On this rainy day in Southern California, the Storm announced their initial roster.

The Padres opened up their season this past Sunday, but the full-season minor league clubs have to wait until Thursday. The Storm are all set to start playing their games with the announcement of their opening roster today. Here is the official announcement in pdf form. Padres fans interested in making the trip up the 15 will take note of 3 top prospects who will be sporting eyeballs on their caps: 2013 1st round pick Hunter Renfroe will roam the outfield, 2011 1st round pick Joseph Ross (brother of Tyson) will join the rotation as will 2012 1st round pick Zach Eflin.

Minorleagueball.com's John Sickels just came out with his San Diego Padres Top 20 Prospects for 2014 and there are a couple mentioned in that article beyond the aforementioned 3 that will also play for the Padres' California League affiliate:

• Aussie Corey Adamson will patrol the OF with Renfroe. He is a speedster that stole 32 bases last year between Fort Wayne and Lake Elsinore. He still just 22 years old despite being signed by the Friars all the way back in 2008.
• Gabriel Quintana is a year younger (7 months actually, but won't be 22 until September) and a lot bigger (6'3" 215 lbs) and will man 3B for the club. He batted over .300 and slugged 9 HRs last year for the Tin Caps in what is considered a pitcher's league.

I can also note a couple others that are interesting prospects to follow:

• RHP Ben Paullus was acquired this offseason from the Yankees in a deal that sent Dean Anna (who made their club as a UT INF). He will work in relief for the club and might be the team's closer.
  
• RHP Trevor Gott is another candidate for that job and was mentioned in Sickels' preliminary list of Padres prospects.
  
• RHP Cody Hebner will join Ross and Eflin in the rotation for his second go-around with the team. He had a solid 2013, so if he cuts back on the walks a bit in 2014 then he could be a promotion candidate for AA.
• LHP Chris Nunn has shown the ability to miss bats and you know the Padres have their eye on any southpaw who can do that out of the 'pen.
• 2B Casey McElroy missed all of last season with an injury but hit over .300 and had an OBP over .400 in his stint with Lake Elsinore two years ago. He's blocked in AA by Cory Spangenberg and probably needs some time to get used to playing again. He could be a midseason promotion candidate should Spangenberg jump to AAA first.
  
• OF Alberth Martinez had an excellent year with Fort Wayne last year, but he was also repeating that level at age 22. 23 is by no means old, unless you are a prospect in High A would did not play college ball. So the pressure is on this Dominican to continue to make noise with his bat before the Padres have to decide if they should protect him from the Rule 5 draft in a couple of years.

A couple more things to note. I think many expected 2012 1st round pick Max Fried to be playing for the Storm this year. I still think that we will, but he is likely being held back due to the injury he suffered during Spring Training. There is currently no timetable for his return. The other notes are with regards to players who were on the Storm last year, but are not on this roster. That should mean they got promoted to San Antonio (that roster has not been announced yet). SS Jace Peterson, OF Jeremy Baltz, OF Kyle Gaedele, OF Travis Jankowski, RHP Johnny Barbato, RHP James Needy and LHP Dennis O`Grady would all seem to be on their way to the Texas League.

Hopefully we will hear about rosters for the El Paso Chihuahuas, San Antonio Missions and Fort Wayne TinCaps soon.

The Padres' AA affiliate has released its initial roster of players

The San Antonio Missions today released the roster that will take on the Springfield Cardinals Thursday April 3. The headliners of the team come as no surprise since they all have played for the Missions previously. RHP Matt Wisler, C Austin Hedges and OF Rymer Liriano will all call Wolff Stadium home again in 2014. For all three  it will be the first time that they begin a season in the Texas League. Liriano would have already done that, but he missed all of last year recovering from Tommy John surgery after earning a midseason promotion to San Antonio in 2012.  Hedges, Wisler and Liriano were recently ranked as the #1, #2 and #4 prospects in the Padres' organization by John Sickels of SBNation's minorleagueball.com. You can expect Matt Wisler to start the aforementioned opening game on Thursday.

In addition to the big three there are some other ranked prospects that will suit up for the Missions:

• SS Jace Peterson was ranked #6. The 22 year old earned a promotion from Lake Elsinore with his solid glove, patient bat and base swiping speed that he looks to carry over to this season against better competition.
• RHP Jesse Hahn was ranked #9. He has impressed anyone who has watched him pitch since being acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays. He should join Wisler in the rotation and finally get to work some longer outings as a starting pitcher.
• 2B Cory Spangenberg also missed the rankings and got a C+ grade. He returns to San Antonio after getting promoted to the club midseason last year. The speedy 10th overall selection in the 2011 draft needs to work on getting on base more and getting some pop out of his bat. There is talk that the team may make him a utility player to supplant (or complement) Alexi Amarista some day.
  

Others to note:

• RHP Johnny Barbato gets a promotion despite a tough year with the Storm last season. Before that he got a C+ grade from Sickels and went to camp with the Padres as a Non-Roster Invitee. He is looking for a bounceback year, but the Padres are pushing him with this promotion. He's still just 21.
  
• LHP Frank Garces is in a similar boat as Barbato. He was also given a C+ grade a year ago, but struggled with the Storm. The Dominican southpaw already turned 24 and is on the smaller side as far as pitchers go at 5'11" 175 lbs. He should be in the starting rotation with Wisler and Hahn.
• RHP James Needy did not struggle last year with Lake Elsinore. The Santee native had a good enough year to earn a promotion to the Missions' playoff roster last season. He is another candidate for the rotation with Wisler, Hahn and Garces.
• RHP Adys Portillo has been in the Padres organization a long time now. The Padres had him on their 40 man roster for a while, but designated him for assignment and sent him back to AA once he cleared waivers. Once a starter, he is now a reliever with a lot to prove. He is still just 22 years old, despite this being his 7th year playing in the Padres' organization.
• OF Kyle Gaedele played all 3 OF positions for the Storm last year and had a decent year with the stick. The versatility is a plus, but players decent with years at the plate in the Cal League are a dime a dozen. The 24 year old will be challenged in AA.
• OF Travis Jankowski was 44th overall selection in 2012 draft and has moved up quickly. He plays an excellent CF and steals tons of bases (71 last year for Lake Elsinore). The bat can be a little light though as his career slugging percentage is south of .400. The Padres are being quite aggressive with the both Gaedele and Jankowski.
• OF Yeison Asencio is on the 40 man roster and returns to AA San Antonio after being promoted to them midseason last year. The team still has some belief in him after some solid years following the revelation that his name is not Yoan Alcantera and was not as young as he had claimed to be.

After seeing both the High A and AA rosters, I'm a bit confused as to what happened to Jeremy Baltz (#Baltz) who was excellent for Lake Elsinore last year, but is not on either roster. It would appear that RHP Leonel Campos, who was a Non-Roster Invitee with the Padres this Spring, will be in AAA. LHP Juan Pablo Oramas who was with San Antonio last year and is on the Padres' 40 man roster has already been announced as an El Paso Chihuahua. C Rocky Gale got a cup of coffee with the AAA club last year and looks headed to the new AAA club this year.

Kershaw was placed on the disabled list on Sunday, retroactive to March 23. He will be reevaluated in 2-3 weeks.

