The San Diego Padres window of contention starts in 2020, so what will the starting rotation look like come Opening Day?
The San Diego Padres are going to be a team to watch in 2020, as players like Tommy Pham, Drew Pomeranz, and Trent Grisham will be in the brown and gold. Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer will look to rebound after sluggish 2019 seasons. But today let’s look at what the rotation should look like on Opening Day when the Padres host the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park.
Honorable Mentions: MacKenzie Gore and Luis Patino
Pitching prospects MacKenzie Gore and Luis Patino are going to be at the top of the rotation hopefully by season’s end, but for this exercise, they are not in the rotation because I do not believe they will make the team out of camp in 2020.
With Eric Lauer traded earlier in the offseason to the Milwaukee Brewers in return for Grisham and another starter, Joey Lucchesi should slot into the five spot in the rotation.
He has definitely shown the ability to eat some innings at worst for the San Diego Padres, and his best pitch –the churve–is something unique that can be used to San Diego’s advantage.
In 2019, he won 10 games and lost 10 games while pitching to a 4.18 ERA in 30 starts.
While Lucchesi might not have the fifth spot totally locked down, the rotation is right-handed heavy so Jayce Tingler will likely want to have a lefty like Lucchesi in the rotation.