PEORIA, Ariz. — The Padres were not entirely sure what they were getting in Nick Castellanos.

He had been released by the Philadelphia Phillies in February amid a shroud of controversy regarding his relationship with manager Rob Thomson and others in the organization.

But the Padres’ confidence that he would jell was rooted in not only their impressions on a lengthy video call that included president of baseball operations A.J. Preller, assistant general manager Josh Stein and manager Craig Stammen, but also the intelligence they had gathered on his work ethic.

That had come up consistently in their homework on Castellanos over the years. And they had it confirmed again when they were considering acquiring him this offseason.

And arguably, no player has been on the practice fields more than the 34-year-old Castellanos this spring, as the 13-year veteran learns a new position and strives to fit in with a new club.

His improvement at first base is noticeable, sometimes day to day, on throws to second base, covering the bag instead of going for the ball and knowing where to be on various plays.

“I’m just really having fun learning,” Castellanos said. “The whole process is enjoyable. I don’t feel like it’s something I have to do. It’s something I want to do.”

Castellanos is expected to be part of a platoon at first base, primarily with left-handed-hitting Gavin Sheets, and serve as designated hitter. He could  also play in the outfield from time to time. He spent the past eight years playing right field for the Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds and Phillies. He has started in right field in four Cactus League games and on Sunday started in left field for the first time.

“I’m really enjoying coming to work,” he said.

While his willingness to work is not new, his love of it has been renewed.

“I would go through periods in Philly where it would be a job,” he said. “I always respected the fact that I had a job and I had somebody paying me a lot of money. So I went to work every day, and I worked hard. I took pride in my job. But sometimes I had to really, like, look for the joy. Here, I don’t really find it difficult to (find) the joy with the setup right now.”

 

Griffin Canning’s progress

Right-hander Griffin Canning threw about 24 pitches in simulated game on Sunday morning in Peoria, his second time facing hitters this spring. He walked a batter, gave up some hard contact to a trio of minor league hitters — including a home run to Romeo Sanabria — and was not tested defensively off the mound, although one hitter showed bunt once without laying it down.

Afterward, Canning ran through pitcher’s fielding practice drills, as important as anything as he builds back from last year’s season-ending Achilles surgery.

Canning is not expected to emerge as an option for the rotation until perhaps May or later. It is unclear if he will progress to the point of getting into Cactus League games before the spring finale on March 23.

“I don’t know if he’ll make it before Cactus League ends, but he’s trending in that direction,” Stammen said. “Starting to throw simulated games, and it’s just whether he’s comfortable enough to be able to move off the mound. That’ll be the thing and we’ve just got to be careful with that. He’s beating the timeline right now. He’s at a point where we just don’t want to risk it. There’s no point in throwing him in a game for two innings and then him trying to cover first or cover a bunt and then just not going the way we want it to go.”

 

Notable

Reliever Jason Adam continues to aim for opening day, even if the Padres’ brass continues to be conservative in their own estimations for his readiness. The next step is a Cactus League game on Tuesday. That will give Adam the chance to potentially appear in three to four live games before the end of camp, while the rest of the relievers are expected to get nine to 10 appearances. “Is that the best-case scenario for him to pitch on opening day and then be able to do a full workload as a reliever? We’ll decide that,” Stammen said. “He’s a veteran pitcher, so we kind of trust how he’s feeling and try to make the best decision for him with him in mind.”
Indielder Sung-Mun Song (oblique) was back to work on a hitting progression after taking Saturday off. The hope is he’s back in Cactus League games before the team breaks camp.