Can The Padres Survive Ramón Laureano's Injury Ahead Of The Playoffs?

The good news for the San Diego Padres is that they'll be playing playoff baseball. The bad news is that they'll be doing it without one of their key position players from the second half of the season. News that Ramón Laureano would be out for at least the first round due to a finger fracture certainly strikes a dour tone for a team that has put together a solid month of play ahead of next month's postseason. 

Given what Laureano had been offering the team, it's certainly reasonable to ask whether this is an injury the Padres are capable of weathering. They've gotten largely good news on the injury front in recent weeks, with Jackson Merrill missing minimal time and Xander Bogaerts returning from an injury of his own ahead of month's end. But losing Laureano out of the gate represents a notable setback for this group. 

Since joining the Padres, Laureano's 128 wRC+ is tied with Fernando Tatis Jr for the team lead, while his .220 ISO trails only Merrill over that stretch. He isn't particularly adept at reaching base as some of his counterparts (.323 on-base percentage), but he's been a source of impact at a position that has lacked it for much of the year. That impact could have been crucial in a first-round set, but now the Padres will have to look for it elsewhere on the roster. Lucky for them, it appears as though they might be better equipped to handle his absence than they would have at a different point this season. Maybe.

Ironically, that good fortune is due to the player on the roster who stood to lose the most with Laureano's arrival. Sure enough, when the Padres made the trade with Baltimore, acquiring Laureano & Ryan O'Hearn, it was Gavin Sheets whose playing time suffered the most. Post-deadline, Sheets appeared in a starting role just three times over roughly three weeks, with a pair of pinch-hit appearances mixed in. Merrill's ankle injury renewed his opportunity in the lineup, with Sheets continuing to garner appearances (primarily as a designated hitter) even upon the former's return. As such, Sheets figures to be the primary replacement in Laureano's stead. 

It's worth noting that the month of September hasn't been kind to Sheets. He's slashing just .167/.265/.278 this month. Some of that's pinned down by a .204 batting average on balls in play. The more concerning part of it is that Sheets has begun to chase and miss at a higher rate than we've been accustomed to seeing this year.

Last month, we explored Sheets' ability to make contact in 2025. There was an uptick in aggression, but his bat-to-ball skills had shown significant improvement since his time in Chicago. This month, however, he's regressed. A 41.4 percent chase-and-miss rate is nearly 20 points higher than it was last month. He isn't chasing more (it's a 0.6 percent rise from month to month), and his walk rate is actually up (10.8 BB% is his highest in an individual month). The contact element has just started to escape him, which is especially problematic considering the timing. 

The good news there, at least, is that Sheets has demonstrated a keen approach all year. His 4.16 pitches per plate appearance ranks 19th among qualifying position players, and he's been able to parlay the approach into his greatest power output since 2021 (.181 ISO). So it stands to reason that he can find that form again in order to be a regular contributor in left field in the absence of Laureano. Given Merrill and Tatis Jr reclaiming their status as two of the team's top hitters this month, the outfield trio should remain a steady group for this team ahead of the playoffs. Should Sheets fail to regain some semblance of form, however, things get a little murkier.

What Laureano's absence does, above all, is remove some versatility from this lineup. Instead of rotating each of Sheets, Ryan O'Hearn, and Luis Arráez through first base and the designated hitter spot, now you're deploying Sheets in left and splitting the other duties between the latter two names. It removes Mike Shildt's ability to play the hot hand and instead forces each of the trio into the lineup every night. That's far from ideal, given O'Hearn's struggles and Arráez's up-and-down campaign (though Arráez has been far better in September). 

Ultimately, the on-paper version of the San Diego Padres has the ability to overcome the absence of Ramón Laureano not only for the first round of the playoffs but for as long as they're playing. Sheets in left and the O'Hearn/Arráez duo could be fine. With Laureano's overall production, however, it will be a difficult needle to thread, considering the context of the other names on the roster. It's a situation the team could certainly weather, but it's going to require some adjustments to be made on multiple parts if it's going to be made a reality.