Padres' Offseason Addition Turning Heads After Stellar Debut

After losing ace Dylan Cease in free agency this past offseason, the San Diego Padres' front office decided to look for under-the-radar options to replace him.

San Diego's starting group already had questions around it before they lost Yu Darvish for the year and Joe Musgrove to an injury setback.

Those questions continued into the early portion of the season as offseason additions Walker Buehler and Germán Márquez continued to struggle.

But one pitcher that the team signed over the offseason just made his debut for the organization, and performed very well. That would be veteran right-hander Griffin Canning, who had been rehabbing from a torn Achilles that he suffered last season with the New York Mets.

Canning was activated for his first start with the Padres over the weekend against the Chicago White Sox, and he didn't disappoint. Overall, the right-hander went five innings, allowing one run, one hit and one walk while striking out seven batters.

His performance in his debut was exactly what the Padres needed to see from him, and the team is encouraged for the future. Padres manager Craig Stammen was very complimentary of Canning after the start, knowing that the team will rely on him a lot the rest of the year.

“I think this is what we expected when we signed him — that he had the potential to be someone that we could rely on and count on and get quality starts consistently through the season,” Stammen said. “… He’s coming off a major injury. There’s bound to be hiccups. But he’s off to a good start, and we feel very confident about him going forward.”

Of course, Canning will need to stay consistent on the mound for the Padres to continue feeling confident in him. But if his first outing was a sign of things to come, the Padres should be feeling very good.

Before his injury last season, Canning was in the midst of the best season of his MLB career. In 16 starts, the right-hander posted an ERA of 3.77, and was finally looking like the former top prospect the Los Angeles Angels had envisioned.

Canning's performance even got the attention of star Manny Machado, who had great things to say about the newest Padre.

“He was throwing the ball really nice,” Machado said. “Got the jitters off that first inning. Looked really good for us. I think he’s going to be a really big part of our team, our staff. … It was a big, big pickup for us today.”

With all the pitching injuries that the Padres have had this season, they need Canning to continue to be a reliable presence in the rotation. If Canning can keep pitching like he did in his debut, the Padres rotation could be in a really stable place for the foreseeable future.

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