If there was anything to take away from Chris Paddack's outing on Sunday, it's that the future is now in San Diego.
The 23-year-old was fantastic in his first career MLB start, going five innings with seven strikeouts while allowing only two hits and one run in the Padres' 3-1 victory, which clinched them the series win over the Giants.
Paddack, who had a 2.10 ERA and 120 strikeouts in 90 innings in the minor leagues last season, had never pitched above Double A prior to Sunday. He is ranked as the No. 5 prospect in the Padres' farm system and No. 33 in all of baseball.
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Although the Giants feature far from the most imposing lineup in baseball, Paddack still had the group off balance all game. He had all seven of his strikeouts between the second and fourth innings and retired 12 of the first 13 hitters he faced.
After sporting a tie and cowboy hat as part of his When you're making the first start of your @MLB career, but you've still got the horses in the back. pic.twitter.com/cr3J18xZps
Chris Paddack, Wicked 85mph Changeup (K'ing the Side) and Pitching with Emotion. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Vq0EZBWjIP
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 31, 2019
Chris Paddack, Front Door 82mph Changeup...and (still) pitching with emotion. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/i5GLS6p8EG
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 31, 2019
While Paddack's debut was largely successful, he did suffer some minor embarassment when he was thrown out from right field on a would-be single with the bases loaded.Nice look at the arm-side run and fade of both Chris Paddack's fastball and changeup. Been a dominant three innings so far. #Padres pic.twitter.com/qAINQ2ji3t
— Lance Brozdowski (@LanceBroz) March 31, 2019
Chris Paddack hit an RBI single to right in his first at-bat...
— Pitcher List (@PitcherList) March 31, 2019
...but was thrown out at first base by the right fielder. pic.twitter.com/SsrHWIF3DX
Paddack is just one part of the youth movement sweeping San Diego. Highly touted prospects Fernando Tatis Jr. and Francisco Mejia also started the season on the Opening Day roster. Although Mejia is hitless in his first four at-bats this season, Tatis has collected three hits in four games while looking stout defensively at shortstop. The Padres feature 10 of MLBPipeline's Top 100 prospects.
Even if 2019 is not San Diego's year, the (very) early returns on some of their young players, especially Paddack, look promising for the future.