SAN DIEGO -- Clayton Kershaw is eligible to be activated from the 15-day disabled list as early as April 8, but the Dodgers ace won't be ready in time to start next Tuesday against the Tigers at Dodger Stadium.

After consultation with team physician Dr. Neal ElAttache, Kershaw will be placed on a light rehab schedule for the next two to three weeks with what the team calls a "submaximal throwing program."

Kershaw could miss several weeks, as a timetable for his return won't be determined until after that rehab is complete.

The left-hander, who is sidelined with inflammation of the teres major muscle in the left side of the upper part of his back, was scheduled to throw on Tuesday but Dodgers trainers nixed the idea.

"We're still a little bit on hold with Clayton," manager Don Mattingly said before Tuesday afternoon's game against the Padres. "In general the throwing is not meant to test him, but to keep his shoulder moving while he's not able to pitch."

Kershaw last threw on Saturday in Anaheim, where he felt tightness in his back after 27 throws of increasing intensity and distance, topping out at 100 feet. He is scheduled to resume throwing on Wednesday, though the Dodgers are being cautious with their prized left-hander.

Kershaw won't be allowed to throw at increased velocity until after the two to three weeks is up, when he will then be reevaluated by Dr. ElAttrache.

"When's this thing going to let us know? We can't push it and make the decision on when he's going to be ready," Mattingly said. "We're trying to let him throw his way back."

Kershaw last pitched on March 22 in Australia, when he got the win after allowing one run in 6... innings in his fourth straight Opening Day start. As more and more distance builds from Kershaw's last time on a mound, Mattingly said a minor league rehabilitation start might be needed before Kershaw is activated from the DL.

"He's getting far enough away to where he's going to need a progression. We're still at the point where he can't throw X amount of distance," Mattingly said. "This thing is going to take some time."

Zack Greinke makes his 2014 debut on the mound for the Dodgers on Tuesday afternoon against the Padres at Petco Park in San Diego.

SAN DIEGO -- Clayton Kershaw is eligible to be activated from the 15-day disabled list as early as April 8, but the Dodgers ace won't be ready in time to start next Tuesday against the Tigers at Dodger Stadium.

After consultation with team physician Dr. Neal ElAttache, Kershaw will be placed on a light rehab schedule for the next two to three weeks with what the team calls a "submaximal throwing program."

Kershaw could miss several weeks, as a timetable for his return won't be determined until after that rehab is complete.

The left-hander, who is sidelined with inflammation of the teres major muscle in the left side of the upper part of his back, was scheduled to throw on Tuesday but Dodgers trainers nixed the idea.

"We're still a little bit on hold with Clayton," manager Don Mattingly said before Tuesday afternoon's game against the Padres. "In general the throwing is not meant to test him, but to keep his shoulder moving while he's not able to pitch."

Kershaw last threw on Saturday in Anaheim, where he felt tightness in his back after 27 throws of increasing intensity and distance, topping out at 100 feet. He is scheduled to resume throwing on Wednesday, though the Dodgers are being cautious with their prized left-hander.

Kershaw won't be allowed to throw at increased velocity until after the two to three weeks is up, when he will then be reevaluated by Dr. ElAttrache.

"When's this thing going to let us know? We can't push it and make the decision on when he's going to be ready," Mattingly said. "We're trying to let him throw his way back."

Kershaw last pitched on March 22 in Australia, when he got the win after allowing one run in 6... innings in his fourth straight Opening Day start. As more and more distance builds from Kershaw's last time on a mound, Mattingly said a minor league rehabilitation start might be needed before Kershaw is activated from the DL.

"He's getting far enough away to where he's going to need a progression. We're still at the point where he can't throw X amount of distance," Mattingly said. "This thing is going to take some time."

SAN DIEGO -- Yasiel Puig homered early, and the Dodgers bullpen came through late to make a winner out of Zack Greinke in his 2014 debut, a 3-2 victory over the Padres at Petco Park in San Diego.

Greinke allowed two runs on two hits and two walks in his five innings in his first start of the season, with five strikeouts. He threw 94 pitches.

The Dodgers jumped on Ian Kennedy early, with a Carl Crawford single to right field followed by Puig's home run off the Western Metal Supply Co. building for a two-run lead just two batters into the game. Puig's first home run of the season traveled an estimated 410 feet.

The Dodgers have scored first in all four games this season.

Juan Uribe helped tack on another run with a two-out double to center in the fourth inning and advanced to third thanks to this throw from second baseman Jedd Gyorko.

After a walk to A.J. Ellis, Dee Gordon drove home Uribe for a 3-0 lead.

Greinke retired the first 10 batters he faced in his first start of the year, but ran into the buzz saw that is Seth Smith with one out in the fourth. Smith homered to right field, his second in as many games, for the Padres' first run.

A walk, a single and a wild pitch gave the Padres a second run of the game in the fifth inning, Greinke's final frame.

The Padres put the tying run on base in both the sixth and eighth innings against southpaw relievers Paco Rodriguez and J.P. Howell, respectively, but both times saw their pseudo-rallies cut down by a Chase Headley ground ball double play.

The Padres loaded the bases against Kenley Jansen in the ninth, including having the tying run on third base with one out, but he escaped the jam for his second save of the season, striking out pinch-hitter Nick Hundley on four pitches to end it.

Notes

• Dodgers starting pitchers have a 1.14 ERA this season in 23⅔ innings, with Greinke having allowed two of the three runs.
• Ian Kennedy needed 103 pitches to get through his five innings, the third starting pitcher in four games against the Dodgers to not last past the fifth inning.
• Greinke in five starts against the Padres since joining the Dodgers has allowed six runs in 31 innings (a 1.74 ERA), with 27 strikeouts and seven walks. The Dodgers are 5-0 in those starts, with four one-run victories.
• Brian Wilson, who allowed three runs to take the loss on Sunday, did not pitch Tuesday night nor was he in the Dodgers bullpen during the game.

Tuesday particulars

Home runs: Yasiel Puig (1); Seth Smith (2)

WP - Zack Greinke (1-0): 5 IP, 2 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts

LP - Ian Kennedy (0-1): 5 IP, 5 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts

Sv - Kenley Jansen (1): 1 IP, 2 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

The Padres lost a tight game to the Dodgers today. Our boys kept it close, but they were hurt by going an abysmal 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position. Chase Headley was emblematic of the Friars' offensive woes today, going 0 for 4 while grounding into a pair of double plays.

Ian Kennedy ran into trouble early on, giving up a leadoff single to Carl Crawford. Yasiel Puig followed that with a monster home run to left field. He cruised for a while after that, retiring 11 of the next 12 batters. He got into a jam once more in the fourth inning, serving up a double to Juan Uribe. He then walked A.J. Ellis, bringing up Dee Gordon. That should have been a good move, but somehow Gordon hit an RBI single.

Seth Smith answered that run shortly after, hitting his second home run of the season to end Zack Greinke's perfect game. The Padres struck Greinke again in the fifth inning. Well, rather, the Dodgers (mostly) struck themselves. Jedd Gyorko walked, then moved into scoring position on the first of Will Venable's two singles of the day. Gyorko went on to third courtesy of a ground out off the bat of Chris Denorfia. A passed ball by Ellis made the final 90 feet easy for the Mountaineer to cover.

