Padres pitcher had special bond with Vin Scully

This story was excerpted from AJ Cassavell’s Padres Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Here’s one notable Padres-Scully connection: Right-hander Nick Martinez and Scully both attended Fordham University. Seven years ago, Scully reached out to Martinez when the Rangers made a trip to Los Angeles. He invited Martinez to his broadcast booth before batting practice, and the two had a wide-ranging conversation -- talking about the school, the campus, their favorite places to eat, where they lived.

• How much have revamped Padres closed gap vs. Dodgers?

“That was a really, really cool interaction,” Martinez said. “We played the Dodgers, and without really saying anything we both knew that we wanted to meet. There’s not many Fordham people in the big leagues.

“I was sad to hear of his passing. Our short time, we sat together for like 20 minutes before batting practice in the broadcast booth. He knew who I was, knew my whole story, and that was really neat for a legend like that to know me.”

Quick hits
• I cannot emphasize enough what this Trade Deadline meant in the San Diego clubhouse. A year ago, the Padres thought they were getting Max Scherzer, only to have the rug pulled out from under them. On top of that, Scherzer -- and Trea Turner -- went to the rival Dodgers. The Padres' collapse ensued.

This year's Trade Deadline was the polar opposite. The buzz in the Padres’ clubhouse has been palpable since Monday, as one reinforcement has arrived after another -- bolstering what was already a very good team.

“Last year, who we didn’t get, that was tough,” said left-hander Blake Snell. “This year, we went and got everybody. So the energy is turned up from that. We’re really excited.”

• When you trade for a potential future Hall of Famer entering his prime, that probably isn't the time to worry about platoons and bench pieces. But I am fascinated by what all these moves do for the entirety of the Padres roster. Frankly, this wasn't a very deep team on Sunday. Now, it has what I would consider a championship-caliber bench.

“[Brandon] Drury gives us all kinds of versatility,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Pretty exciting how we can deploy our lineup each and every day. … We didn’t bring in bench players. We brought in starters and guys that are going to be out there for the most part. But the uniqueness is the versatility within these guys and what positions they can play.”

• Perhaps the most interesting new lineup-construction question is what happens when Fernando Tatis Jr. returns. If there’s one area the Padres didn’t quite address at the Deadline, it’s their center-field depth. Trent Grisham has been outstanding lately. But so has Ha-Seong Kim at shortstop. It’s entirely possible Tatis plays some center field when he returns. That would form a platoon where the righty-hitting Kim starts against lefties and the lefty-hitting Grisham starts against righties. Tatis would bounce between those two positions, though Melvin didn’t want to get ahead of himself.

“Let’s wait for that,” the Padres skipper said with a grin, acknowledging that there are still a few hurdles to clear before Tatis can return to the field. “He’s done some stuff in the outfield. He’s obviously a shortstop. So, let’s get through this deployment first.”