5 Greatest San Diego Padres Hitters of All Time

Caminiti’s finest Padres season came in his second year with the club, earning NL MVP honors in 1996 with a 40-home run, 130-RBI, and 7.6 bWAR campaign. He had a career-best 1.028 OPS and tallied 79 extra-base hits for the NL West champions.

Across his four seasons in San Diego, Caminiti hit .295 with 121 home runs, nearly 400 RBIs, and a .924 OPS. He tragically died of a drug overdose in 2004 at only 41 years old.

4. Adrián González (2006-2010)

A cynic might claim that González only had one elite season in San Diego, when he hit 40 home runs with a .958 OPS and 6.9 bWAR in 2009. We disagree, seeing as he averaged 32 homers, 35 doubles, 100 RBIs, and an .888 OPS over that five-year stretch.

González provided the Padres with 20.4 bWAR, won two Gold Gloves, and never played fewer than 156 games. He absolutely warrants a spot here.

3. Manny Machado (2019-Present)

Machado has officially played longer in San Diego than he did in Baltimore, which is remarkable. Over his first seven Padres seasons, Machado hit .275 and averaged 28 home runs, 90 RBIs, an .825 OPS, and 3.9 bWAR. 

The seven-time All-Star ranks third behind Gwynn and Winfield in offensive bWAR, and he still has an outside chance to surpass Winfield’s 32.0 bWAR for the second-highest total in franchise history.

2. Dave Winfield (1973-1980)

Immediately after taking Winfield No. 4 in the 1973 draft, the Padres promoted him to the big leagues. The future Hall of Famer quickly proved he belonged, hitting .277 with a .714 OPS over 56 games. 

Winfield quickly grew into one of the league’s top young outfield talents, averaging 22 home runs, 88 RBIs, and an .825 OPS over his seven full seasons in San Diego. He earned four All-Star nods and tallied 31.9 bWAR, setting himself up for a then-record 10-year, $23 million contract with the Yankees.

1. Tony Gwynn (1982-2001)

Even those too young to have seen Gwynn knew this was coming, in part because his Baseball Reference page doesn't feel real. Not only did Gwynn bat .338 for his career, but he reached base at a .388 clip and had five 200-hit seasons.

Although we’ve since realized that batting average is often flawed, Gwynn nonetheless had seven seasons of hitting at least .350. He infamously had a .394 average when the 1994 strike happened, costing him a chance at the first .400 season since Ted Williams over 50 years earlier.

History has forgotten just how effective a baserunner Gwynn was, with him stealing 319 bases in 444 attempts. Unsurprisingly, he was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2007.