Good morning,
A better route by Brandon Lockridge might have turned Andy Pages’ double at the start of the 10th inning into an out.
A different call on a full-count pitch to Manny Machado in the bottom 10th — that was deemed strike three when it appeared to be off the plate by maybe the width of a baseball’s seam — might have turned Jackson Merrill’s ensuing one RBI into two or at least given the Padres another out to work with.
But the Padres also went four innings without a hit. They escaped the fourth inning unscathed after Machado lost a ball in the twilight and Xander Bogaerts lost his grip on the ball on successive plays. They avoided disaster after Adrián Morejón’s error in the eighth inning. They were fortunate that Tesocar Hernandez is not a very good right fielder. They were 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position, including making outs with Merrill at second base at the end of the game.
The point is, all sorts of things happen in the course of a game. And especially, it seems, the majority of games between the Padres and Dodgers.
We can’t solely focus on the ending or what went wrong for the Padres.
So let’s just go with what Merrill, the perpetual breath of fresh air, said afterward:
“That game was sick.”
The full quote is in my game story (here) from the Padres’ 8-7 loss to the Dodgers last night. In that story you can read about the game’s insane first half, the tense-but-slow second half and the screwy 10th.
Campy not right option
It is difficult to argue that Luis Campusano should have pinch-hit for Gavin Sheets in the eighth or 10th inning last night.
And that is a problem.
The Padres do not have a viable right-handed hitter to come off the bench or to share designated hitter duties.
As improved as Sheets appears and as big a hero as he has been and may be in the future, he is struggling against left-handed pitchers.
His strikeout against Alex Vesia in the eighth and pop out against Tanner Scott in the 10th dropped Sheets’ season average to .188 against left-handers. He is hitless in his past 11 at-bats against lefties and has two hits in his past 21 at-bats against them.
Sheets earned the right to be an everyday player with his torrid May, which included a stretch in which he went 4-for-11 with a home run against left-handers. But he is now plummeting toward the .168 average he had against them in his first four big-league seasons.
Regardless of whether you think Sheets should be given further opportunity to hit lefties, there is no doubt Mike Shildt would have pinch-hit for him if he thought he had a better option.
But Campusano has not appeared in a game in June. So whether he was a better option at one point, it probably was not a good idea to try to make him an option when he hasn’t had a live at-bat in nine days.
Shildt has a habit of making sure to spread the love among players when he is talking about who contributed to a victory. And so it was Sunday, when asked about the role of the pitchers in a 1-0 victory at Milwaukee, that he began by saying, “Very impressive across the board with all 26 …”
Now that is a variation of what many managers and players say from time to time. But it stood out at this time with this team not only because just 16 Padres players participated Sunday’s game but because Shildt’s team is essentially playing with 25 players so far this month.
Campusano puts on the gear and catches in the bullpen and/or gets practice at first base before virtually every game.
But, barring injury or perhaps one of the team’s two veteran catchers going on an epic hitless streak, Campusano won’t break up the tandem of Elias Díaz and Martín Maldonado because the Padres value the work those two do with the pitching staff.
And there was a chance to put Campusao at first base Saturday that the Padres ed on when Luis Arraez’s balky knee limited him to being the designated hitter in a game started by Brewers’ left-hander Jose Quintana. (Not that Campusano facing the crafty Quintana would have been a good idea. Again, that’s kind of the point.)
Foremost when explaining why Campusano is not being used is the fact he is 0-for-13 in two stints in the major leagues this season. The Padres would have loved for him to have forced his way into the lineup with his bat, but he has not.
Campusano was recalled May 24 and pinch-hit that day. He was the DH the next three times the Padres faced a lefty.
Arraez’s knee injury limited him to being the Padres’ DH over the weekend before he returned to play first base last night. And the Padres have Bogaerts a DH day in San Francisco.
But Sheets also served as DH once against a lefty last week and filled in at first base when Arraez was the DH Saturday.
What seems increasingly clear is that Campusano is not part of the Padres’ plans.
He is on the big-league roster because the team does not see a right-handed alternative at Triple-A and has been unable to find a right-handed bat via trade.
But how long he will be anything more than a Triple-A backstop catcher is one of the more intriguing questions in the organization.
Again
Last night was the ninth consecutive Padres game decided by one or two runs. That has been the margin in 16 of their past 18 games and the margin in their past 10 victories.
More than anything, repeatedly having to chase wins or protect slim leads has taken a toll on the Padres’ bullpen, at least to the extent it has forced Shildt and pitching coach Ruben Niebla to manage workloads, often forcing them to put relievers in spots they are not entirely suited to be in.
It sure feels a lot more worthwhile when the win is actually chased down.
That didn’t happen last night.
And now, with two days before the Padres’ next day off:
- Jeremiah Estrada and Morejón have worked three of the past four days.
- Sean Reynolds, Yuki Matstui and Robert Suarez have worked two straight days.
