​The San Diego Padres' 2016 season started off, well, terribly.
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The eventual 68-94 Padres opened the season roughly 200 miles away from home, taking on the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-game set.
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​The results: 15-0 Dodgers, 3-0 Dodgers, 7-0 Dodgers. It was a clean sweep.
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​Manager Andy Green wants to make sure that the Padres are ready to rock this season, so he's taking team-building exercises to a whole new level. That's right, get your paddles out. 

​​Apparently, the Padres are locked into a 32-team ping-pong tournament that features one showdown per day. Believe it or not, the players reportedly love it.
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​"It was crazy -- like a championship game atmosphere on day one,' said second baseman Cory Spangenberg."
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So far, the showdown of the offseason pitted two heavyweight ping-pong legends against each other in the first round: newly-acquired Jered Weaver against face-of-the-franchise slugger, Wil Myers.
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Weaver bested Myers in the match, but the Padres players understand that the results of the tournament are not necessarily the key takeaway: team bonding takes precedent.
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​The Padres have their work cut out for them in a top-heavy NL West, but Green's preseason ping-pong tournaments could be the first step in building up San Diego's confidence.
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