Hey, no one said this managerial stuff would be easy. Not when you lose 99 games, like these Padres did a year ago and certainly not on Friday when Bud Black found himself trying to duck and cover from a bat that flew out of the hands of catcher Eliezer Alfonzo.

Black, who was watching the action from the top rail of the dugout, managed to get his arms up to protect his face but was still hit in the forearm. He put on a good show for the MLBN cameras who were covering the game, though he admitted Saturday that he was in pain.

Anyway, Black will be in Surprise today, back on the top rail, when the Padres face the Royals. Here’s today’s lineup:

CF, Jody Gerut
SS, Chris Burke
RF, Brian Giles
1B, Adrian Gonzalez
DH, Cliff Floyd
LF, Emil Brown
2B, Edgar Gonzalez
C, Henry Blanco
3B, Travis Denker
SP, Kevin Correia (will throw two innings)

Today’s pitchers: Correia 2, Heath Bell, Cla Meredith, Mark Worrell, Chris Britton, Scott Patterson, Oneli Perez, Mike Ekstrom.

Morning notes: Black said Chad Reineke is sidelined by a “tweaked” back, something that he suffered recently in a postgame workout. He could return sometime next week. … With infielders Adrian and Edgar Gonzalez and Pete Ciofrone headed to the WBC, Black said that Minor League infielders Sean Kazmar and Brett Dowdy will be in Major League camp for the time being to lend infield depth. … Chad Huffman and Drew Macias, both outfielders by trade, will see time at first base with Adrian Gonzalez gone.

Cheers, Corey

I know, that’s a little corny, but it’s the best I could come up with on short notice. Anyway, we’re here in Goodyear, located about 25 minutes Southwest of Peoria off 1-10. It’s a very nice facility and this is supposed to be the next big area here in the Valley for growth.

Anyway, I digress. The Padres got off to a rough start here today as starter Cha Seung Baek — the odds-on favorite to win the No. 3 job in the rotation, allowed two runs on a Victor Martinez home run in the first inning.

Mat Latos, the highly-regarded right-hander, got a rude introduction to Major League pitching in his one inning, as he allowed two runs on three hits, including a solo home run to Martinez and another solo shot to Ben Francisco.

The home run to Martinez came on a grooved fastball after Latos fell behind in the count, 3-0. I’m not sure he was thinking Martinez would swing and, honestly, I’m not sure what the right etiquette is there, if swining at a 3-0 pitch in Spring Training is cool or not. Whatever.

I happened to be shooting video of Latos throwing and got each home run. The first belongs to Martinez, the second Francisco.

It’s the top of the sixth inning here and the Padres trail 5-2. Kevin Kouzmanoff had a home run in the fourth inning for San Diego.

Cheers, Corey

The Padres are taking their first road trip of the spring today, as we’ll go 30 or so minutes down the 101 to Goodyear, where the Cleveland Indians are training in a brand-new facility and a new stadium that they will share with the Reds next spring.

We haven’t had a chance to talk with manager Bud Black yet this morning, but I’ll post some notes after we do so. For now, all I can offer you is the starting lineup, the pitching rotation for today and a great recommendation for sushi in Peoria (Sakana, 59th and the 101).

So here we go …

CF, Scott Hairston
2B, David Eckstein
1B, Adrian Gonzalez
DH, Kevin Kouzmanoff
LF, Chase Headley
3B, Edgar Gonzalez
RF, Will Venable
C, Nick Hundley
SS, Luis Rodriguez
SP, Cha Seung Baek

Today’s pitchers: Baek, Jae Kuk Ryu, Cesar Ramos, Mat Latos, Will Inman, Ivan Nova, Oneli Perez, Gabe DeHoyos and Wilton Lopez.

Update: Catcher Henry Blanco will play for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. I’ll have a story up on this in a while but it appears Venezuela manager Luis Sojo could not come up with a third catcher, which would have allowed Blanco to remain with the Padres, which was his wish

Since we’ve talked a lot about on-base percentage by the leadoff hitter each inning, I thought I would document how the Padres fared with this yesterday: It wasn’t that good, honestly. Here is how it went: Of the 10 innings yesterday, the leadoff hitter reached base in the third inning (Jody Gerut walked) and the 10th inning (Mitch Canham single). Neither of those guys came around to score.

Cheers, Corey

I had the chance to talk to Chase Headley today about playing the outfield, a topic that was sure a hot one a year ago at this time when Headley was making the conversion from third base — his original position — to left field.

One of the many things Headley had to deal with in making such a move was training himself to make a completely different throw. I have some video below of Headley talking about the not-so subtle differences.

This is interesting because Headley threw out Seattle’s Russell Branyan at the plate on a single to left field in Wednesday’s charity game.

Granted, Russell Branyan will never confused with a, say, Willy Tavaras or any other player with plus-speed, but that’s not really the point. He got to the ball, got in position to field it and came up with a strong throw to catcher Nick Hundley.

A year ago, this wouldn’t have been quite as easy for Headley. Really, it’s still not, though he appears to be getting more comfortable with the position and the nuances that go with it.

Cheers, Corey

I’ve had several conversations with new hitting coach Jim Lefebvre in the last month of so about his philosophy and the things he wants to do to improve an offense that ranked last last season in several offensive categories or close to it.

One of the biggest areas Lefebvre wants the Padres to improve upon is having a better on-base percentage from their leadoff hitter each inning. Last season, the Padres ranked last among 30 teams with a .288 average. The league average was .324.

