Patiño finally back home with Padres
This browser does not support the video element.
PEORIA, Ariz. -- Luis Patiño had three words to express his return to the Padres this season.
“Home sweet home,” Patiño said.
Patiño arrived in camp on Friday after visa issues delayed his arrival, almost eight years since he signed with the Padres for $130,000 as part of their 2016 class of 54 international free agents.
“When I got here, a lot of memories,” he said.
Getting here was nothing Patiño would want to go through again. He was required to get a visa through the White Sox this winter after spending the final two months of the 2023 season with them.
This browser does not support the video element.
After being claimed off waivers by the Padres on Dec. 22, Patiño had to go through the process again. He finally got his passport back on Thursday.
Patiño figures to be used as a reliever early, because of the time constraints involved in stretching him out before the Seoul Series against the Dodgers that begins on March 20 in South Korea.
“I’m ready for anything they put on the table … reliever, starter, whatever,” Patiño said. “San Diego knows me as a starter, but I’m just here to help the team win. That’s the important thing.”
This browser does not support the video element.
He has spent most of the past three seasons as a starter in the Tampa Bay and White Sox organizations after going to the Rays in the trade that brought Blake Snell to San Diego on Dec. 29, 2020.
Machado gets his work
Manny Machado was held out of both of the Padres’ split-squad games on Friday, working instead on a back field as he returns from right elbow extensor tendon surgery he underwent on Oct. 3.
“It’s part of his progression,” manager Mike Shildt said. “We felt like it was just a matter of getting work in. Games are important, don’t get me wrong … but being able to get his swings in the cage and be able to do that with more volume right now has more importance than the two or three at-bats he might get in a game.”
This browser does not support the video element.
Machado is 1-for-6 with a double and two strikeouts in three games this spring, all as a DH.
Musgrove in a B-game on Saturday
Joe Musgrove will pitch in a B-game on a back field on Saturday, with Michael King scheduled to start the Padres' game against San Francisco.
“More controlled environment,” Shildt said.
Musgrove has given up five hits and eight runs over a combined 1 2/3 innings in his two spring starts. He missed the final two months of the 2023 season because of inflammation in his right shoulder capsule. He was 10-3 with a 3.05 ERA in 17 starts.