Our Padres will play their first night game of the season tonight as they take on the hated Mariners in Peoria. The televised game will feature a matchup between new Friar Josh Johnson and former Friar Randy Wolf.
Johnson has had a pretty great Spring so far as a Padre, keeping opponents batting .206 while allowing four runs on seven hits through nine innings of work. He has issued only two walks while collecting eight strikeouts. The right-hander had one outing in which he looked off, giving up three runs in the first inning against Cleveland a week and a half ago. But even then he was able to settle down and pitch strongly for the remainder of that outing. Aside from that one inning, JJ has been nails all Spring and although it's a small (miniscule) sample size, it's an encouraging to see that arguably our biggest offseason acquisition is panning out so far.
Johnson's spot in his team's rotation is a given, but his counterpart is another story. Wolf came to Mariners camp as a non-roster invitee after Seattle signed him to a minor league contract last month. The 14-year veteran is working to get back in the game after having to undergo a second Tommy John surgery and missing all of the 2013 season. His Spring hasn't been the smoothest, but he still holds hope that he can make it onto the big league roster come Opening Day. Wolf has given up six runs on 10 hits (four of which were home runs) this Spring, pitching nine total innings over three appearances. The southpaw went 6-10 in 21 games during his stint with the Padres in 2008, posting a 4.74 ERA and quickly becoming a favorite for some fans.
Watch/Listen
FSSD and MLB.TV will televise tonight's contest at 7:05pm, but you can also catch the radio call on The Mighty 1090, Gameday Audio, and At-Bat.