That was, unfortunately, the last of the scoring. Both bullpens were lights out, though Kenley Jansen did load the bases with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Nick Hundley wasn't up to the the task, striking out to end the game. Tyson Ross will take on Dan Haren tomorrow at 7:10 PM. Win the game, win the series!

Wonko was the chattiest today, but abara was Miss Congeniality with 7 recs.

Led by an awesome pitching staff and two great power hitters, the Smokies look poised for another great season in 2014.

Every year when I do these team previews, the Tennessee Smokies are the highlight of the system. This year is a little different, because while the Tennessee Smokies are loaded with talent, the other teams in the system have a little talent too. Last year's Smokies team went 76-62 and made the playoffs, so most of those players are off to Iowa this year. (This is a bit of a change under Theo Epstein from what went on under Jim Hendry, who preferred to promote talent directly from Tennessee and use Iowa as a taxi squad of veterans who could be injury replacements without disrupting their development.)

The Tennessee Smokies are likely still the belle of the ball, however. Although that Baez kid has left Tennessee for Iowa, the Smokies do boast two of the "Core Four" prospects that the front office has placed their hopes and dreams in. Beyond that, the Smokies boast some of the most impressive collection of pitching talent that I have seen in my years of doing these lists. (A low bar, admittedly.) That impressive Daytona team that steamrolled its way to the Florida State League title last year? Most of those guys are here this year.

The Tennessee Smokies are managed by baseball lifer Buddy Bailey, who is now in his fourth season as the Smokies manager. Bailey has won over 1800 games as a minor league manager. Desi Wilson is back for his second season as the Smokies hitting coach and his seventh season in the Cubs system. The new pitching coach is Storm Davis, who received rave reviews for the job he did as the Daytona Cubs pitching coach last season. He's staying with most of the same pitchers and the hope is that they will continue to thrive under Davis.

Pitching:

For now, and a bit more on this later, the star of this pitching staff is C.J. Edwards, the star prospect that Cubs got from Texas in the Matt Garza trade. Edwards' stuff is electric. His fastball sits 93-95 with good movement. He's got a nasty curve and a slider that he can use to keep hitters from sitting on the other two pitches, as well as a changeup that he's still working on. That's top of the rotation stuff. Not only does he miss bats (striking out 155 batters in 116 innings last year), he keeps the ball in the park. He's only allowed one home run as a professional. His combined ERA between Hickory and Daytona last season was 1.86. Kudos to the Rangers scouting team who found him in the 48th round of the 2011 draft.

If there's anything wrong with Edwards, it's in his nickname and what it represents. He's called "The String Bean Slinger" because he is so thin and lanky. Last season he asked Daytona manager Dave Keller "What's up, skip?" and Keller shot back "Your weight, hopefully." There are durability concerns about Edwards. His size and build have led to a lot of comparisons to Oil Can Boyd.

Corey Black is the pitcher the Cubs got from the Yankees for Alfonso Soriano, and GM Brian Cashman said he really didn't want to part with Black. Black throws even harder than Edwards, although his off-speed stuff isn't nearly as good. Since he was mostly just a fastball guy when the Cubs got him, most of us thought he was ticketed for the bullpen. But he's worked hard with Storm Davis on his curve and change and he now has a good chance to remain a starter. He certainly looked like a starter in the Florida State League playoffs last year. Between Tampa and Daytona, Black led the FSL with 116 strikeouts last season. With improved control, he could be a mid-rotation starter. More likely, he ends up in the back of the rotation or as a set-up man out of the pen.

The Cubs got Ivan Pineyro from the Nationals for Scott Hairston last year, and you can be forgiven for thinking that any pitcher gotten in trade for Scott Hairston would be a non-prospect, but you'd be wrong. Pineyro has a plus fastball and a changeup that's getting there. If he can develop his change a little more, he could be a no. 3 or 4 starter. He had a 3.40 ERA in eight starts for the D-Cubs last year, striking out 38 and walking only nine in 45 innings. The Nationals praised his toughness after he was hit in the jaw with a line drive in 2012.

The fourth musketeer of this group, the d'Artagnan so to speak, is Pierce Johnson. Like d'Artagnan, he's going to have to join the Smokies later as the Cubs are keeping him in extended spring training for now. But there are those who think he's an even better prospect than Edwards because while his stuff isn't quite as good, it's good enough and no one questions that his 6'3" body can withstand the rigors of starting.

These are the four pitchers who absolutely humiliated Dunedin and Ft. Myers in the Florida State League playoffs last year. Now they'll try to do the same to the Southern League.

Matt Loosen will also start for the Smokies this year, and he was pretty good in Daytona last season, throwing a nine-inning no-hitter last July for the D-Cubs. The issue for Loosen is that his success in the FSL came after he had been demoted from the Smokies. His success in Florida then got him promoted to Tennessee again, where once again he struggled. Control is Loosen's big issue. If he can throw strikes in his second year in the Southern League, he's potentially got a major league future as well, perhaps as a back-end starter.

Dae-Eun Rhee is a changeup specialist who has been in the Cubs system since 2008. Once upon a time he was a top prospect, but he's never been quite the same after Tommy John surgery in 2009. This will be his third season with the Smokies and he'll likely be the fifth starter until Johnson arrives.

Cuban hurler Armando Rivero signed with the Cubs for $3.1 million last year and he throws hard. In 30 innings for the Cubs in Kane County, Daytona and Tennessee, Rivero struck out 45 batters and walked 12. Rivero's future is definitely in the bullpen, but it's not out of the question that his future in Wrigley Field could start later this season.

Tony Zych is a local kid, a St. Rita graduate who went to Louisville and throws really hard. If you were watching Len and JD this weekend, you got his whole story when they thought he was pitching but it was another pitcher. (I can't remember who was actually pitching. Was it Loosen?) Kaspar was very excited that Zych would be last in the alphabetical list of all-time major leaguers if he reaches the majors. Lucky for him, he's got a chance to make that list, but he's back for this third straight season in Tennessee. His strikeout totals dropped dramatically last season, so that's something to keep an eye on.

PJ Francescon is a right-handed Tennessee native who is pitching his second season for the Smokies. Ryan Searle pitched for Australia in the World Baseball Classic last season. He's bounced between Daytona and Tennessee over the past four seasons. Hunter Cervenka and Jeff Lorick will be the lefties out of the pen. The Cubs got Lorick from Atlanta for Derrek Lee.

Hey look Al! There's Lendy Castillo!

Hitters:

I don't think I need to tell you much about Kris Bryant. He's starting his first full season in the minors for the Smokies and could be on a fast track to the majors. I once said about Bryant that he hits the ball just as far as Javier Baez but not quite so violently. I also think he's going to end up as a right fielder once everything is said and done, but he could be a really, really good one.

Jorge Soler is the current right fielder for the Tennessee Smokies and when he was actually on the field last season, he was pretty good, hitting .281/.343/.467 in 55 games for Daytona. But he missed time with a suspension and a leg injury. Soler is a big man, listed at 6'4", 215 lbs., and he's a prototypical right field power hitter. His power projects to be an 80, and no other franchise in baseball has four prospects with potential 80 power like the Cubs do in Baez, Bryant, Soler and Vogelbach. The on-field incident that got him suspended was troubling, but the Cubs insist that he's a good kid who just has some growing up and adjusting to America to do. In that and other senses, he's going to get compared to his countryman Yasiel Puig a lot, although Soler doesn't have Puig's speed. Soler's outfield arm is very good.

