Cal Quantrill is officially a San Diegan, the former first-round pick having moved his home from Canada to Del Mar this offseason.

Might even become a big leaguer before too long.

Once again, the Padres front office – via minor league deals instead of major league guarantees – has added veteran arms like Tyson Ross and Chris Young to the free-for-all for rotation spots this spring. New to the competition, however, is the initial wave of A.J. Preller-drafted arms that have a great deal to do with the farm system ranking among the game’s strongest.

While the likes of Quantrill, Eric Lauer, Joey Lucchesi and Jacob Nix — all non-roster invitees for the first time — aren’t expected to win jobs outright this spring, their first invites to big league camp is the latest signal that the future is near.


“That group of guys is beating on our door to be in our starting rotation,” Padres manager Andy Green said last week at FanFest. “They are not at the front of the line when we get to the season, but they are going to be names that we’re going to look at and expect to see a lot of.”

To date, Green has watched from afar with great anticipation.

The first Preller-acquired talent arrived in a significant way in 2017 as Manuel Margot took over center field on a full-time basis, Carlos Asuaje got his first consistent action at second base and Phil Maton joined the bullpen as the first arrival from the 2015 draft class.

As far as rotation help goes, inherited right-hander Dinelson Lamet joined the big league team last year as the top arms from the 2016 draft class – collegians in Quantrill, Lauer and Lucchesi – zoomed from A-ball to Double-A San Antonio in their first full year in pro ball.


All three earned mid-season promotions to the Texas League after selections to the California League All-Star Game. The 22-year-old Nix, a high school third-rounder from the 2015 draft class, eventually joined that trio in San Antonio and got the nod for a postseason start for Triple-A El Paso. Quantrill even represented the Padres in the All-Star Futures Game in July as he continued to distance himself from his 2015 Tommy John surgery.

“Obviously there were some learning curves there, some bumps in the road we had to get over,” the 22-year-old Quantrill said. “But I think, all in all, I’m pretty happy with the year. I stayed off the DL, got better throughout the course of the year and got better at things I think I need to work on.”

Like tightening the breaking pitches he throws off his fastball-change combo.

That refinement will continue as Quantrill ramps up his throwing program as he progresses through his first offseason workouts at Petco Park.


Lauer and Lucchesi also got in work in San Diego before joining veteran left-hander Clayton Richard at his home in Lafayette, Ind., for further preparation for their first big league camp.

The impetus of the invite was simple.

“It was a good opportunity,” the 34-year-old Richard said, “to, one, get to know each other, and two, have them see what I do to prepare for a season.”

The first day started at 7:30 a.m. The trio moved through fast-paced circuits of squats to push-ups and more. They played catch. They worked out indoors at Purdue University. They went through conditioning and even arm care.


“One of his warm-ups was a full workout in itself,” the 22-year-old Lauer recalled. “It was the first thing we did. It was incredible. I remember the first day we got there, one of the first things he said to us was if you have to throw up, go outside. I thought, ‘Well that’s going to be a great way to start this off.’

“We came close at one point during a couple things, but I think we made it the whole time without throwing up.”

The initial workout lasted well into the afternoon. Other days added Pilates and pool work to the schedule. Afterward, they’d share meals, watch movies, play ping pong and Mario Kart and attempt to survive all-out Nerf wars in the basement with Richard’s boys.

“He’d kick our butts,” the 24-year-old Lucchesi said, “and then we’d have time to hang out. But, boy, I was laid out on his carpeted floor. I was done. I was ready to call it a day at 2 p.m. My body was so tired.”


Added Lauer: “It beat the crap out of me, but at the end of the week I ended up feeling really good because I felt like I accomplished a lot. Just talking to him on the side, outside of the workouts, we got to pick his brain a little bit and understand what it takes to be where he’s been for the last 10 years.”

The farm system’s push to contribute to the rotation — and soon — extends well beyond Quantrill, Lauer, Lucchesi and Nix , ranked No. 2, No.8, No. 9 and No. 14, respectively, among Padres prospects according to MLB.com.

Left-hander Logan Allen (No. 13) and right-hander Michel Baez (No. 7) are a tier below the quartet arriving this spring, as is right-hander Anderson Espinoza (No. 6) as he comes off Tommy John surgery. Behind them are teenagers MacKenzie Gore and Adrian Morejon, whom MLB.com this week ranked as the No. 1 and No. 6 left-handed pitching prospects in the game.

In other words, this wave is just the start of what may prove a bright future.


“We’re all aware of (the anticipation),” Quantrill said. “We know there’s – not even pressure, but a lot of excitement about what’s coming. I don’t think any of us take it as we need to do this or we need to do that. We’re having fun. We’re playing baseball. I think we’re all talented players. I think we all know what we’re capable of doing. I think we want all want to be doing it here.

“It’s good. We don’t mind hearing it. We like trying to fulfill those goals.”

YOUTH MOVEMENT

This spring’s non-roster invitee list includes the top three arms from the 2016 draft class and another fast-moving arm from the 2015 class, all of whom rank inside the Padres’ top-15 prospects as assessed by MLB.com.

No. 2 | RHP Cal Quantrill (1 st rd, ’16) | 7-10, 3.80 ERA, 110 Ks, 1.47 WHIP, 116 IP

rd, ’16) | 7-10, 3.80 ERA, 110 Ks, 1.47 WHIP, 116 IP No. 8 | RHP Eric Lauer (1 st rd, ’16) | 6-8, 3.30 EREA, 132 Ks, 1.25 WHIP, 122.2 IP

rd, ’16) | 6-8, 3.30 EREA, 132 Ks, 1.25 WHIP, 122.2 IP No. 9 | RHP Joey Lucchesi (4 th rd, ‘16) | 11-7, 2.20 ERA, 148 Ks, 0.97 WHIP, 139 IP

rd, ‘16) | 11-7, 2.20 ERA, 148 Ks, 0.97 WHIP, 139 IP No. 14 | RHP Jacob Nix (3rd rd, ’16) | 5-5, 4.67 ERA, 73 Ks, 1.37 WHIP, 94.1 IP


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jeff.sanders@sduniontribune.com; Twitter: @sdutSanders