Notes: Paddack's debut, prospects

PEORIA, Ariz. -- All those mechanical tweaks and changes Chris Paddack made during the offseason -- early evidence suggests they're working.

Coming off a rough 2020 season, Paddack made his first Cactus League start on Monday against the Cubs and looked an awful lot like the dominant 2019 version of himself.

Paddack worked two crisp, scoreless frames, in the Padres’ 1-0 loss to the Cubs, striking out three and allowing only one baserunner -- a Joc Pederson walk.

"That's exactly what we wanted to see, and that's the way he's been throwing the ball all through camp in what we've seen," said Padres manager Jayce Tingler. "You're facing really, really good hitters on that side, so for him to carry that in, I thought was a great step."

As usual, Paddack's changeup was his most effective pitch. He got Anthony Rizzo and David Bote to flail at changeups for strike three. But arguably the most encouraging pitch of Paddack's afternoon was a two-strike fastball that Javier Báez couldn't catch up to.

It's no secret that Paddack's fastball let him down last season. He spent the offseason honing his mechanics in an effort to get the proper life back on his four-seam fastball.

It's only one start on the first day of March. But so far, so good.

"Always good to get that first one under your belt and have a little bit of success," Paddack said. "It just builds that confidence going into start No. 2."

The kids are (still) all right
Even though they've dealt dozens of prospects since the Trade Deadline last August, the Padres still own one of the sport's top farm systems. They seem determined to show it off this spring.

C.J. Abrams, Robert Hassell and Tucupita Marcano -- three of the team's four best hitting prospects, according to MLB Pipeline -- started Monday's game against the Cubs.

Hassell, the team's top pick in last June's MLB Draft, sent a booming double off the center-field wall to lead off the third inning.

Marcano, meanwhile, went 2-for-2 and is now 3-for-4 this spring. Padres officials have been thoroughly impressed with Marcano's plate approach, dating back to Summer Camp last year.

"He was one of the toughest outs on the other side, and it didn't matter if it was velocity, sharp breaking balls, anything," Tingler said. "He's got a knack to find barrel to it and a really good approach."

Golden Grisham
The Padres traded for Trent Grisham in December 2019, hoping he'd be able to fill a glaring roster void by handling center field. Grisham not only handled center in '20 -- he thrived there, winning the franchise's first Gold Glove Award in the outfield since Mike Cameron in '06.

But entering his second season in the big leagues, the 24-year-old insists he's not a finished product defensively.

"It's a great award, and I was really honored to get it, yes," Grisham said. "But I wouldn't say it's Gold Glove or bust. There are certain things I know I've got to do to be a good defender, and I'm going to keep trying to get better at those things."

When Tingler met Grisham for lunch in Texas during the offseason, it was Grisham who outlined a few needed areas for improvement -- notably his play at the wall and being smarter about when he takes chances with his arm.

Still, there's clearly a strong foundation to build upon. According to Statcast, Grisham ranked first among all outfielders in his "reaction" in 2020, covering 2.6 feet more than the average defender in the first 1.5 seconds of any fly ball. He tied for first with Cody Bellinger and Luis Robert with six outs above average.

"Just having that confidence that I got it done that first year, just helps me that much more going into this season," Grisham said.