2025 MLB Season Recap: San Diego Padres

The Pitching

The Good

While the Padres’ offense didn’t generate a lot of home runs, it was productive.

Fernando Tatis Jr. had 54 extra-base hits, 25 of which were home runs, this past season. The 26-year-old also took home defensive hardware, as he won a Gold Glove and the NL Platinum Glove. Manny Machado, meanwhile, provided steady production yet again. Machado had his tenth 25+ home run season, all of which came from 2015 onward.

Jake Cronenworth finished 15th in the league in BB% (13.4%) among hitters with 350+ plate appearances. Jackson Merrill, who signed a massive pre-arbitration extension this past spring, hit 16 home runs and 47 extra-base hits. He caught fire over the final third of the year, as he finished in the top 30 in extra-base hits (23) and belted nine home runs.

Merrill only played in 115 games thanks to injury.

It also helped that the Padres were able to inject more pop in the summer. As part of an aggressive strategy — one often employed by the Padres’ brass over the last decade — San Diego acquired Ryan O’Hearn and Ramon Laureano from the Orioles.

O’Hearn (105 OPS+) did fine overall, even though the Padres tried to shield him from left-handed pitching. Laureano, though, was the big find, as he cracked nine home runs and posted a .812 OPS as a Padre. San Diego has control of Laureano for one more season.

Then, there was Gavin Sheets.

Sheets, non-tendered by the White Sox last winter, signed a Minor League deal with San Diego in February. The move proved to work for both sides, as the former second-round pick hit 19 home runs, 17 of which came off right-handed pitching. Sheets finished third on the team in home runs.

As for the pitching staff, it was a complicated season — for several reasons. However, a true bright spot turned out to be Nick Pivetta, who benefited greatly from the new surroundings in San Diego.

Pivetta signed with the Padres late last winter after a good run with the Sox, albeit one marred by home run troubles. The veteran right-hander was still prone to giving up well-hit contact (10.9 Barrel%). However, he wasn’t punished as much. Pivetta posted the sixth-best wOBA (.256) in the game and struck out 190 over 181.2 IP.

He finished 2025 with 13 wins and a 2.87 ERA.

Pivetta led the charge in the rotation. As for the bullpen, it was yet again one of the best in all of baseball.

Robert Suarez notched an NL-high 40 saves, as he was once again the captain of an incredible bullpen, one that allowed Mike Shildt to give opposing teams many different looks. Between the impressive arsenal of Adrian Morejon, hard-thrower Jeremiah Estrada, Jason Adam, and, in the last third of the season, Mason Miller, teams had a lot of problems with their pen.

Just ask the Cubs’ playoff lineup, who saw Miller’s fastball reach as high as 104.5 MPH.

The Bad

Thanks to numerous injuries, the Padres had to get creative to fill out the rotation. Ten pitchers made at least five starts for San Diego.

That list included Nestor Cortes, who was acquired from the Brewers in the summer, Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek — both of whom were dealt for Freddy Fermin — and JP Sears. Sears was acquired alongside Miller in the blockbuster trade that cost the Padres infield prospect Leo De Vries.

Sears had problems keeping the ball in the park both with the Athletics and the Padres. The left-hander gave up seven home runs over 24.2 IP and was sent down to Triple-A late last summer.

Michael King only tossed 73.1 IP in his walk year, although he pitched very well overall. King struck out 76 over 73.1 IP.

Yu Darvish, who missed time with an elbow injury, posted a 5.38 ERA over 15 starts.

As for Dylan Cease, he led the Majors with an 11.5 K/9. However, Cease lives and dies with his fastball and slider. Command and feel for the slider is vital for him, and at times, it spun too much over the heart of the plate. His fastball also got too much play from opposing hitters, to the tune of 26 extra-base hits over 168 innings.

Moving back to the offense for a minute, the Padres had difficulty getting offensive production from Elias Diaz, Martin Maldonado, and Freddy Fermin, all of whom received extensive time behind the dish.

Luis Arraez led the National League in total hits (181). However, his .292 AVG and .392 OBP were both career lows for the three-time batting champion.

Early Projected Lineup for 2026

• C: Freddy Fermin
• 1B: Jake Cronenworth
• 2B: Will Wagner
• 3B: Manny Machado
• SS: Xander Bogaerts
• OF: Ramon Laureano (LF), Jackson Merrill (CF), Fernando Tatis Jr.
• DH: Gavin Sheets
• SP: Nick Pivetta, Joe Musgrove, JP Sears, Randy Vasquez, Matt Waldron
• RP: Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon, Jeremiah Estrada, Kyle Hart, David Morgan, Wandy Peralta, Yuki Matsui, Alek Jacob

This has already been an eventful winter for the Padres, and it’s only mid-November.

As expected, closer Robert Suarez opted out of his deal, joining a lengthy list of departed free agents that also included Michael King, Dylan Cease, Ryan O’Hearn, and Luis Arraez. Yu Darvish underwent surgery that’ll keep him off the field for 2026. Not to mention all the action off the field. Ex-Padres reliever Craig Stammen is the new manager, and the Seidler family is exploring a sale.

There’ve been some trade rumors regarding Fernando Tatis Jr. Just because the Padres may be sold to a new owner doesn’t mean that big-salary players will be dealt; in fact, it would benefit any new owner to have that type of money on the books at the point of sale, thanks to depreciation.

However, if the Seidlers want to cut payroll, it could make for a tight roster squeeze, especially since the Padres lost a lot of depth to free agency this winter.