Guardians vs Padres MLB Pick: Darvish Makes His First Spring Start (Mar 8)

• The Cleveland Guardians (4-7) visit Peoria, AZ to play the San Diego Padres (3-10)
• Cleveland has struggled this spring after making major offseason changes to their roster
• San Diego has been even worse with a high-priced roster
• Veteran righty star Yu Darvish makes his first spring appearance on the mound for San Diego

After making major offseason subtractions by trading Josh Naylor and Andres Gimenez, the Guardians have started the spring by losing 7 of their first 11 games. They start lefty Luis Ortiz, acquired from Pittsburgh during the winter.

San Diego has even higher expectations than Cleveland with a massive payroll. They have lost 10 of their 13 spring games. Notably, veteran righty Yu Darvish makes his first spring training appearance for the Friars.

Guardians’ Young Bats Have Been Impressive So Far

Cleveland needs its young bats to develop quickly to repeat their 2024 success. The Guardians made it to the ALCS last season before losing to the Yankees. They did it with a great bullpen, excellent defense, speed, and sound fundamentals.

Having traded Naylor and Gimenez and with an outfield with limited power, they need to find offense from somewhere. Thus far, Kyle Manzardo, Jose Burgos, Yordys Valdes, Tyler Freeman, and Micah Pries have been impressive.

Darvish’s 2025 Performance is Imperative for San Diego

Veteran righty Yu Darvish missed a chunk of the 2024 season with a groin injury and other issues. He returned in September. He will be 39 in August.

San Diego has been treading lightly financially since owner Peter Seidler’s death. They didn’t spend much over the winter, cleared some salaries letting Ha-Seong Kim, Jurickson Profar, and Kyle Higashioka walk, and weighed trade offers for Dylan Cease and Michael King. They held onto Cease and King and are still trying to contend.

A healthy and effective Darvish will be crucial to their hopes.

Young superstar Jackson Merrill has started the spring hot batting .375 with 1 triple and 2 homers. Their other key offensive players including Manny Machado, Luis Arraez, Jason Heyward, Jake Cronenworth, and Xander Bogaerts have all started slowly.

Guardians vs Padres Pick: San Diego’s Woes Continue

Darvish will not be in the game long as he is assuredly going to be a strict pitch count. San Diego’s hitters have been struggling mightily. Eventually, they will start hitting, but it won’t be against Cleveland’s tough lefty Ortiz.