ST. LOUIS — The 2025 Padres have a tremendously high ceiling and some very obvious flaws.
That was abundantly clear, even before they finished their three-city road trip at 5-5. Still, the post-All-Star trek through Washington, Miami and St. Louis only served to reinforce those strengths and weaknesses.
With the Trade Deadline looming on Thursday, here’s what we learned from the longest roadie of the season:
1. Tatis, Machado remain anchors of a high-ceiling offense
They were the Padres’ two offensive All-Stars for a reason. Both Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado were excellent at times in the first half. But they never quite clicked at the same time. They are now.
Machado, who went 4-for-5 with three RBIs on Sunday, is hitting .326 in July. Tatis is hitting .309. When those guys are going, it takes much of the burden off the rest of the offense — as evidenced by Sunday’s onslaught.
For the past three months, the Padres’ offense has not been good enough, especially considering the names and the level of investment in the lineup. But the potential for an above average offense is still there.
“We’ve done it before,” Machado said. “We know what we’re capable of. So we’ve just got to get to that — and we’ve got to get it soon. I feel like as a group, we’re getting there.”
2. More offense needed at the Deadline
This marked the second consecutive Sunday in which the Padres’ offense poured it on in a lopsided victory. They also did so against the Nationals last week.
“Relentless at-bats, adding on, two-out hits,” said Padres manager Mike Shildt. “Again, Manny set the example of what we want to see with runners in scoring position, having the right approach. Just a real team win today.”
The Padres need more of these. It remains clear as ever that their lineup needs a boost. The bottom third entered Sunday with a .577 OPS for the season, the worst mark in the Majors.
On the trip, the best pinch-hitting options were Trenton Brooks and Jose Iglesias (who has reasserted his excellence defensively and is fine against lefties but has struggled against right-handed pitching). Pinch-hitters are batting just .158 for San Diego this season, and it’s been more than a month since any of them recorded an extra-base hit (Brooks’ home run against the Dodgers).
If anything, the ceiling on display Sunday makes it even more imperative that the Padres reinforce at the Deadline to reach that ceiling. That means adding one more bat to the lineup — whether at DH or, more likely, in left field. It means exploring potential upgrades at catcher. And it means, if no upgrade is available, finding a bat to add to a bench group that is lacking.
3. The rotation makes it work
Randy Vásquez and Stephen Kolek combined to post a 3.05 ERA in four starts on the trip. The Padres won three of them.
The bullpen has been lights-out all season, but there’s an argument to be made that the team’s biggest success story has come in the starting rotation. Yu Darvish and Michael King have missed significant time. Joe Musgrove is out all season. Dylan Cease has underperformed.
And the rotation remains a strength. That’s first a testament to the shrewd signing of Nick Pivetta, who is emerging as an ace. But it’s also a credit to the back end. Unproven righties Vásquez, Kolek and Ryan Bergert have combined to post a 3.73 ERA this year.
“It’s been key,” Shildt said. “Kolek, Vásquez, Bergert — those guys have really stepped up, pitched well for us, allowed us to be in the position we’re in.”
4. A bullpen high-wire act
The back end of the Padres’ bullpen is probably the best in baseball. They are asking an awful lot from it.
Entering play Sunday, only six pitchers had logged at least 50 appearances this season. Three were Padres — Adrian Morejon, Jeremiah Estrada and Jason Adam (the setup men for closer Robert Suarez).
San Diego will continue riding that group hard — and for good reason. When those four pitch, the Padres win. But more victories like these past two Sundays are necessary. And, even still, general manager A.J. Preller will consider adding another arm to the mix to ease some of that burden.
