SAN DIEGO -- When rookie left-handers Joey Lucchesi and Eric Lauer arrived in San Diego this April, they did so well ahead of schedule. The Padres were always up-front about that fact.
If not for Dinelson Lamet's elbow injury on the final day of Spring Training, Lucchesi isn't in the Opening Day rotation. If not for Luis Perdomo's early struggles, Lauer doesn't earn a callup.
There are challenges that come with those early arrivals, the most glaring being the need to limit workloads on two pitchers drafted only two years ago.