- Jason Adam, who did not pitch last night, could probably still use another day down after working 11 of the past 19 days.
- All but three of the above-mentioned 23 appearances were made in games that were tied or in which the Padres led by one run. (Adam made two appearances in two-run games, and Suarez one appearance in a two-run game.)
The higher-leverage work is not the only issue.
It is compounded by the volume of work.
Padres relievers have pitched has 65⅔ innings over the past 16 games. (That is tied for fourth-most in MLB in that span and tied for the most by any team currently in playoff position.)
In that run of 16 games, Padres starting pitchers have gone five innings or less 10 times. Last night’s four-inning outing by Nick Pivetta was the sixth time in that span the Padres’ starter did not even make it five full innings. Pivetta (twice) and Randy Vásquez are the only pitchers to go six innings in ththis stretch.
“We’re pushing, piecing it together and competing at the same time,” Shildt said. “But, you know, we’re going to need some depth out of some starters.”
Just a little patience
I wrote yesterday (here) about Merrill’s elevated chase rate the past couple weeks and that he had walked once in his previous 44 plate appearances.
But even Merrill could wait out the pitches that led to his four-pitch walk in the third inning.
At the mention of his walk, Merrill said: “Yeah, have you ever seen anybody work an at-bat that good?”
Merrill, who was 1-for-3, did chase just two of the eight pitches he saw outside the zone last night. And notably, he did not swing at the first pitch of any of his five plate appearances.
Three steaks
Tyler Wade was in out front of a 1-1 sweeper near the bottom of the zone and fouled it off.
“I saw it well,” Wade said.
May must not have known that, because he threw the same pitch in the same spot again, and Wade hit it to the gap in right field to clear loaded bases.
Tyler Wade clears the bases with a triple and gives the @Padres the lead! pic.twitter.com/qBjUVHdOyq
— MLB (@MLB) June 10, 2025
Now, a right fielder who was a little faster and a little better than Hernandez might have made an out on the play. But Hernandez didn’t. And a ball with a 22% hit probability became a triple.
Last night was the first three-RBI game of Wade’s career.
Darvish’s progress
Yu Darvish threw his third bullpen session in a week yesterday.
It was the second time he did an “up-down.” That means he sat between two sets of pitches to simulate working in a game. On Monday, he threw 22 pitches, sat for about five minutes and then threw 20 more.
This is a significant step in that it means Darvish continues to move forward without setback.
In a “normal” rehab progression, it would also be a sign that he is nearing a return to game action. The next step would likely be Darvish facing hitters in a simulated game environment. And that may happen. But this has not been a normal return to play situation.
Darvish was shut down in spring training with elbow inflammation, worked back to make a rehab start in Triple-A on May 14 and was expected to the rotation by the end of last month.
But he felt discomfort in his elbow and did not believe he was ready to return. So he was limited to playing catch until resuming light bullpen sessions in late May.
The Padres have deferred to the veteran right-hander, who will be 39 in August, as he figures out the best course to not only return but stay on the mound.
Wispy RISP
It is usually more about maximizing scoring opportunities and converting enough of them for the Padres.
Last night, it didn’t work out that way, as the Padres lost for the first time in 14 games this season in which they had at least 11 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
After going 3-for-14 last night, they are batting .178 with runners in scoring position over their past 23 games.
Tidbits
- When Fernando Tatis Jr. led off with a single and Arraez followed with a single in the bottom of the first inning, it was the first time since Wednesday they both reached base in the same inning and the first time since May 28 (a span of 10 games) they both reached base in the first inning. When Machado followed with a double, it marked the first time since Tuesday they all reached base in the same inning and the first time since May 10 (26 games) all three got hits in the same inning.
- Bogaerts stole his 13th base in 13 tries last night. No other player in the major leagues has that many steals without being caught this season.
- Tatis also stole a base and is tied with Bogaerts for the team lead. (Tatis has been caught twice.)
- Tatis, who has stolen five bases since hitting his last home run on May 27, now has the same number of home runs as stolen bases. He is one of five MLB players with at least 13 of each.
- Machado was 2-for-5 last night and is batting .448 (13-for-29) during a seven-game hitting streak.
- It was announced yesterday afternoon that a review by MLB had overturned an official scorer ruling of a June 3 error by Machado and changed the play to a hit. But Machado retook sole possession of the MLB lead with his 11th error last night.
- Last night’s game time of three hours, 13 minutes was the Padres’ fourth-longest of the season.
- After last night, no team in the major leagues has a winning record in games in which their opponent scores first. The Padres (12-12) remain the only team to not have a losing record in such games.
- The Padres are 15-22 against teams with winning records and 22-6 against teams with losing records. (Nine of the 18 MLB teams that currently have winning records have sub-.500 records against teams with winning records.)
All right, that’s it for me.
Talk to you tomorrow.
