How Did Former Padres Fare in 2023 Opening Day?
The beauty of the sport of baseball is that rosters change every season in an attempt to improve one's chances at winning and rounding out the team all-around. We will always remember the San Diego Padres' postseason run in 2022 and the players that were part of it are in our history forever.
However, the reality is that those guys along with the Friars have to do what is best for the careers and goals. We saw a number of players who were on the squad last year join new franchises in free agency. Even though we loved seeing our current roster hit the field at Petco Park for the first time this season on Thursday night, we'll have to get used to some of our old favorites rocking new threads.
Lets' take a look at how some of our previous Padres players performed on one of the biggest nights of the year.
1. Josh Bell
Josh Bell arrived to the Padres in the Juan Soto trade package and he didn't have a ton of time to impress the fanbase. He got off to a somewhat slow start with the squad and had a bad streak at bat in April. However, he completely turned it around in the playoffs and consistently got on base.
His debut with the Cleveland Guardians wasn't anything crazy but he was able to get one hit in four plate appearances. Unfortunately, he starts the season off with a loss as the team fell 0-3 to the Seattle Mariners.
2. Brandon Drury
When the Padres were able to add Brandon Drury last season before the conclusion of the 2022 trade deadline, it took many fans by shock. He would go on to slash .263/.320/.492. and become a reliable option for San Diego.
Now on the Los Angeles Angels, his debut was less than ideal. He went 0-4 at the plate and helped contribute to the squad not being able to get many runs down the stretch of a 2-1 loss to the A's
3. Sean Manaea
Sean Manaea was able to make the Padres' big league roster in 2022 after some impressive play in Spring Training. He had a good first-half of the season as he started in over 30 games and also consistently pitched through six innings whenever he took the mound.
Manaea did not pitch for the San Fransisco Giants in their season opener but he did show solid numbers in Spring training as he posted a 4.08 ERA, 0.962 WHIP, and totaled 14 strikeouts.
