In losing five-of-eight games, starting with the split against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Mexico City, the San Diego Padres had their first losing streak since the first week of the season. Coming home from Mexico, without a day off to recover, the Padres played six games against the Chicago teams. Losing both series 1-2, the Padres showed a sagging bullpen and an anemic offense most of the time.
You won’t catch the players or the manager using altitude or fatigue as an excuse. They won’t even use the flu
that affected Fernando Tatis Jr. for most of the week. Fans are not likely to use those reasons to excuse some of the poor play, poor pitching or lack of offense. Maybe it’s just baseball but the Padres have to figure this out and get better quickly.
Luckily, the beleaguered San Francisco Giants are up next on the schedule. If the Friars don’t play better and score more runs for the next three games then we can discuss having a real problem.
A couple highlights from an otherwise forgettable week:
- Mason Miller, who had his scoreless streak broken by the Cubs with an assist from the umpires, won March/April Reliever of the Month for the NL. His 10 saves, 1.17 ERA, 29 strikeouts, three hits allowed and .118 average against far outpaced anyone else in the NL.
- The Padres sale to José E. Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones was officially announced on Saturday. It is expected the sale will become final at the next MLB owner’s meeting in early June, unless they hold a virtual vote before then. Feliciano/Jones will reportedly own approximately 40% of the team with other partners investing. Both Dennis Lin of The Athletic and Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Alfredo Harp Helú, as well as multiple members of the Seidler family, will retain ownership stakes.
- Griffin Canning made his Padres debut and helped pitch the Friars to a victory over the White Sox in the final game of the series, salvaging a game after losing four in a row. The Padres called him up to replace Germán Márquez, who was placed on the injured list. Randy Vasquez was pushed back a day in his normal spot in the rotation.
- The Padres sit at 20-13 and are 0.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.
Injuries and owies
Both Manny Machado and Miguel Andujar had limited playing time during the eight games with Machado experiencing cramping in his left calf and missing a game and used as DH in another. This required Jake Cronenworth to play third base for the first time since his inaugural season with the Padres. Normally, Miguel Andujar would have replaced Machado but he was held out of a couple games with hamstring tightness.
David Morgan has battled command issues recently and was sent to El Paso when Jeremiah Estrada was called up after his IL stint. In his 15 days away from the team, Estrada gained weight and strength as well as allowing the inflammation to subside in his throwing arm. His velocity was back to normal on his return.
Tatis Jr. does not have an injury, but he has played the better part of the home stand with the flu. He was given an off day on Sunday.
Márquez experienced tingling in his pitching arm in his last couple starts (per Mark Grant in the Padres broadcast on Sunday) and was placed on the IL as a precaution in hopes that some rest and rehab will improve his results.
Griffin Canning adds a sinker
In 2025, before his injury, Canning featured six pitches and used his four-seam fastball and slider most predominantly. He was obviously working on some things during his time with Triple-A El Paso but was needed by the Padres and didn’t get to his goal of 70-80 pitches before being called up.
In his first start as a Padre, Canning used four pitches in his five innings of work. He struck out seven and had a ground ball rate of 55.6%. His 51.6% ground ball rate last year was the highest of his career, and it seems he is doubling down on that strategy.
Canning used his changeup 34% and his four-seam fastball 33% of the time in his start against the White Sox. In his 73 pitches, he mixed in his slider 26% of the time and then flashed a sinker 7%. Canning has not thrown a sinker since 2024. He also never threw his cutter, curve or sweeper (according to StatCast) in his outing on Sunday.
It will be interesting to see what pitch mix is utilized going forward and whether he mixes all seven pitches he throws into his future starts.
Lucas Giolito
The Padres have until May 16 to get Giolito ready to join the Padres rotation. He has made two starts with the Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm with seven innings pitched. He has allowed seven hits and five runs with four walks and 10 strikeouts. His command was improved in the last start versus the first. The most telling factor regarding his lack of Spring Training reps is that his fastball is sitting 89-92 and he normally rides in the 93-94 mph range.
Building arm strength and endurance will be the goals for his remaining time in the minor leagues, attempting to replace a normal Spring Training with two more starts against minor league hitters. It has not been stated whether he will complete his progression with Lake Elsinore.
Yuki Matsui
The Padres either have to reinstate Matsui on today or get his permission to keep him in the minor leagues. He has completed all the goals of his rehab. He has 12.2 innings and a 4.97 ERA with 14 strikeouts and three walks. He has pitched back-to-back games and multiple innings.
Sad offense
Jackson Merrill is hitting .211, Jake Cronenworth is hitting .147, Freddy Fermin is hitting .170 and Nick Castellanos is hitting .164. The Padres’ two best hitters, Miguel Andujar and Luis Campusano, don’t play fulltime. Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts are tied for the team lead in home runs with five each. Bogaerts, Ramon Laureano and Machado each have 18 RBI to lead the Friars.
The Padres rank 23rd in batting average (.234), 25th in OPS (.686), 23rd in home runs (31) and 22nd in slug (.379). It isn’t sustainable to keep a winning record with the offense struggling this way. Oh, and Tatis Jr. still doesn’t have a home run.
Bullpen struggles
In the last two weeks, the Padres bullpen has dropped from being the fourth best in baseball to being the 14th. The ERA has slid from 2.95 to 4.01. Adrian Morejon is still being hit hard at times and even Mason Miller gave up some hits and a run.
The starting staff has slipped from 18th (4.18) to 21st (4.54) in that same time. Overall, the pitching staff is ranked 18th with a 4.30 ERA.