That means, obviously, that too many innings started with the leadoff hitter in each inning making an out. The Padres want to fix that.

“We were starting a ton of innings with one out and no one on,” said Josh Stein, the Padres coordinator of baseball research and advance scouting. “… What Jim wants to preach is it doesn’t matter if you’re the
first hitter or the sixth hitter, your job is to get on base.”

On Wednesday, the Padres played their first game of the spring, a non-counting games for charity, but take a look at what the leadoff hitter did in each of the first five innings.

First inning: Scott Hairston, single.

Third inning: Luis Rodriguez, single (scored).

Fifth inning: Scott Hairston, walk.

Now, only one of those leadoff hitters scored, but it’s obvious that the message Lefebvre is pounding home with these hitters is working. Lefebvre told me this morning that they had 22 counts on Wednesday that favored the hitter. He liked that. The Padres also managed to get 14 guys on base (seven hits, seven walks), which was more than the 11 he was shooting for.

Again, these are small steps and steps made in February. But it’s certainly worth noting.

Cheers, Corey

That’s Mat, with one T. And Latos is pronounced Laa-tos, not Lay-tos. OK, with that out of the way, I thought I would ask Latos, regarded as the brightest arm in the Padres farm system, a few question before Wednesday’s charity game against the Seattle Mariners.

I watched Latos throw a bullpen session earlier in the day, as pitching coach Darren Balsley watched closely. I’m not going to lie: This electric arm I’ve been hearing a lot about, it’s true. Latos can flat out bring it and his command looked pretty good at times. I know he worked during the off-season on his changeup, so we might see some of that Friday when he pitches against the Indians in Goodyear.

Otherwise, we’re settling in here at the Peoria Sports Complex for the game. It’s kind of fun to be back here. I think it signals another completed chapter in the spring: The workouts are all but over (they still drill in the morning) and now we’re moving on with games.

Some news from today:

We’re still waiting to hear if new catcher Henry Blanco will play for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic or not. He was listed on the roster yesterday, though there’s a thought he might skip it to stay in Arizona and learn a new staff. Manager Bud Black said either way, Blanco will be fine.

Second baseman Matt Antonelli reported a sore right knee on Wednesday morning. “We’re still not quite sure what it is,” Black said. Antonelli didn’t play Wednesday and was getting treatment on the knee from the training staff. It doesn’t sound super serious.

Jake Peavy will start today’s game and throw one inning. He’ll start again on March 1 before leaving for Florida to join Team USA in preparation for the World Baseball Classic.

Cheers, Corey

Hey, it’s game time here in Arizona. The Padres face the Mariners in their annual charity game against the Mariners today at 12:05 p.m. PT. The lineups are included below.

CF Scott Hairston
2B David Eckstein
1B Adrian Gonzalez
DH Kevin Kouzmanoff
LF Chase Headley
3B Edgar Gonzalez
RF Will Venable
C Nick Hundley
SS Luis Rodriguez
SP Jake Peavy

Other pitchers: Heath Bell, Cla Meredith, Chris Britton, Wilton Lopez, Mark Worrell, Scott Patterson, Mike Ekstrom and Oneli Perez.

What to make of it: I saw Edgar Gonzalez playing a little third base yesterday on the back fields which I thought was interesting, but only because he played four games there in 2008. But with the World Baseball Classic coming up, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a bit of him and Scott Hairston in the the lineup more often for this first week of games.

Cheers, Corey

Trevor Hoffman took out a full-page ad in Sunday’s San Diego Union-Tribune to thank the Padres family and others. The ad was located in the “A” section and included a pitcher of his family and bulldog.

Here’s the link to the ad if you want to check it out.

Cheers, Corey

There were no shortage of players, coaches and front-office types huddle behind the batting cage today when newcomer Mark Worrell, the sidearm pitcher obtained from St. Louis in the trade for Khalil Greene, face live hitters for the first time.

As I mentioned here yesterday, this endeavor is more for the benefit of the pitcher than the hitter, though it allows the hitter to see some live pitching up close for the first time. But for a guy like Worrell, who has been here over a week, it’s a change to cut loose with his stuff a little bit as the Cactus League schedule looms closer (Wednesday).

Worrell, oddly enough, doesn’t pitch behind an L-screen like the rest of the pitchers do to protect themselves because his sidearm delivery won’t allow for it. He didn’t have too many close calls today, though, as the hitters mostly watched pitches.

I will note that Adrian Gonzalez sent a one-hop, opposite field shot to left that bounced over the fence, bounced once a again and hit a car that was passing by. Yes, I know, pretty good stuff.

Anyway, there’s some video on Worrell below, first warming up and then facing live hitters. I think you’ll see Brian Giles in there and Kevin Kouzmanoff.

As for the rest of camp, 21-year-old pitcher Mat Latos, who we feature here yesterday, had a bout with flu-like symptoms and didn’t pitch on Saturday. He’ll likely give it a try here in a few days.

Manager Bud Black isn’t quite ready to unveil his pitching plans for the upcoming week but he did say Jake Peavy will start Wednesday’s charity game against the Mariners and throw one inning. Chris Young will do the same the following day, also against the Mariners.

Other than that, a whole lot of fundamentals being taught here, like pickoffs and rundowns, an important area to addess, especially since there are a number of newcomers like infielders Chris Burke and David Eckstein and catcher Henry Blanco.

Cheers, Corey

Remember: When watching the video on YouTube, click on “watch in high quality.”