Soler and Bryant are the two big hitting prospects on the Smokies, but Stephen Bruno could join them if he can stay healthy. Bruno missed most of last season after Tommy John surgery. He's a short guy who doesn't look like a ballplayer, but the one thing he can do is hit. He's only played 86 games as a professional, but his batting average in those games is .361 with a .441 on-base percentage. You can't argue with that.

Dustin Geiger is a guy who doesn't get a lot of respect, and that's understandable because he's a right-handed first baseman without a big pedigree behind him. But he hit 17 home runs in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League as a 21 year old last season. He strikes out a little more than you'd like, but he also walks and posted a .365 OBP last year. Don't ignore him. He's someone bubbling up underneath the prospect lists.

After Bryan and Geiger, the rest of the Smokies infield is filled out by Jonathan Mota, Wes Darvill and Jeudy Valdez. Mota has been around the Cubs organization so long (he signed in 2003) that he's practically an unofficial coach by now. Darvill is a 22 year old Canadian making Double-A for the first time. Valdez was once a well-regarded prospect in the Padres organization and Jed Hoyer signed his former Friars farmhand as a free agent this off-season.

Joining Soler in the outfield is fellow Cuban Rubi Silva, and a lot of observers like Silva's power/speed combination very much. He'd be a better prospect if the Cubs effort to move him to second base worked, but he did hit .284 with 15 home runs and 13 steals last season in Tennessee. A victim of a numbers game that's keeping him out of Iowa (and likely an effort to give Soler another Cuban on the team), Silva will start his third season in Double-A this year.

John Andreoli has a skill set that reminds me a lot of Tony Campana, except that Andreoli is better at drawing a walk. Between Daytona and Tennessee last year, Andreoli stole 40 bases in 45 attempts. He hit .305 with a .379 OBP.

Zeke DeVoss does two things really well. He runs well, having stolen 35 and 39 bases over the past two seasons respectively. The other thing he does well is draw a walk. He walked 82 times for Peoria in 2012 and 80 times last year for Daytona. What he doesn't do well is hit, as he hasn't been able to break .250 in batting average the past two seasons. His OBP is really high and last year it was at .392. But you have to wonder that now he's going to start to face pitchers with better control, whether that inability to get a hit consistently will cause the walks to dry up.

It's a running theme in these writeups, but catching is the weak spot in the organization. Rafael Lopez and Charles Cutler will split time behind the plate for the Smokies.

The Padres' new AAA affiliate has announced its first ever roster.

From what I understand there is a lot of anticipation in El Paso for the Chihuahuas' first season. Home games are still weeks away with the stadium still getting ready, but their first ever games will start tomorrow. With their debut not far off, today the AAA team announced its first roster. If you want to know a little something about every player on the roster, then I suggest you click that link since they have everyone covered.

My first curiosity about the roster was: What is the starting rotation going to be? When everyone is healthy, the Padres will have quite the logjam of pitchers between the majors, AAA and AA. As it stands now with injuries to Josh Johnson, Cory Luebke and Joe Wieland along with Casey Kelly still recovering from last year's Tommy John surgery, the ranks have thinned. Robbie Erlin and Donn Roach were supposed to be part of that logjam, but are in the majors because of those injuries. One or both may return to AAA later in the season. Casey Kelly and Joe Wieland should join the team at some point as well with Kelly being the closer of the two. In the meantime, it looks like Burch Smith, Keyvius Sampson and Juan Pablo Oramas will headline the rotation. Smith was recently ranked minorleagueball.com's John Sickelsas the 7th best Padres Prospect and Sampson as the 8th best. Oramas was given a C+ grade and mentioned as just outside the top 20. In addition to those 3, Jorge Reyes will likely fill in as part of the rotation until that logjam comes back. The team will need a 5th starter on April 7, but I do not see an obvious candidate on the roster. All the other pitchers have mainly been relievers. Perhaps converted OF Jason Lane will get some starts. Chihuahuas fans can also expect Matt Wisler and/or Jesse Hahn to play for the club later in the year, but will start the season in AA.

Here is where I expected everyone to play in the first game:

C - Adam Moore/Rocky Gale

1B - Kyle Blanks

2B - Alex Castellanos

3B - Brooks Conrad

SS - Ryan Jackson

LF - Reymond Fuentes

CF - Rico Noel

RF - Jeff Francoeur

DH - Cody Decker

I hedged on catcher since I do not know who the team prefers. Decker and Blanks could alternate between 1B and DH, but I would also expect Blanks to get time in LF. Decker might get some starts at catcher as well. Castellanos can play 2B or 3B, but I am thinking he will be mostly at 2B to start the season. I gave Conrad the nod at 3rd and Jackson at Short, but Jackson could get plenty of time at 3B with Alberto Gonzalez playing SS. Gonzalez can also play 2B or 3B. Fuentes and Noel could interchange between LF and CF. Noel has more speed so I put him in CF. Fuentes was recently ranked by John Sickels as the 17th best Padres Prospect. Francoeur is one true, healthy RF right now so expect him to be out there opening day. Travis Buck will serve as a reserve OF.

In the bullpen, the big headline is Leonel Campos. Campos was a Non-Roster Invitee to the Padres' Spring Training camp and was recently ranked John Sickels as the 19th best Padres Prospect. Kevin Quackebush was another NRI to Padres camp and will return to AAA to be part of the back end of the Chihuahua's bullpen. Two NRI's and former major leaguers Tony Sipp and Blaine Boyer are also notable 'pen contributers.

In addition to those injuries I mentioned with the starting pitchers earlier, a few players will begin on the AAA DL.

• 1B/OF Alex Dickerson was acquired from the Pirates this offseason and John Sickels ranked him as the 13th best Padres Prospect recently. He will begin the season on the DL after injuring his ankle during Spring Training. Expect him to be the every day RF when he returns. In the meantime it looks like MLB veteran Jeff Francoeur will fill in out there.
  
• INF Jonathan Galvez will also being on the DL. Once a touted talent, there has been some prospect fatigue with him to accompany his struggles in the upper minors. He is still just 23 despite having originally signed with the Padres in 2007 and will get time at 2B when he is healthy.
• OF Dan Robertson also picked up an injury and will start on the DL. He is a fun, scrappy player who can play all 3 OF positions. He has started 265 games in AAA over the last 2 years, but it looks like he will be the 4th OF for the team once he is healthy.
• RHP Rob Johnson is converting from catcher (which he played in the major leagues) to pitcher, but will begin his first post-conversion season on the disabled list.

Edit: Today the Padres claimed Bobby LaFromboise off waivers from the Mariners (who designated him for assignment after signing former Padre Chris Young). The lefty reliever was assigned to AAA El Paso. He will cut in to Tony Sipp's playing time.

The last time the Dodgers lost a series at Petco Park was September 2010.

SAN DIEGO -- The Dodgers on Wednesday night look to avoid their first series loss in San Diego in four seasons, and will do so by sending the one starting pitcher that made it through spring training without any health problems, in Dan Haren against the Padres.

