Gottie Chavez

The month of May was a rollercoaster for the San Diego Padres. After missing an opportunity to overtake the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West standings, they instead found themselves juggling second place with the Arizona Diamondbacks. While the pitching staff remained solid, the offense has still yet to find its footing. The Padres sit in the bottom five of the league for the least amount of runs produced as a team, and much of the blame has fallen on the team's “Big Three” of Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill, all of whom have gotten off to slow starts. More than months into the season, Tatis leads the trio with a modest .266 batting average, while the other two hover slightly above or below the .200 mark. Their contributions have been highly missed as the Padres own a league-worst team batting average of .218. Yet despite their offensive struggles, San Diego remains 32-26 and holds the top National League Wild Card spot. While the lineup has been lackluster, a few unsung heroes have stepped up to make sure the team continues to capitalize on the advantageous positions created by their pitching staff and keep their heads afloat. Ranking Padres' Best Hitters in May #3: Fernando Tatis Jr. While much of the concern surrounding the team has been focused on the struggles of their “Big Three”, Tatis did his best to take his name out of those conversations. In May, Tatis led the team with a .296 batting average and 29 hits, providing a much-needed boost to an offense searching for consistency. His month was highlighted by him hitting his first home run of the season on May 30, ending his career-long 55-game homer-less streak. While his performance garnered a lot of praise, there was still a glaring hole in his game that must be addressed: His bat went cold with runners in scoring position. Despite his strong batting average, Tatis only batted .200 with runners in scoring position and posted a -0.1 weighted runs above average (wRAA). While his performance definitely hints that he is moving in the right direction, the team will need him to start producing in scoring scenarios to take a true step forward. #2: Miguel Andújar In his first season in San Diego, Miguel Andújar continues to be a solid contributor to the middle of the lineup. While he hit just .225 in May, he still recorded 23 hits, four homers, 11 runs scored and 10 RBIs as he solidified himself as the team's number one option at DH. But the month was mostly used as an opportunity to endear himself into the fanbase. Andújar's breakout moment as a Padre came during the team's series against the rival Los Angeles Dodgers. In the three-game series, Andújar homered twice, including a clutch solo shot in the team's 1-0 win in the opener. In a National League West that remains highly contested, Andújar’s production has helped bring life to an offense that is still trying to stay in the playoff picture while working out its kinks. #1: Gavin Sheets In a month that was overall bleak for the Padres' offense, Gavin Sheets emerged as one of the clubs most reliable contributors. In 24 games, Sheets batted .274/.411/.493 with a .904 OPS as he raised his overall batting average to .245. During a stretch where producing runs was scarce, his power proved invaluable. He hit five home runs while bringing in 11 RBIs and scoring 11 runs. Most importantly, he consistently delivered in key situations. With runners in scoring position, Sheets had a batting average of .357 with two home runs and eight RBIs. His biggest moment came on May 13 against the Milwaukee Brewers, when he hit a three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning that propelled them to overcome a shutout and steal a win. In a month that started with Sheets being absent from the lineup and losing at-bats to Ty France, the left-handed slugger quickly changed his perception within the organization. He finished the month batting as high as second in the lineup and is proving himself as one of the team's most dependable power options in 2026. View full article

