Three San Diego Padres players making a final push to break camp with the team on the Opening Day roster.
A non-roster invite infielder and two under-the-radar pitchers are having strong springs, inserting themselves into the Opening Day roster conversations. Here's a look into the three players' paths to the Opening Day roster.
France, 31, joined the Padres on a minor league deal in February with an invite to spring training. The former Seattle Mariners All-Star and reigning American League Gold Glove winner at first base has impressed this spring, going 10-for-27 with four doubles, five runs batted in and an OPS of .952. France is by far the best defensive first baseman in Padres camp, and will get opportunities at both second and third base to prove his versatility. With theif he's not on the team's Major League roster. The way he's playing, there's a good chance he's on some team's Opening Day roster come March 26.Hart joined the Padres last offseason after a dominant season in the Korea Baseball Organization in which he won the Choi Dong-won Award, the league's equivalent to the Cy Young. Hart struggled across 43 big league innings last year, sporting a 5.86 ERA. Nevertheless, the Padres brought him back on a $1 million deal this offseason, and he looks like a completely different pitcher this spring. Hart has made five appearances, pitching 8.2 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. He's caught the attention of his manager. “The way has been pitching this spring training has put him in a good spot in that competition," Stammen said. "He’s pitching great, probably the best that we’ve seen him as a Padre. And it’s kind of exciting to see a potential lefty in the pen, bulk inning kind of pitcher that can do a lot of different things.”Gillaspie, 25, likely wasn't on anyone's radar coming into camp as a non-roster invite. He made three appearances at the big league level last season, allowing two runs over seven innings for a 2.57 ERA.Gillaspie has pitched 7.2 shutout innings, allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out eight. He suddenly has a“He just goes out there, competes his tail off,” Stammen said of Gillaspie. “A lot of energy, enthusiasm, throws a ton of strikes, gets a lot of outs. Outs are good.”Noah Camras graduated from the University of Southern California in 2022 with a B.A. in Journalism and a minor in sports media studies. He was born and raised in Los Angeles and has extensively covered Southern California sports in his career. Noah is the publisher of Padres on SI after contributing as a writer and editor over the last three years.Padres Manager Reveals What Ex-All-Star Needs to Do to Make Opening Day Roster
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