Padres News: Insider Predicts Friars Will Have Best Rotation in 2023

This would be a huge improvement from last year.

Your San Diego Padres will get a nice look at how their pitching depth is going to compare to the rest of the league right off the jump this year. With key pieces in Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish, and Drew Pomeranz all set to miss some time as the season begins, that will lead to more opportunities for the rest of the squad.

Blake Snell has already been named as the starter for opening day against the Colorado Rockies and Nick Martinez, Jay Groome, and Michael Wacha are all looking to make noise within the lineup. 

The Friars were not among the best pitching groups in the league last season and they will definitely look to improve that in 2023. Their offseason moves should help this and Bleacher Report's Eno Sarris has gone as far to say that San Diego could have the number one pitching rotation once the year starts.

Joe Musgrove is currently throwing a simulated game in Peoria.

Slightly different than a normal sim game, as the hitters aren’t swinging…but still another positive step towards Musgrove’s return to the Padres rotation. pic.twitter.com/k699CkcwWo

— Sammy Levitt (@SammyLev) March 22, 2023

"For one, they did improve their depth," said Sarris. "Signing Seth Lugo and then stretching him out in the spring, getting Adrian Morejon back from injury, and working to improve Ryan Weathers’ pitch shapes and mix — all of these things will matter in the end. Teams use six or seven starters liberally, and ten starters total on average, and it looks like this Padres team is a little better set to deal with any setbacks at the top of the rotation."

 (Via Bleacher Report)

This is quite the hot take as the Padres finished towards the middle of the league in most major pitching statistics last season as a team. However, they were able to hold onto the guys that headline their starting lineup and bullpen and acquired new faces to fill in the gaps they lost.

It was sad to Craig Stammen go down with a shoulder injury that might force him to retire because I believe he could have been a sneaky x-factor for them. However, the potential is there for this group and we'll get a nice look at what to expect very soon.