Andy’s Address, 3/4

Andy addresses Jankowski’s wrist, roster cuts, spring lineups, Matt Strahm

By Bill Center

Andy Green

There was much for manager Andy Green to discuss Monday morning as the Padres awaited detailed word on Travis Jankowski’s wrist, sent 13 players to the minor league camp and posted the strongest game lineup thus far of Spring Training.

He began with Jankowski, who injured his wrist diving for a ball in right field on Sunday.

“Travis Jankowski is sore,” said Green. “He will have an MRI today and go through testing. Hopefully, he’s in decent shape but he’s definitely feeling it right now. Every one of our outfielders is unique. Each brings something special to the table. Travis definitely brings some special ingredients . . . speed, the ability to defend. Those are really strong attributes to him and we don’t have anyone else who is really the same level as him in that regard.

“You can go through each one of those guys and talk about their unique strengths each brings to the table. So, we have guys that we like a lot, but they’re all unique. We’re still excited about Franchy Cordero bouncing around in the outfield. Wil (Myers) is going to move around in the outfield. And we’ll see what our center field versatility looks like and obviously we have Manny (Margot) out there.”

The Padres sent 13 players to minor league camp Monday — pitchers David Bednar, Ryan Bollinger, Jerry Keel, Kyle McGrath, Eric Stout and T.J. Weir; infielders Allen Craig, Seth Mejias-Brean, Esteban Quiroz, and outfielders Alex Dickerson, Boog Powell, Buddy Reed and Jacob Scavuzzo.

“We valued all those guys we brought to camp,” said Green. “We knew in some of their cases they would be relatively quick cuts because we were bringing in a larger camp than we ever had before. We were up in the 70s as we continued to sign guys after camp started.

“We brought three guys in after camp (Manny Machado and relief pitchers Adam Warren and Aaron Loup) who are going to be integral parts of what we do. So that limited some players opportunity. We just had to get down to a more manageable number, especially as the minor league camp kicks off (Tuesday) we get relegated to just a couple of field rather than being able to run the entire complex. So you have to start thinning it down.”

Speaking specifically about outfielder Buddy Reed, Green said: “Reed has really impressive strides that gobble up ground on the bases and a guy who can flat out move around the outfield. The challenge in front of him that they identified last year and he worked really hard on are the two-strike adjustments. If he just puts the ball in play, Buddy’s going to be a really successful player.”

The Padres are going with their strongest lineup thus far of the spring Monday as they host Cleveland in Peoria (TV: FSSD; Radio: FM-97.3) — 1. Ian Kinsler 2B, 2. Eric Hosmer 1B, 3. Manny Machado 3B, 4. Franmil Reyes DH, 5. Wil Myers LF, 6. Franchy Cordero RF, 7. Manuel Margot CF, 8. Austin Hedges C, 9. Luis Urias SS.

Green was asked about the significance of the lineup:

“I don’t think they’re going to let us use the designated hitter the first game of the year,” said Green. “There’s a lot of guys out there today that we really value and really expect to be with us.”

Green was asked about Kinsler in the leadoff slot: “I have always liked guys who get on base at the top of the order. And Kinsler has done that throughout his entire career. He’s gotten on base very, very well. I’m sure we’ll explore a lot of guys in that spot over the next 30 days.”

Green also said he likes the idea of, “Machado getting to the plate a lot.”

The manager then spoke of the intensity that right-hander Chris Paddack displayed in his start Sunday:

“He’s got high attention to detail in every facet,” said Green. “From his workout routine to his mental preparation before a game to the way he goes about his stuff in the training room to the way he does his pitcher’s fielding drills. Usually, those guys who have incredibly high attention to detail in life, handle that stuff really well. The guys who are a little bit more hap-hazard and all over the map usually don’t handle that very well. I think it’s one of those things Paddack’s cultivated in himself throughout his years of preparing for this moment.”

Green discussed stretching out Matt Strahm as a starter:

“I don’t know how he’ll get stretched out,” said the manager. “We’ll see how he does the next time he goes out. If it goes really well, we’ll just keep adding to it. If it feels like we need to pause for a moment and repeat that step, we’ll pause and repeat that step.

“It’s all predicated on every performance — not just on how they perform but how they feel after they perform. The anticipation right now is that we’ll continue to stretch him out and see how he feels at the end of every day. He definitely has the pitch mix to be a starter . . . and the long-flowing hair and the mentality on the mound screams reliever sometimes, too. He can be successful both ways based on his health.”

Green talked about his coaches and the fact that third base coach Glenn Hoffman missed Sunday’s game to see son Dylan pitch.

“Our coaches give up a lot,” said Green. “If occasionally a coach is missing, these guys sacrifice so much. They don’t see their kids, who are in some cases teenagers or college age. We can survive without any one of us for a given day. We should be built to do that. He got to go watch Dylan pitch. It was good for him.”

Last year the Padres had three days off over the first five weeks of the season. This season they will have five.

“There’s an opportunity to do some things,” Green said speaking of the roster. “We did it throughout the course of last year — a couple three-inning guys to do a start before an off-day . We created some scenarios that worked well and allowed us to compete that day and we’ll continue to do that.”