The San Diego Padres have a good roster with several stars. The San Diego Padres will win at least 90 baseball games this season. They are that good. Unfortunately, it will not matter because the Padres are in the same division as the Los Angeles Dodgers. So, the San Diego Padres will not win the National League West.
That is too bad because as we review the roster we will see the Padres have great talent. Last year they won 93 games. That was the most wins the franchise had since 1998, but there is a tough road for the Padres. Do you think the Padres have a chance in the Nation League West?
San Diego Padres Starting Rotation
The San Diego Padres ace is Dylan Cease. He pitched for the Chicago White Sox for five seasons before winning 14 games for the Padres last season. In his first season with the Padres, he was better than advertised. Michael King is the No. 2 starting pitcher for the Padres. He had a sub-3.00 ERA after coming over last season from the New York Yankees. Yu Darvish is the third starter for the Padres. He is not an ace anymore, but he does have a dizzying array of pitches.
It ends there for the Padres. Joe Musgrove had Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire season. Nick Pivetta came over from the Boston Red Sox to fill the fourth starting position for the San Diego Padres. Kyle Hart was a relief pitcher for the Red Sox last season. The Padres are going to try him in the starting rotation. Other potential starters include Randy Vasquez, Matt Waldron, and Jhony Brito.
Padres Bullpen
The closer for the San Diego Padres is now Robert Suarez. He replaced Josh Hader effectively last year by throwing a 99 MPH fastball 70% of the time. Jason Adam will set him up. He has some closing experience from his time with the Tampa Bay Rays. Several pitchers in the Padres bullpen have closing experience. Jeremiah Estrada is not one of them. He was a revelation last season after being picked up on waivers.
Adrian Morejon was once a top prospect. He became more of a sinkerball pitcher for the Padres last season. He was effective coming out of the bullpen for the Padres. Lefty Wandy Peralta has some closing experience, and so does Yuki Matsui. He is another left-handed pitcher in the San Diego Padre bullpen.
Catcher
The San Diego Padres have a bit of a problem at catcher. Gone is the surprisingly effective Kyle Higashioka. Elias Diaz will get the first crack at replacing him. He spent five years each with the Colorado Rockies and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Padres’ backup catcher will be Luis Campusano. He hit well in the minor leagues in 2023 but is a sub-par defender.
Infield
Three-time batting champion Luis Arraez returns for the San Diego Padres at first base. The second baseman is Jake Cronenworth. He is a good defender who had an offensive renaissance last year. The left side of the infield has two superstars. Xander Bogaerts is the Padres shortstop. He hit .299 last year with 7 home runs and 30 RBI during the second half of the season after missing two months with a shoulder injury.
The third baseman is Manny Machado. He had elbow surgery last season but returned and won a Silver Slugger Award. Jack of all trades Tyler Wade has the defensive flexibility to back them all up.
Outfield
There is another star in the outfield for the San Diego Padres. Fernando Tatis Jr. will play right field and could hit 30 home runs. The center fielder is an emerging superstar named Jackson Merrill. He is a converted shortstop who made the All-Star team last season. 15-year veteran Jason Heyward will play left field. He came over from the Houston Astros before he played for the hated Los Angeles Dodgers.
Designated Hitter
At designated hitter, the San Diego Padres have Yuli Gurriel. He played for the Kansas City Royals last year but is best known for his time with the Houston Astros. Expect the Padres to rotate players through this lineup spot.
Management
AJ Preller has been the general manager of the San Diego Padres since 2014. He gets credit for aggressively pursuing young talent, particularly international free agents. Mike Shildt had a good track record as the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. He plans to continue that success in San Diego. He did have success last year.
Conclusion
The San Diego Padres are a good team, and the organization is on the way up. However, the Padres lost much talent off of a team that lost in the National League Divisional Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers. They can hope for a little more in the 2025 season.