But then again, Haren did go through a dead-arm period that kept him in Arizona while the rest of the team went to Australia, and his final tuneup on Saturday night against the Angels was probably the team's worst pitching performance of the spring.

Haren allowed six runs in his two innings on Saturday in Anaheim, including two home runs and five extra-base hits allowed to his 13 batters faced. Haren said he was working on his cutter - players are wont to experiment and tinker often during exhibition games - and would have abandoned it sooner if it were a regular season game.

But on Wednesday it counts against San Diego, and the Dodgers hope Haren can continue on his second-half success in Washington in 2013. After a 4-9 record and 6.15 ERA in his first 15 starts, with 19 home runs allowed and 18.3% of his batters faced struck out, Haren was placed on the disabled list. The official reason was right shoulder inflammation but it very well could have been for not getting anybody out.

But the two weeks rest did his arm well, and he finished the season looking more like the dependable rotation stalwart that averaged 33 starts, 220 innings, 189 strikeouts and a 118 ERA+ for eight years (2005-2012) with the Athletics, Angels and Rangers. In his final 16 games with the Nationals, including 15 starts, Haren was 6-5 with a 3.29 ERA, just nine home runs allowed, and he struck out 84 in 87⅔ innings, 23.9% percent of his batters faced.

Five Padres have faced Haren more than six plate appearances in their career: Homer-a-day Seth Smith is 10-for-38 (.263) with four doubles and a home run; Chase Headley is 9-for-32 (.281) with two doubles and a homer; Nick Hundley is 10-for-29 (.345) with two doubles; Everth Cabrera is 4-for-14 (.286) with a double; and Will Venable is 1-for-13 (.077) with a home run.

The Dodgers have won seven of their last nine series at Petco Park, with the other two series ending in splits (a two-gamer in 2012, and a four-game set in 2013). The last series loss for the Dodgers in San Diego was a sweep at the hands of the Padres from Sept. 6-8, 2010.

Tyson Ross gets the start for San Diego in the series finale. He set a career high with 10 strikeouts at Dodger Stadium last September 1, in just five innings, a game the Dodgers eventually won 2-1.

Game info

Time: 7:10 p.m. PT

TV: SportsNet LA

I started making this quiz last winter and forgot about it, but with the Dodgers in town, now seemed like the perfect time to finish it up and put it out on Front Street. It's the largest quiz I've made so far, weighing in at 93 names, and one that I expect will produce low success rates. I doubt the results will be as low as they were for the quiz about guys who wore number one, but I could be wrong. It has happened before. Shocking, I know.

You get ten minutes to hammer out all of the last names you can remember or guess. I've provided the years the players hit the field for each team, and arranged the names in alphabetical order for bonus hintitude. Once you run out of time and wipe the sweat from your brow, log your results in the poll below. Feel encouraged to discuss the ones you got right and the ones you missed in the comments section, but use the spoiler bar feature where applicable.

The Padres will close out their first series, and homestand, of the season tonight in game 3 against the Dodgers.

Tyson Ross has had an impressive, if short, career as a Padres starter up to this point. Tonight he goes up against the Dodgers in the finale of the three-game set and hopes to help San Diego to a series win. Last year in his first season with the Padres, he had some hiccups along the way but came back strong in the second half of the season. After making just three starts last April, Ross landed on the DL with a left shoulder subluxation. Upon his reactivation in May, he moved to the bullpen and pitched 31 relief innings through 19 games. He moved back to the rotation in July and proceeded to go 13 games with a 2.93 ERA while keeping opponents batting .201. He went 1-1 in five games this Spring and tonight he looks to kick off his 2014 season with a victory over L.A.

Ross will be pitching opposite a new face on the L.A roster. Dan Haren will make his Dodgers debut tonight at Petco Park as he begins what he hopes will be a bounce-back season. Two thousand thirteen proved to be his worst season since his rookie year ten years earlier. He went 10-13 over 30 starts in his first and only start with the Nationals, pitching to the tune of a 4.67 ERA. Haren went 0-1 in Spring Training with a 6.00 ERA in 12 innings (four starts). The right-hander has lost each of his last three starts against San Diego, posting an 8.64 ERA over a stretch dating back to July 16, 2010.

Tune into the series finale tonight at 7:10pm on Fox Sports San Diego.

The setup man says he will soon be ready to pitch in minor league games on a rehab assignment. The Dodgers recalled reliever Jose Dominguez to take Wilson's place on the roster.

SAN DIEGO -- The Dodgers on Wednesday officially placed Brian Wilson on the 15-day disabled list with right elbow ulnar nerve inflammation, and recalled right-hander Jose Dominguez from Triple-A Albuquerque before their series finale against the Padres at Petco Park.

Wilson downplayed the severity of the injury, first reported on Tuesday.

"It's just slight discomfort. I think everything will be fine once I get four, five, six innings under my belt, just to kind of finish spring training," Wilson said. "I only threw four times because I had to get shut down for the same thing."

It was Wilson's fourth and final spring outing, on March 15 against the White Sox, that he felt discomfort in his elbow, on which he has had two Tommy John surgeries.

"I went out and threw against the White Sox. I was throwing hard and I didn't bounce back like I'd like to. I was trying to get ready for the season," Wilson recalled. "My arm's not going to lie, I shouldn't have gotten ready too fast."

Wilson was trying to get ready for the regular season opener in Australia, and didn't immediately report his injury.

"I probably should have said something before I went out there, but you're not going to take yourself out of a game," Wilson said. "I don't care what baseball player is out there, he's not going to say, 'Hey guys I need a day.' No one says that."

Manager Don Mattingly, though empathizing with Wilson, has seen this thinking before.

"We say it the first day of spring training, not let a small thing turn into a bigger thing. I've heard it in so many spring trainings but guys still don't tell," Mattingly said. "Your body is always talking to you in some way. The guys are always feeling something in different areas. You can't really go to the trainer all the time or you'd be in there every day."

Wilson pitched in the first game in Australia and struck out two in a scoreless inning but said he didn't feel right, that while mentally prepared for the early start of the season he wasn't physically ready. That culminated in Sunday's loss to the Padres, when he allowed three runs in the eighth inning without recording an out.

"I wouldn't want to go out there and flip a coin on trying to get outs while trying to get my work in. It's not fair to the team, it's not fair to myself. I need to get work in now at a competitive level without causing any harm to the team."

Before Wednesday's game, Wilson played light catch off flat ground with team director of medical services Stan Conte. Wilson will throw a bullpen session on Thursday or Friday, and eventually will start a minor league rehab assignment.

While confident in his eventual return — "My ligament is kind of a beast," he boasted — Wilson said there is no timetable for his return. Mattingly concurred.

"It's a throwing progression," Mattingly said. "It's got to calm down a little bit."

Tommy Medica greets fans entering the stadium on Opening Day with a Go-Pro camera strapped to his chest, and it's awesome.

We've already seen what Tommy Medica has to offer at the plate, but yesterday he showed fans another side of him off the field. The Padres had Tommy Medica hang a go-pro camera around his neck while he and other Padres players passed out Opening Day hats to fans entering the stadium. Here's the result:

Medica is obviously a friendly guy, stopping to take selfies with Padres fans and chatting with people as they pass. But the best part is how he acts whenever Dodgers fans come through the gate. He boos people wearing Dodgers gear. He places a hat over the head of at least one fan to cover up the LA hat they're already wearing. He even offers a fan two Padres hats so she can use them to cover up the "Dodgers" script on her jersey. You can tell he had a lot of fun interacting with people and all of it just makes him even MORE endearing.

