SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – The San Diego Padres’ roster was officially set for the team’s National League Championship Series matchup against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Friars, playing in an NLCS for the first time since 1998, enter the series with 13 pitchers and 13 position players. The roster is the same as the one that defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 in the National League Division Series.
Prior to taking out the heavily favored Dodgers, San Diego defeated the New York Mets 2-1 in the NL Wild Card Series.
The Padres' NLCS roster:
Pitchers:
Mike Clevinger
Yu Darvish
Luis Garcia
Josh Hader (left-hander)
Tim Hill (left-hander)
Pierce Johnson
Sean Manaea (left-hander)
Nick Martinez
Adrian Morejon (left-hander)
Joe Musgrove
Blake Snell (left-hander)
Robert Suarez
Steven Wilson
Catchers:
Jorge Alfaro
Luis Campusano
Austin Nola
Infielders:
Josh Bell
Jake Cronenworth
Brandon Drury
Ha-seong Kim
Manny Machado
Wil Myers
Outfielders:
Jose Azocar
Trent Grisham
Jurickson Profar
Juan Soto
The Phillies reached the NLCS by sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLWCS and then beating defending champion Atlanta Braves 3-1 in the NLDS.
The Padres were 3-4 against Philadelphia in the regular season, including losing three of four at Petco Park.
"We've got our work cut out for us just as much as we did the last couple of series, but we try to concentrate on what we're doing, our style of play, and kind of go from there," Padres manager Bob Melvin said.
Yu Darvish will start for the Padres against fellow right-hander Zack Wheeler.
Darvish is 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA in two starts during the 2022 postseason after posting a 16-8 record with a 3.10 ERA in the regular season, winning six consecutive starts before losing his final regular season start. His 16 victories were tied for fifth in Major League Baseball.
Darvish was 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA in two starts against the Phillies in the regular season and 2-1 with a 2.23 ERA in seven starts lifetime.
"It's just another start for me just because you don't try to get too high or too low," said Wheeler, who is 0-1 with a 2.19 ERA in two starts during the 2022 postseason with Philadelphia winning the game he had a no-decision in. He was 12-7 with a 2.82 ERA in the regular season.
"You try to stay right there at that level and just think of it as another game, even though there are bigger things going into it."
Wheeler pitched seven shutout innings in his only 2022 regular-season appearance against the Padres, limiting them to four hits and striking out nine and not walking a batter in the Phillies' 3-0 victory May 18. Wheeler is 3-1 with a 2.06 ERA in seven starts lifetime against the Padres.
Wheeler was on the injured list Aug. 25-Sept. 21 because of right forearm tendinitis and the COVID injured list May 8-12.
The Padres were 18-12 in Darvish's 30 regular season starts. Philadelphia was 14-12 in Wheeler's 26 regular season starts.
The Padres will be making their third NLCS appearance. They defeated the Chicago Cubs, 3-2, in 1984 when the championship series was best-of-five, and Atlanta Braves, 4-2, in 1998.
The Phillies have a 5-4 record in nine NLCS appearances. This will be their first NLCS appearance since 2010 when they lost to the eventual World Series champion San Francisco Giants.
The game is set to begin at 5:03 p.m. and will be televised by FS1.
City News Service contributed to this report.
