There was plenty to talk about Monday afternoon as Padres manager Andy Green met with the media at Coors Field before the opening a three-game series . . . the Padres third series against the Rockies in the first month of the season.
Eric Lauer arrived from Triple-A El Paso in time to make Tuesday night?s start against the Rockies. Meanwhile, Christian Villanueva, who is riding a nine-game hitting streak (with four homers) was a late scratch with hamstring soreness.
Lauer, 22, one of the Padres? three first-round picks in the 2016 draft, follows Joey Lucchesi as the second rookie to debut in the Padres rotation this season. A left-hander like Lucchesi, Lauer was 2?1 with a 3.00 earned run average in three starts at El Paso. He had 19 strikeouts in 18 innings with a 0.94 WHIP.
?Lauer is here today on the taxi squad and will obviously start tomorrow?s game,? said Green. ?He?s going to pitch off his fastball. He?s got deception and life to his fastball. Where he?s been successful . . . he?s a low heart-beat guy. He doesn?t scare easily. He has the right temperament to bring into Coors Field against a very good offense.?
?Lauer?s a four-pitch mix guy. He?s a guy who can pitch to hitter?s weaknesses and do it well. It?s a different type of deception than Joey Lucchesi brings. It?s just the way the arm works that causes people not to see it well in most cases. When he?s being successful, that?s what you are seeing. Late reads on the fastball despite the fact that it?s not 95 miles an hour. You don?t want to talk about what this park does to some pitchers, but Eric?s is not the type of repertoire that you?d expect to be impacted much by Coors Field.?
?He?s not going to be heavily reliant on getting sink on his fastball. He?s going to be relying on his location and command.?
?Lauer and Lucchesi are guys who are going to have every chance to be part of our rotation for a long time and we look at both those guys as being key parts to what we?re trying to do. To add him to the mix is exciting. We have names coming after him that might be a little farther down on the list right now. There are a lot of those guys. This is kind of the first wave of those pitching prospects that we?ve been waiting for and looking forward to having.?
Eric Lauer arrived from Triple-A El Paso in time to make Tuesday night?s start against the Rockies. Meanwhile, Christian Villanueva, who is riding a nine-game hitting streak (with four homers) was a late scratch with hamstring soreness.
Lauer, 22, one of the Padres? three first-round picks in the 2016 draft, follows Joey Lucchesi as the second rookie to debut in the Padres rotation this season. A left-hander like Lucchesi, Lauer was 2?1 with a 3.00 earned run average in three starts at El Paso. He had 19 strikeouts in 18 innings with a 0.94 WHIP.
?Lauer is here today on the taxi squad and will obviously start tomorrow?s game,? said Green. ?He?s going to pitch off his fastball. He?s got deception and life to his fastball. Where he?s been successful . . . he?s a low heart-beat guy. He doesn?t scare easily. He has the right temperament to bring into Coors Field against a very good offense.?
?Lauer?s a four-pitch mix guy. He?s a guy who can pitch to hitter?s weaknesses and do it well. It?s a different type of deception than Joey Lucchesi brings. It?s just the way the arm works that causes people not to see it well in most cases. When he?s being successful, that?s what you are seeing. Late reads on the fastball despite the fact that it?s not 95 miles an hour. You don?t want to talk about what this park does to some pitchers, but Eric?s is not the type of repertoire that you?d expect to be impacted much by Coors Field.?
?He?s not going to be heavily reliant on getting sink on his fastball. He?s going to be relying on his location and command.?
?Lauer and Lucchesi are guys who are going to have every chance to be part of our rotation for a long time and we look at both those guys as being key parts to what we?re trying to do. To add him to the mix is exciting. We have names coming after him that might be a little farther down on the list right now. There are a lot of those guys. This is kind of the first wave of those pitching prospects that we?ve been waiting for and looking forward to having.?
