About this episode

The episode discusses the Padres' rotation decisions and the impact of bench players on the team's performance, featuring insights from guest Will Venable.

The San Diego Padres start May baseball by welcoming in a familiar face, White Sox manager Will Venable. Darren Smith, Marty Caswell, and Heath Bell discuss the intangibles that Venable displayed when he played for the Padres and why he appears to be an up and manager on the rise in Major League Baseball. Heath describes the kind of leadership and thirst for learning while they were teammates and how he showed he was a student of the game. Are the Padres good? Well their 19-11 record says they are, but for how much longer can the Padres offense be carried by their bench pieces? The trio dissect manager Craig Stammen's comments on Fernando Tatis being a hitter, not a home run hitter. Darren, Heath and Marty discuss the decisions the Padres face when Lucas Giolito and Griffin Canning are added. Is Matt Waldron the obvious choice and have Walker Buehler and German Marquez shown enough? Speaking of Giolito, who just threw another rehab start for the Lake Elsinore Storm, what perks do minor league players enjoy when a big-league player joins the team? Heath tells us about the spread players put on for minor league teams, and which young Padres he bought suits for. Marty and Darren…

People in this episode

Hosts: Darren Smith, Marty Caswell, Heath Bell

Guest: Will Venable

Topics covered

• Padres rotation decisions
• bench performance
• leadership in baseball
• minor league perks
• player trade value
• managerial insights

Keywords

• Padres
• rotation
• bench players
• Will Venable
• Fernando Tatis
• minor league
• Ethan Salas
• trade value

Sponsors

SeatGeek

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Lake Elsinore Storm

More episodes of Friar Territory: a San Diego Padres podcast

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• Dennis Lin on Padres ownership and big rotation questions · April 29, 2026 · 31 min
• Andy Masur on Padres & Cubs, ownership's appearance, Giolito speaks · April 27, 2026 · 38 min
• Padres are best team in MLB, Jared Diamond on ownership & Mason Miller · April 24, 2026 · 40 min
• Lucas Giolito adds needed depth to Padres, Luis Campusano sizzles · April 23, 2026 · 30 min

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