It's raining in San Diego, but our boys in Peoria are getting ready to play their first game of Spring in the sun. The Padres and Mariners will face off in their annual charity game just after noon today. Last season's rotational workhorse, Eric Stults, will get the start, scheduled to pitch one inning before handing the ball over to some younger pitchers. As Corey Brock reports, a number of hurlers are slated to get some time on the mound following Stultsy's brief outing.
Stults, who led the team in innings and victories a year ago, will throw one inning against the Mariners before giving way to a handful of pitchers who are on the bubble for making the 25-man, Opening Day roster: Tony Sipp, Anthony Carter, [Patrick] Schuster, Blaine Boyer, Donn Roach and Kevin Quackenbush.
While the starting rotation going into the season seems pretty much locked down for now (Andrew Cashner, Tyson Ross, Ian Kennedy, Josh Johnson, and Stults), the coaching staff is still looking to see who might be good fits to round out our bullpen and break camp on the 25-man roster. Not to mention the bench options for 2014, with experienced guys like Kyle Blanks and Xavier Nady along with rookies like Tommy Medica and Cody Decker in the mix.
You can listen to today's game for free on the padres.com webcast or the At-Bat app. First pitch is set for 12:05.