Hundley hopes to carry hot spring into regular season

Nick Hundley is set to be the Padres starting catcher in April. Mandatory Credit: kaybee.mlblogs.com

Nick Hundley has never played more than 85 games or hit better than .288 in his five years in the major leagues. His most productive season came in 2010 when he hit .249 with 8 home runs and 43 RBI’s. Last season he was awarded with the Heart and Hustle Award from the Padres organization.

So far this spring, he’s batting with a .474 AVG and he hit his first homer yesterday, a two-run shot against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The shot came off of NL Cy Young runner-up Clayton Kershaw and ended his day on the mound.

Hundley is the projected Opening Day starter at the catcher position with Yasmani Grandal being suspended for the first 50 games of the regular season after failing a drug test.

Last season he posted a sub-par average of .157, hitting 3 home runs and 22 RBI’s in 58 games. He struck out 56 times in 204 at-bats, roughly once every four times at the plate. The 56 strikeouts were almost double his 32 hits.

Behind the plate, he committed 4 errors and allowed 54 stolen bases while throwing out 25 base runners. He had a fielding percentage of .991 and a range factor of 8.46.

With his hot start to the spring, he’s hoping that it will carry over into the regular season. Last year he hit .432 during Spring Training but couldn’t maintain the hot streak.

In other news: Outfielder Cameron Maybin hit his first home run of the spring and he and Chase Headley each picked up two hits during the game. Jason Marquis allowed 2 runs, 1 earned in the 7-3 victory over the Dodgers, striking out two.

You can follow Matt on Twitter @Welch1048.