PEORIA, Ariz. — None of the five pitchers battling for what is almost certainly one remaining spot in the starting rotation is guaranteed to be on the roster.
The pitcher the Padres signed last month with a virtual guarantee he will start games for them this season got on a mound on a back field at the Peoria Sports Complex for the first time this spring.
Griffin Canning was merely throwing a bullpen session. But the field was lined, and he worked on specific counts and situations throughout.
“I like being on the game mound as much as I can,” he said afterward. “I feel like it usually makes my mechanics a little crisper, my pitches a little crisper and just kind of brings up the intensity a little bit. I’m hoping to face hitters next week sometime. So I just wanted to get out there and get the visuals down.”
Canning, whose one-year deal guarantees him $2.5 million, is working back from Achilles surgery. He could be ready to pitch in a major league game in the latter part of April but more likely in May or even June.
Much like reliever Jason Adam, who is recovering from quad tendon surgery, Canning is full-go when pitching but is not ready to field his position.
He has begun doing change-of-direction and agility drills and expects to start fielding soon, though he is not as far along as Adam, who could be ready by opening day.
Canning, who had a 4.78 ERA in 99 games (94 starts) for the Angels from 2019 to ‘24, was working on the best season of his career when he was injured in June while pitching for the Mets. He had a 3.77 ERA through 16 starts (76⅓ innings). In half of those starts, he allowed two or fewer runs while going at least five innings.
His 2025 arguably makes him the most promising of the newcomers to the rotation in 2026.
Among the candidates to be in the rotation on opening day, Walker Buehler, Germán Márquez and JP Sears all had an ERA of 4.93 or higher. Triston McKenzie worked just 5⅔ innings in the majors and Marco Gonzales did not pitch while rehabbing from flexor tendon surgery.
When he joins the Padres — possibly supplanting one of those pitchers — is not a date he has circled yet on his calendar.
“Honestly, I have no idea,” Canning said. “I think the way we kind of have it right now is just kind of like let them keep their eyes on me, and if I’m showing that I can go out there and pitch, then we’ll do it. I think it kind of gives me the most peace of mind, too. I don’t have a date in mind necessarily, so I’m not pushing myself harder than it needs to be pushed and not stressing out about, ‘Oh, I need to be back by this day.’ So I’m just listening to my body and taking it one day at a time.”
Bullpen situation
Reliever Bryan Hoeing got a second opinion on his ailing elbow, and the belief is he can forgo surgery. He was back at the complex Tuesday and doing light exercises.
“Still determining next steps,” manager Craig Stammen said. “But out for a little while until we determine what the next point in the progression is.”
Hoeing, who last threw on Feb. 24, will miss the start of the season. With left-hander Yuki Matsui (adductor) having not thrown off a mound since Feb 19 and Adam working back from his September surgery, three relievers projected to be in the bullpen are now uncertain to be ready by opening day.
If there was one spot the Padres can absorb a certain number of hits, it is the bullpen.
They bring back all but closer Robert Suarez from last year’s MLB-best group. And they have numerous candidates to potentially fill in for Adam, including hard-throwing Bradgley Rodriguez and Ty Adcock. Lefty Kyle Hart is auditioning to serve in Matsui’s role.
And a candidate has emerged to fill Hoeing’s role as a versatile innings-eater.
“When you have depth, that means you have a lot of options to choose from,” Stammen said. “We saw (Monday), Logan Gillaspie and how he threw in that game. He probably wasn’t on all your guys’ list to make the opening day roster, but we have a lot of guys like him that are capable of doing things like that and have major league experience, that are able to get outs in big-league games. So we feel really good about our bullpen at the moment, even with a few injuries kind of cutting us down a little bit.”
Gillaspie, who allowed two runs in seven innings (three games) in two call-ups last season and has a 4.63 ERA in 40 career big-league appearances (44 ⅔ innings).
He retired all eight batters he faced Monday and has retired 11 of the 12 batters he has faced this spring.
Cuts
The Padres reassigned left-handed pitchers Omar Cruz, Jagger Haynes and Ryan Och and right-handers Manuel Castro and Justin Yeager to minor league camp. With that, they have 67 players in major league camp.