After suffering multiple injuries to their pitching staff early in the season, the San Diego Padres hoped Griffin Canning's return from the injured list would help round out the back of their rotation. However, after missing the second half of last season with a ruptured left Achilles, Canning has struggled to find his footing, posting a 9.00 ERA through his first four starts. Known throughout his career as a pitcher who generates ground balls by attacking the lower part of the strike zone, he has struggled with his command this season. The issue was most noticeable in his third appearance against the Milwaukee Brewers, when he gave up six runs in 1 2/3 innings, which included walking four straight batters in the first inning. This season, he is walking hitters at a career-high 13.3% rate, and spotting pitches in the strike zone only 43.2% of the time, a drop from his previous career low of 43.9% during his rookie season. Although these numbers do call for some concern, Canning has not been entirely ineffective. Despite a slow start, he is still generating a career-high 10.69 K/9 while allowing a career-low 6.3% barrel rate. That's a promising sign that he can be more efficient with better location. Plus, the underlying metrics suggest that while Canning has struggled, his face-value stats may be a little inflated. The most notable difference is the gap between his ERA and his expected stats. He has allowed 16 runs through four starts, but carries an expected ERA of 4.06 and 3.94 xFIP, suggesting his performances have been closer to league average than his ERA indicates. His most recent start against the Los Angeles Dodgers definitely supported this narrative. Against the Dodgers, he allowed a two-run home run to Freddie Freeman in the first inning before settling in and giving up just two hits and one run over his last four innings of work. To improve, he needs to fix his changeup more than anything. Before his injury, Canning’s approach relied heavily on a four-seam fastball and slider combination, with an effective changeup that could force batters into off-balance swings. Last season, opponents hit just .196 against the pitch, and it produced a +6 run value, leading to Canning choosing to rely on it more. Once his third-most-used pitch, the changeup has become the primary pitch in his arsenal, deploying it 32.9% of the time, but not to the results he was expecting. This season, the changeup has gone from a strength to a weakness, with opponents having a .423 batting average and .500 slugging percentage against the pitch, and its run value has dropped to -3, the lowest in his arsenal. Canning is locating his changeup in the strike zone just 38.5% of the time, down from 53.2% last season. But early struggles do not necessarily mean the pitch should be abandoned. Despite the poor results, the changeup is still generating a 33.3% whiff rate and a 33.9% chase rate, both improvements from last season. Normally, Canning has used the changeup low or below the zone to generate whiffs or soft contact. But this season, opposing hitters are making more contact when they do swing. His opponents' O-contact rate against the pitch has risen from 48.1% to 55.3%, indicating that while batters are still chasing, they are also having better results when they do make contact. Control is normally the thing to return last when a pitcher returns from a long layoff, as Canning is after a season-ending Achilles injury in June of 2025. With more reps, he should be able to attack the zone more frequently. If the rest of his results are to be believed that could unlock something for the Padres. View full article

The San Diego Padres have gotten off to a hot start, owning a 19-9 record and sitting second in the National League standings. While the narrative surrounding their offseason focused on them losing key arms with Dylan Cease and Robert Suárez both leaving the team in free agency, their pitchers have actually been the catalyst for their early season success. As a unit, San Diego’s pitchers have produced the second-best 3.56 FIP in the league, anchored by closer Mason Miller, who has only allowed two runs in 14.1 innings. While the pitching staff has delivered, the Padres are still waiting for their offense to catch up. Despite their strong record, they rank below league average in both batting average (.240) and OPS (.693), due in large part to slow starts from key contributors. Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill hold three of the four largest contracts in the lineup, yet Tatis has been the most productive of the group with only a .257 batting average and no home runs. While Machado has struggled, batting .232, Merrill has experienced the steepest drop-off, posting the fourth-lowest wRC+ on the team at 79 and showing significant regression in this third season. Merrill has consistently hit in the heart of the Padres lineup, batting third or fourth, yet has produced a -4 batting run value while slashing .213/.280/.352 with a .632 OPS. However, despite the slow start, his underlying metrics suggest his raw ability remains intact. Merrill still produces a 11.3% barrel rate and 45.0% hard-hit rate that both rank well above average. The power hasn't disappeared; the difference lies in his approach. Merrill has always been aggressive at the plate. Last season, he led the team with a 45% first-pitch swing rate and that has carried over to this year at 47.4%. A slight increase, but it is notable when looking at the balls he's swinging at. While his in-zone swing rate has increased to 82.9%, the highest on the team, his chase rate also sits at 37.9%, the second-highest on the roster. While this aggression isn’t anything new, his lack of contact is. This season, Merrill ranks near the bottom of the team with a 78.3% in-zone contact rate and owns a 28.5% whiff rate, placing him in the bottom-third of all qualified MLB hitters. The significance of the drop-off becomes even clearer in the context of the pitches he's seeing. Four-seam fastballs account for 36.1% of the pitches he faces, and they'e starting to eat him up. After posting a +7 run value against four-seamers last season, he has dropped to a -3 mark, a sharp decline that points to timing issues and may explain why his aggressive approach has been so inefficient. However, Merrill isn’t completely broken. While he has struggled against four-seamers, he has fixed a big gray area in his game and that is his production against sinkers. After posting a -3 run value against sinkers last season, he has turned it into one of his strengths, improving to a +2 mark. Perhaps, then, even more than a velocity issue, this comes down to where he's being attacked. Four-seamers have more perceived rise, hence why they're so effective up the in zone; sinkers, meanwhile, are often used to target hitters low. That's a lot of high fastballs. Even with a faster swing speed this year, it'll be hard for Merrill to do damage on those pitches if his timing is off. I'll repeat: Merrill isn’t broken. In many ways, he isn’t far off from the hitter he’s been in recent seasons. The power remains, and the underlying metrics suggest a correction is possible. But a change in his approach will be needed, lest he continue to get eaten alive by fastballs. View full article