Brandon Pfaadt and Jordan Lawlar significantly boosted their opening day roster pushes versus an ‘A’ Padres lineup.
The Dbacks squared off against the San Diego Padres at Peoria on Sunday. The Padres featured their A regular season lineup against the Dbacks Brandon Pfaadt. The storyline of this game was largely the Dbacks on the other hand appeared to be using this game as a way to get a closer look at some of their key position battles. The Dbacks top prospect Jordan Lawlar who is known for his SS prowess began the game at 3rd base, veteran utilityman and longtime Dback Ildemaro Vargas got a look at SS, and first base/DH hopeful Pavin Smith began the game at first base.
From a pitching standpoint, Brandon Pfaadt was absolutely dominant. Fortunate enough that this game was on TV because it appeared Pfaadt was featuring more of a vertical slider to go along with his trademark sweeper and it was really getting the swing and miss. At one point, Pfaadt had send down 12 straight of the Padres Opening Day lineup. His final line was 5IP with 7K’s and he only allowed 2 baserunners all game with a hit each from Cronenworth and Arraez.
From an offensive standpoint, Corbin Carroll got the scoring started in the 3rd inning with a wild seemingly miss hit opposite field home run against the lefty starter Kyle Hart. The ball appeared to be almost a jam shot on the inside part of the plate, but still had an EV of 95 MPH and carried 333 ft. This was Carroll’s 4th HR of the spring in 2025 which is notable since he hadn’t hit any home runs in either the past 2 spring trainings.
In addition to Carroll, Jordan Lawlar was all over this game offensively getting on base 4 times going 3-3 and raising his hot spring average to .323. This was a great sign for the top prospect fighting to make the Dbacks opening day roster while simultaneously playing 3rd base and showcasing his defensive versatility. Even the walk he had proved to be a pivotal AB in this game for the Dbacks as he promptly showcased his elite speed by stealing 2nd base and then scoring on a dribbler through the infield to pad the lead for the Dbacks to 2-0 in the 4th. Torey Lovullo likely took notice of this as this is exactly the type of ‘doing the little things’ baseball that Lovullo focuses on. A good at bat, a stolen base, and a base hit manufacturing a key run. Quoting Dbacks GM Mike Hazen earlier this spring, “When Jordan Lawlar is ready to be on this team, Jordan Lawlar will be on the team.” Sure looking like he is ready Mike!
In addition to the great offensive showing from Lawlar, he also looked silky smooth at 3rd beginning a double play after a leadoff single from Jake Cronenworth in the 5th and putting Pfaadt back in the drivers seat to end his great outing.
Overall, Pfaadt definitely made a statement with this outing shoving it down the Padres’ A lineup throats and Jordan Lawlar showcased his whole array of tools in a Dbacks 5-3 win. In my opinion both players have certainly put in the work to make this opening day roster and have answered the call of the competition at their respective positions. Pffadt certainly showing he is deserving of a rotation spot when the season begins, and Lawlar into the infield rotation. Love to hear your guys’ thoughts!
Since this is my day and my recap, I’m curious to see what the community thinks on this one especially after the performance today: