 2025 season on Friday against the Rockies. He struck out four without allowing a hit through 2 2/3 scoreless frames in San Diego’s 3-2 loss to Colorado. Vásquez noticeably made a leap in increasing his fastball velocity last September and has kept it going, sitting 95 to 97 mph in his first Cactus League start.
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Former Cleveland top prospect Triston McKenzie has struggled in his first few innings for the Friars. The hard-throwing righty has shown flashes of the electric stuff he possessed as a farmhand, but has fallen short so far due to lack of command on his pitches. He’s given up five earned runs in 2 2/3 innings thus far.
In 11 at-bats, infielder Jose Miranda has impressed. He’s hitting .545 with a 1.615 OPS, two doubles, a home run, and six RBIs. The former Minnesota Twin is competing for a bench spot along with returning veteran Ty France and KBO new-comer Sung-Mun Song.
For King and Country
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Superstars Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. collected their final at-bats before heading off to join Team Dominican Republic for the World Baseball Classic. Machado collected an RBI on a sacrifice fly on Friday against the Rockies, but had quite an afternoon on Thursday after launching two no-doubt homers, including a grand slam against the Cincinnati Reds. He tallied six RBIs and two runs in the contest. Talk about getting hot at the right time.
Other Padres stars heading off to the WBC include standout closer Mason Miller for Team USA, Xander Bogaerts will play shortstop for the Netherlands, relievers Alek Jacob and Ron Marinaccio will throw for team Italy, while lefty Wandy Peralta also suits up for the Dominican Republic.
Musgrove and Canning making progress
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Veteran right-hander Joe Musgrove is progressing nicely and is on track to be a full-go for Opening Day. After missing the entirety of the 2025 campaign due to Tommy John surgery, Musgrove arrived in Peoria with sights set on once again toeing the slab for his native ball club.
He recorded nine outs after facing 12 batters in a simulated game on Thursday morning, looking exceptionally sharp. Various reports indicate he was reaching up to 95 mph on the fastball, while spinning the slider and sinker with intense movement.
Musgrove’s last big league start came in October 2024 against the Atlanta Braves in the National League Wild Card Series. He struck out four and gave up one run across 3 2/3 innings.
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Freshly signed Frair Griffin Canning showed positive signs of healing, continuing agility work with Padres strength and conditioning staff. He’s also been able to throw in the bullpen while working closely with pitching coach Ruben Niebla. Canning is recovering from a ruptured left achilles injury sustained last June. San Diego expects him to be game ready by early to mid May.
Is sale imminent?
In non-related Spring Training news, a resolution to the impending sale of the Padres might be nearing a conclusion. On Thursday evening, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that five groups have submitted a first round of bids for the franchise. Among them are José E. Feliciano, Dan Friedkin, and Joe Lacob.
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Feliciano, is a businessman whose private equity firm holds a majority share of Premier League club Chelsea F.C. Friedkin, a native San Diegan, also owns the Premier League team Everton F.C., along with several other business ventures. Lacob, the more popular name of the three, is owner of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors and has expressed interest in purchasing a Major League franchise, after attempting at acquisitions of the Los Angeles Angels and Athletics.
Intriguingly, The Athletic’s Dennis Lin followed by reporting that Vuori CEO Joe Kudla and NFL legend Drew Brees were one of the five groups to bid on the Padres, but later confirmed that they ultimately did not submit a formal offer by Wednesday’s deadline. Kudla and Brees have however, expressed interest in with one of the other groups in the bidding process.
Per Sportico, the franchise has an estimated value of $2.31 billion. Industry expectations are for the Seidler family to fetch north of $5 billion once the sale is completed.
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