Blake Snell already looks like the best No. 2 starter in Padres history.

San Diego has seen its share of aces over the years -- Randy Jones, Kevin Brown and Jake Peavy come to mind instantly. But it's never had a rotation quite like this one.

Snell won't get the ball for Opening Day -- that honor belongs to Yu Darvish. But for the first time in recent memory, the Padres had two certifiable aces to choose from. (Could've been three if Dinelson Lamet were available.)

Snell will face the D-backs in the second game of the season instead. But he sure looked like an Opening Day-caliber starter this spring. He's been one of the sport's most dominant pitchers all month, and he was excellent again in a 2-0 victory over the Angels on Saturday.

In his final spring start, Snell struck out six across five scoreless, one-hit innings.

"I'm ready for my next start, I definitely know that," Snell said. "I feel really good. I feel like I'm in a good place, and I'm excited to get better."

Get better? Across five starts this spring, Snell didn't allow a run, and surrendered just five hits over 14 1/3 innings. Hard to get much better than that.

Of course, as Snell is wont to do, he found a few areas to nitpick. He wasn't pleased that he fell behind in counts on a couple left-handed hitters, and he especially wasn't pleased that he plunked Angels center fielder Brandon Marsh.

"I mean, I'm happy with it," Snell said. "But there's a lot to work on."

With Snell, who is rarely satisfied, there's always a lot to work on.

Roster-battle Saturday

The Padres gave the entirety of their projected starting lineup the day off on Saturday, after those regulars had played the bulk of three consecutive night games.

What resulted was a glimpse at San Diego's bench -- and one particularly tight roster battle. Jurickson Profar and Ha-Seong Kim are both practically locks for the bench, even if they've struggled this spring. Both had hits on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Brian O'Grady and Jorge Mateo continued their spring-long battle for what might be the final place on the Padres' roster. Mateo lined a two-run double in the fifth and is hitting .340 with a .921 OPS.

"Long story short, he's really worked on flattening out his bat path, so he can handle pitches at the top of the zone," manager Jayce Tingler said. "A ton of credit goes to him. ... He's a good decision-maker on the bases. We trust him in the infield. We trust him in the outfield. We trust him in the box. He just continues to work and keep improving."

Mateo seems like the favorite in that race. But O'Grady has been solid, too, and there's still a path for him to make the roster. Center fielder Trent Grisham is still on the mend after straining his left hamstring two weeks ago. His Opening Day status is still a question mark.

O'Grady went 1-for-3 with a stolen base and has posted an .825 OPS this spring.

Campusano goes the distance

It's doubtful that Austin Nola will play in one of the Padres' remaining two games this spring, making it seem unlikely that he'd be ready in time to crack the Opening Day roster. Nola, the club's starting catcher, is working his way back from a fractured left middle finger.

As a result, Victor Caratini will slide into a starting role. Meanwhile, Luis Campusano, the team's No. 3 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, suddenly seems like a roster favorite. He caught all seven innings on Saturday.

"We wanted him with Snell," Tingler said. "The whole goal: We've been trying to get him as much experience as possible."

Reading between the lines, it seems possible that -- if Nola isn't back -- Campusano could make his first career start behind the plate on Friday, with Snell on the mound.