T-MINUS ONE MONTH FOR PADRES

First group of players report to Peoria by Feb. 13 for one of most anticipated springs ever

One month from now, Padres players will begin reporting to the team’s complex in Peoria, Ariz.

Spring training will commence, and with it will begin the true launch of an uncommon level of galactic expectations.

There aren’t a lot of periods of success in the franchise’s 54 years to which this can be compared.

The buzz surrounding the 1998 team in spring training was arguably close, considering the team’s recent success, offseason acquisitions and the anticipation that a winning season would help with a stadium push. A trip to the playoffs in 2020 led to a belief ’21 would bring more of the same before a historic collapse the final month of that season led to a managerial change.

That’s about the only times analogous to this moment in Padres history, in which the team brings back most of the principals from the squad that advanced to the National League Championship Series in October.

Another irregularity will be the lead-up to the 2023 season, which could actually be considered to have become the norm. For a fourth consecutive year, spring training has extenuating circumstances.

In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic brought the spring to a halt in early March. There was uncertainty about the ’21 spring almost until the time it started, and that entire season was played under some restrictive health and safety protocols. Last year, the lockout was not resolved until nearly a month after the usual start of camp and gave way to a truncated spring and tardy opening day.

This year, the World Baseball Classic is scheduled for March 8-21, meaning a large number of players will be absent from their MLB teams’ camps for up to three weeks.

It is a complication the Padres must navigate more than most other teams. Final WBC rosters have not been set, and some players won’t spend the entirety of the tournament with their country’s team. But several significant Padres are committed to participate in the WBC, including Xander Bogaerts, Nelson Cruz, Yu Darvish, Ha-seong Kim, Manny Machado, Juan Soto and Robert Suarez.

Padres pitchers and