Is It Time For The Padres To Give Tirso Ornelas A Full-Time Run In Left Field?

The San Diego Padres are in peril. Despite some mild recovery from a late-May offensive swoon, they're struggling to lay down wins with any level of consistency. While there are certainly a number of different viable explanations, the absence of production coming out of left field is one of the more obvious. 

Only three teams have gotten less production out of their left field spot than the Padres thus far. One is Atlanta. The other two are the Chicago White Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates. Not necessarily teams you'd like to be in league with from an offensive standpoint in the year 2025. That comes despite running eight different players out at the position to date.

The original platoon plan was for Jason Heyward to face right-handed pitchers and Brandon Lockridge to face lefties. Heyward remains on the injured list, while Lockridge has been used more in center than originally expected in coverage of the now twice-injured Jackson Merrill. Jose Iglesias got a game, but is (obviously) a utility infielder. Tyler Wade has provided coverage across 11 games, but his services have also been needed in center and on the infield dirt. Beyond that, Connor Joe got a single game. Oscar González got 14. Neither is still with the organization. 

Then you get to the Gavin Sheets of it all. He's been the steadiest offensive performer to appear there, but we know what the defense looks like. Considering the risks associated, he's probably better served to be a rotational piece between a corner, first base, and the designated hitter spot rather than spending all of his time on the grass. 

Even with Sheets' strong performance, the position has provided the team with a .215 average, a .268 on-base percentage, and a .107 isolated power. The collective wRC+ sits at 68. Again, that's with Sheets turning in .300, .368, .275, and 168 in each of those aspects, respectively. Imagine the fall without him as part of the equation. 

The player notable absent from the above, though, is Tirso Ornelas. The team's 11th-ranked prospect per MLB Pipeline, Ornelas, has received four games and 12 plate appearances to date at the top level. He's hit just .091 and has a -21 wRC+, but you're talking about the most minuscule of samples. Is it time for the Padres to expand it? 

From MLB Pipeline: 

Quote

"The left-handed slugger’s increased power output in ’24 wasn’t just a product of the hitter-friendly environs of El Paso or the PCL as a whole. His exit velocities ran above average, including his 104.8 mph 90th-percentile EV. It’s all-fields pop too, but what keeps Ornelas, who bats from an open stance with a leg kick, from a true 55-grade pop projection is that he still hits the ball on the ground more than is desired. Otherwise, he doesn’t whiff on many pitches across the board and had almost even splits, though he will expand the zone in search of contact."

The power output described refers to a jump in ISO between 2023 & 2024, wherein Ornelas went from a .119 figure to a .167. There are obviously some warts in his game, indicated by the fact that the power has waned again in '25 (.115 ISO), but there's an argument to be made in favor of a full-time run for Ornelas in left field. 

For one, Ornelas' on-base presence could be a massive boost for the Padres. He's walking at a clip near 12 percent in El Paso, which would easily lead the team's regulars. As such, he's been on base at a .386 rate. That would also lead the group. While the writeup above does note his occasional expansion of the zone, he's able to provide consistent contact and avoid whiffs. Despite frequent groundball contact, you're talking about consistent, quality contact. Even with a groundball rate lingering around 43 percent, he's still managing a BABIP over .360.

Sure, you'd like to see that power form from '24 (or any kind of elevation given the ability to drive the baseball), but the Padres are 17th in OBP as a collective (.314) and 19th in walk rate (8.4 percent). The approach alone would provide a certain degree of benefit for a team that has been a total zero in left field. The other factors — which are at minimum occasionally present — become a bonus.

And that's really the most important aspect of such a discussion. You've gotten nothing from a position outside of a guy who shouldn't be out there with regularity. The offensive production beyond Sheets has been absent. Thus far in June, Ornelas is reaching base at a .378 rate, with six walks against six strikeouts. Previous call-ups haven't been enough to get a real sense of what he can offer at the big league level. Given the position in which the San Diego Padres find themselves, it's probably time to find out.