– Last Updated on November 21, 2022 4:47 pm
Padres 2017 Season Preview
Ready to check out our 2017 San Diego Padres predictions? Last season the Padres finished with a 68-94 record – tied for the worst record in the National League with the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds. A year later, the Padres are in position to have that tile all to themselves.
MLB Padres Predictions & Handicapping Insight
For the Padres, 2017 is very much a rebuilding year, but there are still plenty of reasons for fans in San Diego to make their way down to the ballpark – aside from the fact that Petco Park is one of the nicest venues in the nicest cities in the bigs.
The team’s youth movement is in full swing, with Will Myers and Hunter Renfroe leading the charge. Myers is fresh off a breakout campaign in which he connected for 28 home runs and 94 RBI.
He’s the centerpiece of the lineup this year, and will be for years to come, with a 30-30 season firmly in his crosshairs.
2017 MLB Team Previews – San Diego Padres
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Key Additions:
- Jered Weaver
- Trevor Cahill
- Jhoulys Chacin
Given the Padres status as a club clearly in the low point of a rebuild, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that they didn’t make much of a splash in the offseason.
Weaver, Cahill, and Chacin will all eat up some innings and could be flipped at the deadline for more young talent.
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No one’s expecting this group to push the team into the playoff race, but rather, to help nurture the organization’s young arms and serve as placeholders until those youngsters are ready to claim the rotation as their own.
Key Losses:
- Tyson Ross
- Derek Norris
- Jon Jay
One of the upsides of having a less than exciting roster is it doesn’t hurt too much when players leave via free agency. But with as little talent as the Padres have, seeing Tyson Ross and Derek Norris walk must hurt a little.
Ross endured some major injury woes in his final season as a Padre, and Norris was really coming into his own as a full-time player in San Diego.
Padres Predictions: Projected Lineup:
- LF Travis Jankowski
- CF Manuel Margot
- 1B Wil Myers
- 3B Yangervis Solarte
- RF Hunter Renfroe
- 2B Ryan Schimpf
- C Austin Hedges
- SS Luis Sardinas
Myers is the clear focal point of the rotation along with Renfroe, who will together be counted on to give the team a strong 3-4 punch in the middle of the lineup.
At 26 and 25 years of age respectively, they give the team a solid young core to build around, and catcher Austin Hedges has seen his name on top-100 prospect lists.
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Luis Sardina, who starts the year as just a 23-year-old, looks like he’ll get the everyday shortstop gig out of spring. Like Hedges, he’s a former top-100 prospect himself. He hit .287 with a .353 on-base percentage in 120 plate appearances last season.
Outfielders Travis Jankowski and Manuel Margot will provide plenty of speed at the top of the order.
The Padres’ 125 stolen bases last season ranked fifth in the majors. Jankowski accounted for 30 stolen bases in only 383 plate appearances, and Margot has a 42-stolen base season in the minors under his belt.
Padres Predictions: Projected Rotation:
- RH Jhoulys Chacin
- RH Jered Weaver
- LH Clayton Richard
- RH Trevor Cahill
- LH Christian Friedrich
It’s tough to get too excited about anyone in the Padres staff. There’s been talk of them trying to “piggyback” some of their starts – having two pitchers combine to eat up six or seven innings, removing the starter after three or four innings.
That would be interesting, but no individual starter is going to be driving up the price of admission.
Padres Predictions: Projected Closer:
- RH Brandon Maurer
Maurer did a fine job as the Padres’ closer after inheriting the job last year, but he’s just serving as the placeholder for the moment.
Carter Capps can hit triple digits on the radar gun and has a quirky delivery that makes him difficult to hit. He’s coming off Tommy John surgery, and the job will be his once he rounds back into form.
2017 San Diego Padres Prediction:
The Padres are headed in the right direction, as hometown fans can look around the diamond and see a player with the potential to be a long-term contributor to the franchise at just about every position.
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In the short-term, however, it’s tough to have much reason for optimism for a club that seems to be a lock to lose 90-plus games. They’ll have a tough time reaching their win total, which is set at 66.5.
What do you think of our 2017 San Diego Padres predictions? Comments are welcome below.
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