I wouldn't be surprised if he managed to turn some Dodgers fans just by being charming and flashing that smile.

Wednesday's 5-1 win in San Diego followed a familiar pattern.

SAN DIEGO -- The Dodgers followed their familiar formula to a tee on Wednesday night in their 5-1 victory over the Padres at Petco Park.

Dan Haren in his Dodgers debut was in complete control, pitching six innings without a walk. He allowed four hits, and the one run he did allow was unearned thanks to a catcher's interference call on A.J. Ellis - on a ball that appeared to be fouled by Seth Smith into the mitt of Ellis - the second straight night a non-reviewable catcher's interference call has gone against the Dodgers.

Haren kept San Diego off balance all night with pitches in the high-80s, and struck out six. Dodgers starting pitchers this season have allowed four runs in five games, including three earned runs, for a 0.91 ERA, with six walks and 30 strikeouts in 29⅔ innings.

The Dodgers scored first again, as they have in all five games. On Wednesday, the Dodgers plated three runs in the first thanks to the first four batters reaching base: Carl Crawford doubled, Yasiel Puig laid down a surprise bunt and was safe at first on a throwing error but still recorded the first sacrifice of his career, Hanley Ramirez doubled them both home, then scored on a single by Adrian Gonzalez.

After the Padres scored a run in the bottom of the fourth the Dodgers answered right back with a tally in the top of the fifth when Andre Ethier singled in Ramirez. That frame marked the end for Tyson Ross, who threw 100 pitches in his five innings.

Andrew Cashner, who threw six innings on Sunday night, remains the only opposing starter to last longer than five innings so far this season against the Dodgers, and even he was nearly at the end of his rope with 89 pitches through five.

"You make guys fight to get their outs," manager Don Mattingly said on Tuesday. "It's not designed as much 'Let's get this guy's pitch count up.' It's more having good at-bats, making guys fight for their outs. That translates into longer at-bats, tougher outs, then you end up getting the pitch count higher."

The bullpen followed Haren with three scoreless innings combined from four relievers, and the Dodgers even tacked on an insurance run in the eighth.

The result gave the Dodgers two wins in three games to capture the series in San Diego, their 10th consecutive trip to Petco Park without a series loss.

Now the Dodgers are 4-1 and finally get to play their first home game of the season.

Wednesday particulars

Home runs: none

WP - Dan Haren (1-0): 6 IP, 4 hits, 1 unearned run, 6 strikeouts

LP - Tyson Ross (0-1): 5 IP, 5 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), 4 walks, 7 strikeouts

If strikeouts were runs, the Padres would have won tonight's game handily. Tyson Ross racked up 7 Ks in his 5 innings and Tim Stauffer picked up 3 more in 2 innings of relief work. Unfortunately, that's not how baseball works. You actually do have to get runners across the plate, and the Dodgers did a pretty good job of that.

Tyson's troubles started right away, as he gave up a leadoff double to Carl Crawford to start the game. Yasiel Puig offered an easy out by sacrifice bunting, but Tyson blew the throw to first. Hanley Ramirez brought both runners around with a double to left before scoring himself on Adrian Gonzalez's grounder up the middle. Ross got a better handle on the game for the next few innings, holding Los Angeles to 3 runs through the fourth inning.

The Friars made a solid effort to narrow the gap in the bottom of the fourth as Everth Cabrera hit a leadoff single, ending Dan Haren's perfect game. He went to second when Seth Smith was granted first due to catcher's interference from A.J. Ellis (Smith's bat caught Ellis's glove). A deep fly to center moved Cabrera to third. He came home on a single to center from Yonder Alonso. The Padres looked primed for a rally, but Jedd Gyorko and Will Venable killed it with back to back strikeouts.

Ross gave up one more run in the fifth, walking Ramirez, who then stole second, moved to third on a ground out, and came home on Andre Ethier's single. Ross's final line was a very mixed bag; 7 strikeouts seems great until you notice the 4 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks in 5 innings. The Dodgers hit the Padres bullpen for one more run in the eighth inning. Donn Roach's major league debut didn't go so well. He gave up back to back singles to Juan Uribe and A.J. Ellis, followed by a RBI double to Dee Gordon.

Our boys lost the opening series, but there's still a lot of baseball left. Tomorrow's a travel day, but Eric Stults will take on the Marlins at 4:10 on Friday.

SD_Hat_Guy put his commenting hat on tonight, and he also led recs with 6.

Haren praised his cut fastball for much of his success on Wednesday, the very pitch that caused him trouble in an exhibition contest over the weekend.

SAN DIEGO -- Four days after getting lit up in a game that didn't count in the final Freeway Series contest, Dan Haren on Wednesday in San Diego came up big in his first game that counted with his new team.

"I definitely had nerves. On a new team you always want to make a good impression. I'm glad I did that," Haren said after the game. "I feel like part of the team now. I hadn't done anything up to now."

Haren struck out six in six innings, allowing only one unearned run. A far cry from the six runs and two home runs in just two innings he allowed against the Angels on Saturday. The culprit that night was the cutter, which wasn't sharp, to the point where Haren on Saturday said he would have abandoned it sooner had the game counted.

On Wednesday against the Padres, Haren didn't need to abandon anything, especially his cutter

"I was getting it where I wanted to be. I got some strikeouts in big situations. Everything was working pretty good. As the game went along I felt my cutter was my best pitch," Haren said. "It was quite a change from a couple days ago."

It wasn't just the game against the Angels in which Haren had trouble in the spring. He put up a 6.00 ERA in four Cactus League starts and struck out five in 12 innings. He stayed behind at Camelback Ranch to pitch in two more minor league games while most of the rest of the team traveled to Australia.

"Man I got my butt kicked in those camp games. I don't even think it was my stuff, it's just the adrenalin level, there's nobody watching, it's dead silent. It's hard to simulate major league innings," Haren explained. "That's kind of why I wanted to pitch that last game [of the Freeway Series], even though it didn't go great. At least I got on a big league mound, under the lights. I'm still glad I did that."

Even as Haren struggled with results in the spring, manager Don Mattingly wasn't concerned.

"You're not really worried about a guy like Danny in spring training," Mattingly said. "You know he's working on things and trying to get ready."

Haren was away from most of his teammates for nine days, from the departure to Australia on March 16 until the workout at Dodger Stadium on March 25. His start against the Angels was four days later.

"They came back from Australia and I had that game against the Angels, it wasn't exactly what I wanted to show," Haren said. "I really wasn't with the team that much. Teams often bond on the road, in the clubhouse, on a plane, on the bus, and I really didn't have that. It felt good to come through."

And come through he did, thanks to keeping the Padres off balance mostly in the range of 82-89 mph all night.

"I was keeping the ball down good. I try not to think about velocity ever," Haren said. "I got into trouble last year at the beginning of the year. I was trying to throw harder, when really my game is just location and keeping the ball in and out."

Mattingly said Haren's velocity was right at the point it needed to be.

