Mat Latos rocked Wednesday in minor league spring game

Padres right-hander Mat Latos did not have the best Wednesday afternoon.

According to Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the 23-year-old labored through a 3.2-inning appearance in a minor league intrasquad game, surrendering five earned runs on six hits and issuing three walks. He struck out six, but he needed a total of 76 pitches to get through the short outing.

Latos told the Union-Tribune after the game that he “couldn’t get any adrenaline pumping” and wasn’t throwing at full force against the group of Padres minor leaguers -- many of whom he still knows well from the two-plus years that he spent in the Friars’ farm system.

“I played with 90 percent of those guys,” Latos said. “I’m not going to go hard inside and risk hitting one of them. There were positive things. I had a good downhill angle. I worked at a fast tempo. My two-seamer (fastball) was moving.”

That’s all well and good, but Padres pitching coach Darren Balsley didn’t appreciate the youngster throwing his glove against the dugout wall after he was pulled with one out remaining in the fourth inning.

“I would have liked to see better body language from Mat today,” said Balsley. “But he’ll calm down once we start the season. Last year he did a good job with mound presence and poise. He’s aware of his emotions.”

Latos is entering the 2011 season with sky-high expectations after the 2.92 ERA and 189 strikeouts that he tallied across 184.2 innings last year. Rotoworld has him as the seventh most valuable fantasy starter.