On Valentine’s Day, pitchers and catchers reported to the San Diego Padres’ sprawling training camp in Peoria, Arizona. Pitchers and catchers from every level of the massive system that it takes to build a Major League Baseball team reported at once, from the 18-year-olds drafted last June to the grizzled 30-something-year-old veterans hoping for one last shot at the big time.
Joining pitchers and catchers by the end of the week were every player in the system, including most of the 2016 Pacific Coast League Champions—the El Paso Chihuahuas. Some of the players from that team have moved on to other systems and other training camps, some will be moving up to San Diego in all likelihood, and some may be coming back to El Paso to continue to prove their worth to the higher-ups in the Padres organization.