"He's got to be hard enough. When he's at 85-86 it brings everything closer together. When he's at 88-89 it's hard enough with being able to go both sides with that cutter. He can make it go down, make it go sideways. He uses a split and he can go both sides of the plate," Mattingly explained. "That's what you want to be able to do, use both sides, change speeds, change depths. I hope he's that kind of guy every time out."

Up next

The Dodgers get to return to Dodger Stadium for a five-game homestand, but first have an off day Thursday, one of four off days in an 11-day span. Hyun-Jin Ryu gets the start in Friday's home opener against the Giants, facing Ryan Vogelsong for San Francisco. Matt Kemp will likely be activated before the game, but since the team doesn't like to say much before any moves are official, Mattingly didn't offer any guarantees just yet.

"We haven't activated him yet. We'll get there. Everything right now has been really good," Mattingly offered. "We anticipate that happening, but we're not there yet."

Season preview for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox and Tulsa Drillers.

The 2014 minor league season gets underway this week, which makes it a good time to take a look around the Rockies farm and preview the teams as they begin the season. The Rockies have a lot of exciting prospects at the Double-A and Triple-A levels. Colorado Springs features a couple of pitchers who were formerly considered blue-chip prospects and a slugger who was nominated as the best power bat in the system by Baseball America. Meanwhile Tulsa will showcase one of the best starting rotations in the minors and a solid backstop trio to catch for them.

Colorado Springs

(24+1) Game Weekend Plan available - 4 Great Seats behind the plate in 110 F 5,6,7,8. http://t.co/KBH11brM9ypic.twitter.com/8Yb4xQDEio

— Sky Sox Baseball (@skysox) February 28, 2014

Opening Day: 6:00 p.m MT, April 3 at New Orleans - Christian Friedrich Opening Day starter

League and Ballpark: Previously known as a launching pad, Colorado Springs could become a pitcher's paradise in 2014. Not only did Security Services field install a humidor back in 2012 reducing home runs by 30%, but the team will also be playing against different road opponents this season.

The Padres changed their minor league affiliate to El Paso from Tucson in the off-season, resulting in Colorado Springs and Albuquerque switching divisions in the Pacific Coast League. The Sky Sox will now be playing more road games in pitcher-friendly Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma instead of the notorious hitters parks of Reno, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City.

Pitching: The change in venue should help pitchers such as Tyler Matzek, who will be making his Triple-A debut. Matzek worked hard to control his wildness over the past few seasons resulting in his lowest walk rate and lowest strikeout rate in 2013. Overall, the lefthander had a solid season for Double-A Tulsa with a 3.79 ERA and a 4.76 FIP. The California native was once ranked as high as No. 23 overall by Baseball America, wildness and ineffectiveness has cut his ceiling, but he's now one step away from pitching in the major leagues.

Christian Friedrich will be anchoring the Sky Sox rotation and looking for a return to Coors Field after missing most of last season with a back injury. The left-handed pitcher was ranked as high as No. 33 overall by Baseball America back in 2010. Former California League pitcher of the year, Christian Bergman will also join the rotation after a solid season in Tulsa where he posted a 3.37 ERA with 111 strikeouts. Rob Scahill rounds out the list of Sky Sox pitchers on the Rockies 40-man roster and could be receiving a quick call up to pitch for Colorado.

Offensively: The Sky Sox will be lead by outfielder Kyle Parker who also could see time at first base. The former Clemson quarterback is making his Triple-A debut, moving up from Double-A Tulsa where he hit .288/.345/.492 with 23 home runs. The right-handed hitter has exceeded 20+ home runs for three consecutive minor league seasons and a power surge in Colorado Springs could lead to his debut in purple pinstripes.

The Sky Sox infield will feature Josh Rutledge and Ryan Wheeler, current members of the Rockies 40-man roster. Rutledge appeared in 88 games for the Rockies last season, batting .235 with seven home runs. The Alabama native was passed over for the Rockies starting second base position after a heated battle in Spring Training and will be waiting in the wings for another chance to prove he belongs in Coors Field.

Players on the 40-man roster: Christian Friedrich, Jordan Lyles, Tyler Matzek, Rob Scahill, Michael McKenry, Josh Rutledge, Ryan Wheeler and Kyle Parker.

Tulsa

Opening Day: 7:00 p.m. MT, April 3 in Tulsa vs Corpus Christi - Eddie Butler Opening Day starter

League and Ballpark: Playing in the pitcher-friendly Texas League the Tulsa Drillers typically showcase a stronger pitching staff where hitters are usually trying to adjust to not only the elements, but the huge jump in talent level by hurlers who throw harder and have a larger repertoire than they've ever faced before. ONEOK Field in Tulsa is biased towards pitchers, but also has an extremely short porch in right field which tends to give up cheap home runs.

Pitching: This is the strongest pitching staff to ever don a Tulsa uniform, featuring a trio of first round draft picks: Eddie Butler, Jon Gray and Tyler Anderson. Butler will be the opening day starter for the Drillers and is repeating Double-A after receiving a late promotion in 2013. The Radford alum posted a 1.80 ERA across three levels with 143 strikeouts. Winkler doesn't carry the profile of the other three pitchers, but won the California league pitcher of the year award in 2013 after finishing High-A with 152 strikeouts. Tyler Anderson is looking to bounce back after an injury-filled season. The lefthander carries a career ERA of 2.61 in 36 minor league games.

Jon Gray has gone from pitching for Oklahoma in the NCAA Regionals tournament to debuting for Double-A Tulsa in just one year. This will be Gray's first full season in the minor leagues and the only other Rockies draft choice to advance this quickly through the minors was Troy Tulowitzki. Reliever Kraig Sitton is the lone pitcher on the 40-man roster for Tulsa. A fastball-curve combination pitcher who sits around 90 mph, The lefthander posted a 2.93 ERA in Modesto last season and could be considered as a potential situational lefty in the Rockies bullpen.

Offensively: The Drillers are loaded at catcher with 2012 third round pick Tom Murphy as the everyday starter. Backed up by Dustin Garneau and Ryan Casteel, Murphy skipped Modesto entirely when he performed well in Low-A Asheville and was promoted to Tulsa last season. The University of Buffalo standout demonstrated a lot of power potential when he combined for .289/.376/.571 with 22 home runs last year.

Dustin Garneau is the returning starter from 2013 and considered one of the best defensive catchers in the Rockies system. Ryan Casteel is coming off a banner year where he hit 22 home runs in High-A Modesto and then nearly won the Triple Crown in the Australian Baseball league this winter. Shortstop Cristhian Adames will be repeating in Double-A, but his presence on the 40-man roster will place him in contention for a quick call up if an infield spot opens in the levels above him.

Players on the 40-man roster: Kraig Sitton, Cristhian Adames.

Imprisoned saga deer.

The Padres are nearing a deal with Cuban right hander Odrisamer Despaigne, according to MLB Trade Rumors' Tim Dierkes. Despaigne might have already agreed to a deal with the team, but he has to acquire a work visa, though he has already been cleared by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). He should be eligible to sign a contract in three to four weeks. 

Despaigne, 26, been a "workhorse" in Cuba -- he has started at least 20 games a year since becoming a starter in 2010 (h/t to ObstructedView.net).

He is represented by Jaime Torres -- Yasiel Puig's former agent.

