MLB: 5 teams that may shock us all in a unique 2020 season
By Nick Stevens
The San Diego Padres are building one of the more exciting teams in MLB.
It won’t be long before the San Diego Padres are the team to beat in the National League. Go ahead and bookmark that statement.
Andy Green is out and Jayce Tingler is in as the man in San Diego with a roster full of talented pieces ready to take the next step. Fernando Tatis Jr.is healthy again and will be at full strength, forming a lethal left side of the infield with Manny Machado.
Behind the plate, the Padres still have one of the top defensive backstops in the game in Austin Hedges. A very young yet promising pitching staff will have the opportunity to develop with a key asset in Hedges helping them along the way.
San Diego’s outfield will look a lot different in 2020. Hunter Renfroe and Manuel Margot are out, Trent Grisham and Tommy Pham are in. Pham’s reliability at the plate and on-base skills will be a huge asset in San Diego. The Padres have struggled to put runners on base and it’s hard to win games without that key piece to the puzzle. Pham provides a huge boost in that area.
And what about Franchy Cordero? For yet another season we must ask the question, is this the year he breaks out? Injuries have hampered his career, but Cordero is still an extremely talented piece with the ability to add yet another dimension to the San Diego lineup.
As for the starting rotation, the Padres will look to Chris Paddack and his truly elite changeup and Dinelson Lamet’s wipeout slider and extreme strikeout rate to lead the way. A combination of Garrett Richards, Joey Lucchesi, Zach Davies, and Cal Quantrill will fill out the rest of the rotation.
In a shortened 60-game schedule, the Padres won’t have to rely on their young starters to work deep into outings and can rely heavily on their strong and deep bullpen to get through games. If they really want to go all-in, uber-elite pitching prospects MacKenzie Gore and Luis Patino are both part of the player pool and would have been close to joining the majors in a normal 2020.
Expect to see a truly exciting roster take the field in 2020 as the Padres continue to build towards something special.