San Diego Padres spring training tickets go on sale at 8 a.m. Wednesday amid high optimism for one of their best seasons since entering the National League in 1969 thanks to several key offseason acquisitions following their first postseason appearance since 2006.
Tickets are expected to be sold out fast, with attendance at the Peoria Sports Complex limited for each of the Padres' 14 home spring training games to 1,960, 16% of the 12,518 capacity, because of coronavirus-related restrictions.
Tickets will be available to purchase in pods of two, three and four in the seating bowl and two, four and six in the outfield lawn area. They will be available at www.padres.com/springtraining.
The Padres are scheduled to begin spring training play Sunday at the Peoria Sports Complex but as the visiting team, facing the Seattle Mariners who also train at the complex. Their first spring training home game is set for Monday against the Chicago Cubs.
Fans will be asked to adhere to health and safety guidelines. Fans over 2 years old will be required to wear masks at all times — except when actively eating or drinking in assigned seats. Fans are also being asked to practice social distancing and limit movement within the ballpark.
All food, beverage and merchandise transactions will be cashless to reduce touch points. Autographs will not be permitted, and bags will not be allowed in an effort to expedite the entry process. Games may be shortened from nine innings to seven or five innings if mutually agreed upon by both managers.
The Padres' home spring training schedule also includes games March 5 against the San Francisco Giants, March 13 against the Arizona Diamondbacks and March 20 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The full spring training schedule is available at www.padres.com/schedule.
The Padres are set to open the regular season April 1 against Arizona at Petco Park.
The offseason acquisitions of pitchers Blake Snell, Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove and Mark Melancon has prompted Baseball Prospectus' proprietary PECOTA system to project the Padres will win 95 games, second-most in the National League behind the defending World Series-champion Dodgers, who are projected to win 104.
The baseball statistics and analysis website FanGraphs projects the Padres will win 94 games, also second-most in the National League behind the Dodgers, which it predicts will win 97.
FanGraphs says the Padres have a 92.7% chance of qualifying for the playoffs, a 34.8% chance of winning the National League West and an 11.6% chance of winning the World Series, the third-highest in MLB behind the Dodgers (19.9%) and New York Yankees (18.6%).
The Padres also shored up their future by signing shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. to a record 14-year contract worth a reported $340 million after he finished fourth in the 2020 National League MVP voting.
"Fernando is a special talent who will be instrumental in bringing a world championship to the city of San Diego," said Padres' president of baseball operations and general manager A.J. Preller.