From 2010 to 2013 in Cuba's Serie Nacional, he threw 647⅓ innings for Industriales, posting a 3.38 ERA and 1.35 WHIP. His control appears to be an issue -- he walked nearly four batters per nine innings over that span. He might not take the league by storm the way some of his fellow defectors have, but the Padres wouldn't bother with their pursuit if they didn't think he could help the organization.

The deal is expected to be a minor league deal at relatively modest total value, according to the New York Post's Joel Sherman. Despaigne will also need to pass a physical exam to complete a deal.

Sidelined with inflammation in an upper back muscle and no real timetable for return has the Dodgers ace frustrated.

SAN DIEGO -- Clayton Kershaw is on the disabled list for the first part of his career, and the notoriously regimented pitcher has had his routine thrown out of whack.

"It's frustrating to be hurt. I think the hard part for me is not really having a set end goal," Kershaw said. "It's more whenever it feels better, go. We're going to try to keep my arm going, try and playing catch, but as far as pitching in a game we're not really sure when that's going to be, and that's really the hard part."

Kershaw threw very lightly before Wednesday's game against the Padres, almost lobbing the ball to trainer Stan Conte, part of the submaximal throwing program the left-hander was prescribed for the next two to three weeks.

After those two to three weeks are up, Kershaw will be reevaluated by team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache to figure out the next course of action. But for the most part, the best course of action to heal the inflammation in the teres major muscle in Kershaw's upper back is simply rest, which poses a different problem for Kershaw.

"I'm not very good at that," Kershaw said. "Patience isn't a virtue of mine."

Pitching coach Rick Honeycutt was critical of the Australia trip — more from him from Ken Gurnick of MLB.com and Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times— because the starting pitchers traveling to Sydney only got four Cactus League starts before the regular season.

"Rick thought [spring] was a little short," manager Don Mattingly said. "Even though we were in spring training early, he felt they didn't get on the mound enough."

Neither Kershaw, Mattingly nor Honeycutt were willing to directly blame Kershaw's injury on the trip.

"I don't think the flights itself had anything to do with it. Obviously pitching is what hurt it, so whether that's because I was in Australia or not, who knows?" Kershaw offered. "Throwing hard, that's probably what caused it. You can look back on a lot of things and second guess, but at the end of the day it just happened. I feel like I was as prepared as I possibly could be for the season.

"I feel like I rested an adequate amount of time. Throwing all offseason I felt great, all spring training I felt great. I didn't have any soreness or anything, usually something comes up. I don't know what I could have done better.

The Padres' low A affiliate has a number of very young, but well-liked prospects on their initial roster.

Minor league opening day is today and the TinCaps will kick off the season for the Padres' minor league affiliates at 4:05 PT. They announced their roster a couple todays ago, so I am a bit slow on the draw here, but better late than never. As expected, the roster is full of players taken in last year's draft plus a number of up-and-coming Dominican prospects who have worked their way up through the even lower minor leagues. There are a lot of birthdates from 1993-1995.

With John Sickels of SBNation's minorleagueball.com recently publishing his San Diego Padres Top 20 Prospects For 2014 ranking, let us start with highlighting rostered players from that list:

• Franchy Cordero has been a hot name in the baseball prospecting business lately and Sickels ranked him 10th in the Padres organization with a B- grade. Scouts marvel at his sweet stroke and it really produced last year with the Padres' Peoria (AZ) short season rookie ball affiliate. Hit hit .333/.381/.511 there with just 3 HRs in 35 games, but 6 triples. He stole 11 bases without being caught once. He is also a rare left-handed hitter out of the Dominican Republic. He will be 19 this season and might be moving to 3B from SS.
  
• 2013 2nd round pick Dustin Peterson was ranked 14th and given a solid B- grade. He has previously been listed as a 3B, but I have heard that he would be a more natural fit for 2B. We shall see which position he starts at. He had a solid debut with Peoria, but went homerless. He needs to show some more pop after this promotion.
  
• RF Franmil Reyes will play his first play in his first full season league for the TinCaps. Sickels ranked him 20th in the Padres org with a C+ grade. He has worked his way up from the Padres' Dominican facility, through the Peoria rookie league team and even had a cup of coffee with the Eugene Emeralds last year. He has shown a good, patient bat since signing, but at 6'5 240 lbs, I think many would like to see the 18 year old hit with some more power.
• SS Josh Van Meter got an honorable mention in the Sickels list. However, the 2013 5th round pick ranked 14th on Keith Law's list so there are some out there with a little more faith. He will hold down the SS position for Fort Wayne that displaced Cordero, but with good reason as he is very advanced defensively for a 19 year old. The bat will need to improve though and that is why reports are mixed. The TinCaps point out that he is an Indiana native playing near home this season, which is a first for the organization among position players.
• RHP Walker Weickel also got an honorable mention after being ranked 12th in 2013 with a B- grade. He is repeating at Fort Wayne after tossing over 100 innings for the club last season. The 20 year old unfortunately put up an ERA over 5.00 in those innings. He will toe the slab for the opener today.
• Another starter pitcher with an honorable mention is RHP Adrian De Horta. The 19 year old 2013 8th round pick out of a West Covina California HS is a bit a sleeper here. This is the first I have seen him mentioned on a Padres prospect list and it will be his debut season in a full season league. He is a starting pitcher and will join Weickel in the rotation.
• RHP Pete Kelich dominated Peoria last year. In 13 games (10 starts) he struck out 69 over 58 innings and only gave up 1 walk and 1 home run. That was good for a 1.40 ERA and even got himself a CG and a save in that short season. Sickels gave him an honorable mention. He will be another rotation candidate.
• 19 year old Mexican OF Jose Urena rounds out the honorable mentions by Sickels. He will make his full season league debut here and look to show that his numbers in the lower minors are for real. 9 HRs in 49 games for Peoria opened some eyes.

In addition to the ones Sickels highlighted, I would like to highlight a few others:

• RHP Bryan Verbitsky was the Padres 2013 3rd round pick out of Hofstra University. He will begin the season on the DL, but expect him to join the rotation once healthy.
• Before last season, Baseball Prospectus gave some love to 6'7" 210 lb RHP Tayron Guerrero. He impressed prospect writer Jason Parks on the backfields at Peoria and was a listed as a "Prospect to see" at Fort Wayne. He had control issues at Fort Wayne and got demoted last year, but the 23 year old Colombian will get more chances to control that big frame and show that his power stuff can play.
• RHP Andrew Lockett impressed Keith Law enough to get ranked as the Padres' 9th best prospect by him. Others are not nearly as high on him mainly because he has not pitched much since being taken in the 4th round of the 2012 draft. I would expect to get him some relief work early or short outings as a starter to try to build up his stamina.
• C Dane Phillips was mentioned in Sickels' 2012 Padres Prospects list, but got passed by this year. Despite being a Midwest League All Star and getting a cup of coffee with Lake Elsinore last year, he is being held back in low A. Look for him to have another solid year and earn a promotion.
• CF Mallex Smith was mentioned as a "Prospect to see" for Lake Elsinore this year by Baseball Prospectus, but due to a logjam of OFs for the Storm he will repeat at Fort Wayne. He is a excellent base stealer and has a chance to top his 64 SBs from last season. MLB.com's Jim Callis recently said Smith could end up with more SBs than fellow Padres farmhand Travis Jankowski who had 71 last season.