Yu Darvish sharp in first live BP.
With a half-dozen cameras held by Japanese photographers recording every pitch and another handful of Japanese media members watching along with almost every member of the Padres front office Thursday, Yu Darvish threw his first live batting practice of the spring.
The accomplished righthander was remarkably efficient, getting through six batters (actually just Brian O’Grady and Jorge Oña batting three times apiece) in 19 pitches.
“I had very good control,” Darvish said through interpreter Shingo Horie. “All in all, feeling really good.”
The only hit against him was a fastball Darvish said came out of his hand wrong that O’Grady reached down and yanked over the right field fence.
“I tried to go inside a little bit,” Darvish said. “But he got the most out of it.”
Darvish, acquired from the Chicago Cubs in a December trade after finishing second in National League Cy Young voting last season, threw five different breaking balls during his Thursday outing. He has as many as 11 different pitches he will throw in games, though he primarily uses seven.
Darvish likely will pitch in a simulated game before starting a Cactus League game toward the end of next week.
Weathers forecast
Ryan Weathers, the Padres’ second-ranked pitching prospect, followed Darvish to the mound and was mostly effective in nearly two innings of work.
The 21-year-old lefthander retired Eric Hosmer, Manny Machado and Tommy Pham in order, the last two on strikeouts, in the first inning. After sitting down while Aaron Northcraft pitched, Weathers returned and didn’t get through a second full inning before reaching his 30-pitch limit. In that frame, he retired Victor Caratini on a fly ball and may or may not have gotten Hosmer out on a fly ball to the track in rightcenter. He also walked Pham twice.
“He threw the ball really well,” Padres pitching coach Larry Rothschild said. “He’s come in in really good shape.”
Weathers, who pitched 11⁄3 hitless innings in his major league debut during the NL Division Series in October, is likely to start a Cactus League game as soon as Tuesday. He would follow Adrian Morejon in Sunday’s opener and Chris Paddack on Monday. Weathers sitting between innings was part of the preparation for his first start.
“He’s in a good spot,” Rothschild said. “He’s in a position when we start games to step forward, and we’ll see where it goes. He’s still a young kid, and there are still some things to work on.”
Adams back, better
There are several candidates to get the ball in the ninth inning to try and close out Padres victories this season.
The leaders are Emilio Pagan, Drew Pomeranz and Pierce Johnson. Keone Kela and Mark Melancon, two high-profile additions made just before spring training began, are also possibilities.
One player who hasn’t received quite as much attention from the outside is Austin Adams, who pitched in three games for the Padres last season after being acquired in trade from Seattle along with catcher Austin Nola and reliever Dan Altavilla last August.
But that wasn’t the real Adams who allowed two runs on three hits in his four innings in September. That was a guy who was almost exactly a year removed from ACL reconstruction.
“Last year he was still recovering,” Rothschild said. “It was a quick push with him coming to us. He didn’t have a lot of work coming in. We got him (ready) as much as we could. He wasn’t 100 percent at all.”
Adams’ average fastball was down almost 2 mph (to 93.4 mph) last fall. His slider was down even more (89.6 to 87.10). However, that dastardly breaking pitch was still highly effective, ending all seven of his strikeouts.
“The breaking ball plays, no matter what,” Rothschild said.
Adams’ velocity has been up in his bullpens here. More crucially, he has been more precise with his fastball.
“It’s going to be command,” said Rothschild, who watched Adams throw this winter. “If he commands the baseball with both pitches, he’s pretty formidable for a hitter.”
Keeping track
Padres players and staff began wearing Kinexon contact-tracing devices.
The monitor, which the NBA and NFL have used, is in a small badge-like device that can be worn as a bracelet or affixed to a lanyard. It lights up and then vibrates when the required social distance has been compromised and also tracks how close and how often wearers have been within six feet from each other. That will allow for more efficient and reliable contact tracing in the event of positive COVID-19 tests.