Mat Latos scratched from start with shoulder soreness

Not news that San Diego Padres fans wanted to hear about their young ace Mat Latos, but he will miss his final spring start due to shoulder soreness. His arm started feeling weak after his last start against the White Sox on Monday and his recovery time is still up in the air.

"You can’t fast forward time, you’ve got to take your time and worry about what’s going on right now. We’re not looking forward as far as that [Opening Day] goes now. – Mat Latos"

The Padres will rely heavily on the pitching staff to carry them through the season and if Latos misses any time during the regular season, then other pitchers will have to step in and produce. If Latos is unable to make his first start of the season, then the Padres may use Wade LeBlanc a little earlier in the rotation than they planned.

The Padres have a few off days to start out the season and may go with a 4-man rotation to start it out and it could allow some recovery time for Latos. The earliest that the Paders would need that 5th starter is on April 12th against the Reds. If Latos is still sidelined for that time, then we will proabbly see either Dustin Moseley or Corey Luebke taking the starts.