San Diego Padres — Injuries and Expectations

Once again, on paper, the San Diego Padres had enough to compete, and several of their offensive stalwarts had good seasons, but they found themselves once again looking at up at the rival Dodgers. Luis Arraez, Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr, all hit .268 or better, with the latter two hitting 25+ homers.

Despite Machado and Tatis, San Diego was wildly inconsistent on offense. The team formerly known as “Slam Diego” was 28th in homers in 28th, and 22nd in total bases. Former rookie standout Jackson Merrill missed 47 games due to injury, and Xander Bogaerts hasn’t put of the production that the Padres were expecting when they acquired him. They WERE 7th in the league in batting average, but the departure of Luis Arraez to the Giants leaves big shoes to fill in that department.

The pitching was strong. Top 3 in ERA, WHIP and opponents’ batting average. The bullpen was the best unit in baseball from start to finish, posting a league-best ERA of 3.06.

Biggest Needs
Sustained offensive and pitching depth.

It is true that pitching was elite, but one telling stat was that the Padres were 22nd in quality starts, which means that the bullpen was heavily taxed. Going into 2026, San Diego will need their starters to carry more of the load. With Dylan Cease gone north of the border, they will need to turn elsewhere.

The good news is, they were very busy this offseason. They addressed their need for starters, re-signing Michael King, and acquiring guys like German Marquez, Walker Buehler, Griffin Canning and Triston McKenzie. In the bullpen, they loaded up to run it back. Hopefully, they won’t have to work as hard.

If the lineup returns healthy, the offense should be fine, but they also added Nick Castellanos and Ty France, who they hope can help bring the “Slam” back to “Slam Diego”.

Our Take
San Diego is desperate to best their “big brother” and finally be the class of the NL West. That’s a tall order, but the team’s aggressive offseason proves that they’re willing to do what they have to do to reach their goal. Health and consistency will be the main keys to their success in 2026. The Padres are in a “prove it” season — they have talent, but it all needs to click.