Caught In a Pinch: What Is To Blame For San Diego’s Brutal Bench Performance?

[Samuel Cozart]

Pinch-hitting has been an Achilles' heel for the Padres’ offense in 2025. According to FanGraphs, San Diego’s pinch-hitting ranks 28th in MLB with a depressing -0.5 WAR, .217 wOBA, and .156 AVG. 

The only Padres pinch hitter to produce positive WAR is Jake Cronenworth, who has only three at-bats when inserted into an at-bat, walking in two of them and driving in an RBI single in the other.  

Aside from Cronenworth’s small sample size, minimal positive impact has come from San Diego’s bench. A lot of that comes from its dependence on aging bench players, who are not able to provide the spark off the bench that pinch-hitters are expected to do. 

The club has primarily relied on veteran hitting off the bench this season, mostly turning to players 30 years old and beyond to spark offense off the bench. Among those veterans, Elias Diaz, Jose Iglesias, Trenton Brooks, and Tyler Wade have spent the most plate appearances pinch-hitting for San Diego. 

This group of players, all on the wrong side of 30, has been the Padres’ most-used pinch-hitters, mainly contributing to their pinch-hitting woes. Each one of them has a zero WAR or lower, which is not going to cut it for players who come up to the plate at some of the game’s most critical points. 

The 35-year-old Iglesias, the oldest of the bunch, has been the club’s best contributor off the bench. In 17 plate appearances as a pinch hitter, he has a .313 AVG with 4 RBIs and two runs. His average is quite a step up from his season batting average, which sits at .232. 

Throughout his career, Iglesias has been one of the best contact hitters in the game, so his bench production is not surprising. But after Iglesias, any kind of positive pinch-hitting production for San Diego drops off a cliff. 

34-year-old catcher Diaz has been the Padres’ most-used pinch-hitter this season, with 19 plate appearances, and has been by far the worst hitter off of their bench this season. His numbers as a PH are somehow worse than as a starter this season, batting just .056 with a -0.3 WAR. 

If this is the production you’re getting from the highest volume pinch-hitter on the roster, then any hope of positive bench production is a lost cause. After acquiring Freddy Fermin at the deadline, Diaz will spend a lot more time as the backup catcher, which is a dangerous precedent for more pinch-hitting opportunities. 

The much younger Luis Campusano has been dominating Triple A and should get an opportunity to replace Diaz and plug a spark off the bench. However, that should be taken with a grain of salt given his previous stints in the big leagues.

The next-worst pinch-hitter for San Diego has been Brooks, who mustered a .154 AVG and -0.1 WAR in 13 plate appearances as a pinch hitter for the Padres. The 30-year-old was designated for assignment on July 31, but is yet another example of an older, low-production player getting an abundance of pinch-hitting opportunities for the club. 

Right there with Brooks is Wade, another 30-year-old getting plenty of the spotlight on San Diego’s bench. As PH, Wade is only batting .100 and producing -0.1 WAR. Wade has done that in 12 plate appearances, the fourth-most of Padres pinch hitters. 

Shockingly, these players aren’t the only veterans the Padres have turned to produce off the bench this season. 41-year-old Yuli Gurriel and 35-year-old Jason Heyward also put up lackluster numbers off the bench, later getting designated for assignment. 

Comparing the Padres' bench full of veterans to the highest-ranking pinch-hitting groups in MLB, there is a night-and-day difference. Colorado (somehow) and Detroit sit atop their respective leagues in pinch-hitting WAR. What do those teams have in common? The pinch-hitters on their rosters are mostly younger than 30. 

The strategy of using veterans to fill in at PH is not the formula for a successful bench. Younger players with more to prove may be able to provide the sparks off the bench that San Diego’s offense lacks. Luckily, the resources are there to make it a possibility for the Padres. 

In addition to calling up Campusano, there are some more options to turn San Diego’s bench younger. After trading for Ramon Laureano to fill duties in left field, Gavin Sheets is likely to spend more time coming off the bench. A younger player with proven firepower might be exactly what the Padres need to turn things around for their depth hitting. 

It may not be entirely possible to do with just a few months left in the season, but a youth movement can turn the bench in the right direction for the Padres.

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