Padres Make Rule 5 Splash With Blash
SAN DIEGO—Petco Park favors pitchers, but home runs to left field are relatively easy to come by in the Padres’ downtown home.
While the inviting left-field seats aren’t why general manager A.J. Preller has targeted so many righthanded sluggers, they’re a piece of the puzzle.
Jabari Blash, 26, is one of Preller’s recent additions, arriving with three other selections from the Rule 5 draft.
Blash hit 32 home runs last year with Mariners affiliates between Double-A and Triple-A.
“Jabari is a guy who was regarded as one of the big power threats in the draft five years ago,” Preller said.
“I think that power is playing out in games. We were looking to replace a little righthanded power. Hopefully he can provide that for us.”
Preller traded for Blash after the Athletics used the No. 6 pick to draft him out of Seattle’s system. The transaction completed a deal that sent first baseman Yonder Alonso to the A’s.
Blash, who plays the corner outfield spots, hit .271/.370/.576 last season in 406 at-bats.
He grew up on the island of St. Thomas. He switched from baseball to basketball at age 14 before returning to baseball as a high school senior.
The White Sox spent a 29th-round pick on Blash in 2007. He returned to the draft in 2009 and went in the ninth round to the Rangers, whose scouts included Preller. Finally, after the Mariners took him a year later in the eighth round out of Miami Dade JC, he signed.
Blash, 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds, said he improved his hitting approach last year.
“When I get into slumps, when the strikeouts bunch up, it’s from trying to do too much,” he told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “Last year was key, figuring out how to focus on putting the ball in play, putting together good at-bats.”
FATHER FIGURES
• Center fielder Manuel Margot, obtained in November from the Red Sox in the Craig Kimbrel trade, led his Dominican League team with four home runs in 123 at-bats. A righty who turned 21 in September, Margot hit .220/.273/.390 in the 39 games for Toros del Este.
• The Padres signed former Cubs minor leaguer Carlos Pimentel, who was the 2015 Triple-A Pacific Coast League pitcher of the year. Pimental, 26, went 12-6, 1.95 for Iowa and allowed a .229 batting average. The righty will compete for a back-of-the-rotation job.
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