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German Marquez didn’t look good in his last time on the mound and Marco Gonzales followed it up today with a rough performance when the San Diego Padres took on the Texas Rangers at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona. Both pitchers are vying for the fifth and final rotation spot, which could be two spots with the latest news regarding Joe Musgrove, who is having difficulty recovering from pitches with the intensity that comes from competing on an MLB field – even in spring training.
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The remaining potential starters after Marquez and Gonzales are Walker Buehler, JP Sears, Matt Waldron and Triston McKenzie. Buehler seems to be the most consistent of the group, while Sears continues to struggle to allow home runs, Waldron just returned to throwing after hemorrhoid surgery and McKenzie, despite his last outing, had trouble locating his pitches.
The Padres Reacts investigation into Gas lamp ball This week, respondents were asked to select who they thought would win the final spot in the rotation and the overwhelming majority said Buehler. He has been the most consistent of the group competing for the job and his track record, despite multiple arm surgeries, shows that he knows how to pitch in the big leagues and can succeed.
When Buehler entered the MLB, he was known as a fastball pitcher, who could hit the mid-90s. Since the surgeries, his velocity has dropped to the low to mid-90s, as we’ve seen him hit 94 mph in his spring outings thus far. Buehler must learn to use his pitch mix to keep hitters off balance and get out. With Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla as a resource, there’s no reason to think Buehler can’t succeed. He appears to be the favorite for the position, and the Friars faithful expect him to be in the rotation come opening day.
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