Graham Pauley

The 23-year-old is expected to fill in at third base while Manny Machado opens the season as the club’s regular designated hitter. Pauley hit .314 (11-for-35) with a homer, three RBI and one stolen base over 16 games in Cactus League competition this spring.

Pauley has turned some heads this spring, batting .314/.400/.486 with one homer and one steal in 16 Cactus League contests to earn a spot on San Diego’s 31-man travel roster for the highly-anticipated Seoul Series. With Machado limited to DH duty as he continues to work his way back from last year’s elbow surgery, the unheralded 23-year-old prospect appears poised to make his big-league debut this upcoming week. He put up a stellar .931 OPS with 23 homers and 22 steals in 551 plate appearances last year across three minor league levels.

Pauley drew a start at third base in this one for the Padres. After coming up empty in each of his first two at-bats, he socked a dinger off of Trevor McDonald in the seventh inning that extended the Padres’ lead to 2-0. With his 1-for-3 effort, Pauley is now hitting .235 (4-for-17) with a homer, four runs scored and three RBI through his first nine spring contests.

Pauley got the start at first base in this one and wound up extending San Diego’s lead in the fourth inning with a two-run triple off reliever Gerson Moreno. The unheralded infielder put himself on fantasy radar screens last year by posting a .931 OPS with 23 homers and 22 steals in 551 plate appearances over three minor league levels in the Padres’ system.