Padres notes: Juan Soto, Joe Musgrove pass tests in ‘B’ game; Fernando Tatis Jr. finishes spring ‘ready’

Juan Soto is ready.

“I am really excited to be healthy to play opening day,” he said.

Soto participated in a “B” game Monday morning, his first game action since leaving a minor-league contest on March 19 with a mild left oblique strain. He tested himself on the bases and made a catch during his five innings in left field. He took two swings in his four plate appearances, lining one of them for a double. He walked his other three times up.

“I think I’m totally ready,” he said. “I don’t feel that at all. We’ll see how my body reacts after today, because the thing of this is how you feel the next day. ... But I think as I feel right now I think I’m gonna be ready for opening day.”

The Padres plan to have some minor league pitchers throw to Soto on Wednesday at Petco Park.

While also nursing a calf injury at one point, Soto finished Cactus League play 8-for-14 with three doubles and a home run. He also went 6-for-15 with three doubles and two home runs in the World Baseball Classic.

Musgrove’s next step

Joe Musgrove faced batters that were swinging for the first time since before he fractured his left big toe on Feb. 27.

Pitching in the same “B” game in which Soto participated, Musgrove threw 65 pitches over four-plus innings. He also ran to cover first base on an out, which is a test he desired.

“The toe is the least of my concerns now,” he said. “Now I’m just starting to work on executing pitches and getting the feel right.”

Musgrove was so efficient facing mostly Mariners minor-leaguers that after taking just nine pitches to retire the first three batters in the fourth inning, he faced three more batters. One of them hit a home run, the second Musgrove allowed.

He pitched a couple innings in a simulate the day before injuring his toe in a weight room accident. Last week, he pitched three “innings” to a batter who didn’t swing. So Monday was mostly about getting work in.

“It’s a matter of me getting the lanes and finding my sights and kind of doing all the normal things that you do during spring that I kind of missed out on,” he said.

Monday was also the first time he pitched in a game with a pitch clock and his first time using the PitchCom system that allows him to call pitches with a transmitter affixed to his belt.

Musgrove plans to be at Petco Park Thursday for opening day and return to Arizona for a start Saturday in a minor-league game. He then will likely join Triple-A El Paso for at least one start. He could make his first Padres start April 11 in New York against the Mets or April 16 at home against the Brewers.

“Trying to like temper my desires to get back as soon as possible and really just focus on getting ready and working on things I need to do to be efficient and be like my normal self,” he said. “And not just rush back just for my ego or because I want it. They’ve been really good about listening to me and trusting me when I tell him I feel right and that we can push it a little bit. And I’ve toned myself down a little bit and listened to them.”

Tatis pleased

Fernando Tatis Jr. said he plans to begin his time with Triple-A El Paso around the start of the Chihuahuas season opener on Saturday and join the Padres a few days before he is eligible to return from his suspension.

After spending spring training with the Padres, Tatis can spend 15 days on a minor-league assignment in advance of playing in the majors. His first game with the Padres is expected to be April 20 at Arizona.

“I feel like I’m ready right now,” he said Monday. “You know, just keep building up. But if it were go day tomorrow, I would be ready already.”

Tatis began spring training on an 0-for-16 stretch and ended it by going 0-for-7 in his final two games. In between he was 12-for-21 with two home runs and a double.

“I feel great,” he said. “We feel like everything we came to work in, we put the work and we did great in every single area.”

One of the areas the Padres are especially pleased with is his improvement in right field. His routes have gotten consistently and significantly better, and he makes plays even on balls he doesn’t track as smoothly as someone might if they had played more than the 24 big-league games in the outfield that Tatis has.

He made a number of impressive throws from right field that froze runners in spring games, but a laser to get a runner at third base Monday was his first outfield assist.

“I feel like everybody knew what I’m capable of in the outfield with my arm, and I feel like we saw it today,” he said.

“That’s a special arm,” manager Bob Melvin said. “He’s really going to be excited about opportunities like that. at once you start throwing a few guys out, I’m not sure how many you’re going to get. But that was pretty exciting stuff.”

Tatis missed all of last season due to injury and a PED suspension. He will miss the first 20 games of this season serving the remainder of his 80-game penalty.

Bench spots

Rougned Odor started in left field Monday, his second time playing the position in four days and his second time there in his career. He played four innings in right field Sunday, his first time at that spot.

With Rockies right-hander German Marquez on the mound Thursday, the left-handed-hitting Odor could be the Padres’ opening-day right fielder.

It seems two of the three available bench spots are virtually assured to go to Odor and right-handed hitting José Azocar. The other spot has evidently come down to a choice between two left left-handed hitters, David Dahl and Taylor Kohlwey.

Pitching spots

Domingo Tapia continued to impress the Padres as the spring went on and he kept getting outs — and getting more misses on swings than he has in his career.

While discussions continue between the Padres’ pro personnel group and coaches on roster composition, several people in the organization said it appears the hard-throwing right-hander will be on the opening-day roster. Tapia, 31, has pitched in 50 major league games for four teams over the past three seasons, but he has never been with a big-league club on opening day.

With Robert Suarez set to begin the season on the injured list, there is another bullpen spot available as well. That appears to have been won by right-hander Brent Honeywell, who can be a second long reliever to supplement Nabil Crismatt.

The Padres will go with six starters at the beginning of the season, and it appears Ryan Weathers has earned the final spot. Jay Groome was optioned on Monday.