2026 Padres Spring Training preview

The Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Ariz. will be very busy beginning Feb. 10 as the San Diego Padres begin their 2026 season with pitchers and catchers reporting for physicals before their first workouts on Feb. 11.

The next day, Feb. 12, is the report date for all Padres players who will be participating in the World Baseball Classic. With the addition of three more relievers this past week, the group now totals eight players/pitchers who will be leaving the team early and reporting to their respective WBC teams. Those Padres are:

Manny Machado – Dominican Republic team
Fernando Tatis Jr. – Dominican Republic team
Xander Bogaerts – Netherlands team
Yuki Matsui – Japanese team
Mason Miller – USA team
Wandy Peralta – Dominican Republic team
Ron Marinaccio – Italian team
Alek Jacob – Italian team

There will also be three minor league participants, as well as special assistant Mark Loretta who was named as the third base coach for the Israel team.

RHP Carlton Loewen – Canadian team
LHP Miguel Cienfuegos – Panama team
RHP Josh Mallitz – Israel team

The rest of the team is due to report for their first workout on Feb. 15. Jake Cronenworth stated at Padres FanFest on Jan. 31 that he had heard from many teammates who intended to report early to have more time together due to the WBC.

WBC/MLB exhibitions scheduled

There will be exhibition games played between MLB and WBC teams on March 3 and 4 before the WBC officially begins. The Padres will play Team Great Britain on March 4 at 12:10 p.m. PST in Peoria. There will be 28 games played over the two days at various locations.

The first official WBC games start in the Tokyo Dome on March 4 and 5 with other locations beginning March 6. Team USA plays its first game in Houston, Texas versus Brazil on March 6.

Media access on Feb. 10

Media availability for manager Craig Stammen will be Feb. 10 at 8 a.m. PST with coaches Steven Souza (hitting) and Randy Knorr (bench coach) following Stammen. The clubhouse will be open for media on Wednesday.

Spring Breakout games return

MLB will once again hold Spring Breakout games during Spring Training for teams to showcase their top prospects. Those games will take place March 19-22 with a 16-game schedule. The Padres prospects plays the Chicago Cubs prospects on Saturday, March 21 at 6 p.m. PST. Those rosters will be announced after minor league players arrive in camp.

Spring Training schedule

The Padres play their first Spring Training game on March 20 at 12:10 p.m. PST versus the Seattle Mariners in the yearly charity game played at Peoria Sports Complex. They will then play 30 games (split squad included) and finish on March 23. There are no exhibition games this year after they leave Peoria and return to San Diego. The home opener is March 26 versus the Detroit Tigers at Petco Park.

There are currently 38 players on the 40-man roster with the reported signing of Miguel Andujar not yet official. When that player is added to the roster, the Padres will have one spot available and then will have to make a roster move to add any other players.

Non-roster invites

The organization recently announced 28 players invited to Spring Training who are not on the roster. Those players (NRI’s) include 13 players who were recently added to the organization. There are 13 pitchers, four catchers, seven infielders and four outfielders in the group. It includes the Padres No. 1 prospect Ethan Salas who missed most of the 2025 season due to a stress fracture in his lower back. Following is the full list of NRI:

RHRP Francis Pena and RHSP Triston McKenzie as well as LHSP Marco Gonzales have the best chances to make big impressions from the group of pitchers. There are others who could be taking a step forward but those three have gotten the most mentions.

Catchers Ethan Salas and Blake Hunt should be followed closely. Hunt is presumably in competition for the backup catching job and was originally drafted by the Padres in 2017. He is a defense-first catcher who was most recently in the Seattle Mariners organization, playing in 25 games for the Mariners.

This will be a pivotal year for Salas, he needs to re-establish himself as a highly regarded prospect after struggling in 2024 and missing most of last season.

The Padres signed infielder Jose Miranda to a minor league deal. Entering his year-28 season, Miranda played in 12 games for Minnesota last season with a .417 OPS. He had a .569 OPS in Triple-A in the Twins organization. He is a candidate for a bounce-back year.

The Padres’ most advanced first base prospect, Romeo Sanabria, gets his first Spring Training invite at 24 years old. He needs to take a step forward this season to be considered an MLB player.

Infielder Marcos Castañon appeared to make advances last season and might stand out this spring.

Outfielders Carlos Rodriguez and Nick Schnell could be auditioning as depth pieces for the Padres. Schnell is 26 and Rodriguez is 25, both are left-handed hitters.

New roster additions

Padres fans should also keep an eye on the two new additions to the 40-man roster from the minor league prospect list. Both righty reliever Garrett Hawkins and right-handed starter Miguel Mendez are likely to show well in Spring Training but probably need a little more seasoning in the minor leagues to begin the season.

Mendez would benefit from added bulk to improve stamina and durability. He took a major step forward with command last year.

Hawkins was a standout with his dominant performance last year but was newly returned to baseball after Tommy John surgery. He has the potential to be a dominant late-inning reliever if he continues progressing on his current path.

I am still waiting for a couple more additions to the team from general manager A.J. Preller. The next few weeks should be an exciting time for Padres fans as we near the 2026 season and enjoy the WBC and spring games as we wait.

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