Whether you’re an optimist, a pessimist, or a realist, the 2026 San Diego Padres season will look different to you. The dramatic swings within the 162-game regular season gave many Padres fans whiplash.
The bullpen’s excellence remained the one constant throughout the season. That part of the roster showed consistency until the very end of the year. Ultimately, the overuse of the relief corps resulted in fatigue and inconsistency during the past month.
Just about every other aspect of the team’s performance
was as unpredictable as any season could be.
The offense and starting pitching weren’t reliable, but the effort was always there.
The Padres had weaknesses
There was never a real starting rotation. Michael King was excellent all year, a staff ace. The rest were a patchwork and could not provide reliability.
The offense took almost four months to find its feet. Going from almost the worst in baseball to a top-five offense is a credit to the players and the coaches who put in the work.
The bench was a rotating cast of characters. Injury was a major factor, and without the scouting and coaching within the organization, the Padres would have been floundering by midseason.
Being led by a rookie manager with several coaches who were also rookies at their jobs has inherent risk. Mistakes were made; there can be no denying that fact. Craig Stammen would be the first to acknowledge it. Those mistakes were not the reason this team faltered in the postseason.
An overworked bullpen
All through the season, the bullpen was used to buoy the starting pitchers. When the starters failed to provide length, the relievers stepped in and propped them up. That strategy will eventually catch up with you. As the regular season wound down and the postseason began, the wear and tear on the trusted arms in the bullpen began to show.
Both Mason Miller and Adrián Morejón exceeded career numbers for innings. Both showed the results of that strain as the season was finishing.
Bradgley Rodriguez, a 22-year-old rookie, lost velocity as the regular season concluded and had to be given rest. He also lost some effectiveness, allowing more hits and runs.
In the postseason, the repeated use of the trusted core of relievers resulted in David Morgan, Randy Vasquez, and Wandy Peralta never seeing the field during any of the six games played.
The postseason offense
What is the answer to why the Padres offense goes missing during the postseason?
Manny Machado was exceptional, defying logic that would dictate a decline in performance with age. He had a .350 batting average with a 1.080 OPS, hitting a homer with three RBI. Fernando Tatis Jr. had two home runs with three RBI but only hit .167 with six strikeouts in 24 at-bats. Jackson Merrill hit .292 but had no extra-base hits with eight strikeouts in 24 at-bats.
The lack of execution with runners in scoring position was the death knell for this team. In the divisional series, the Padres were 4-for-23 with 30 left on base over the four games.
This is the third straight postseason with the Padres’ offense underperforming when the lights are the brightest. Role players made minimal contributions, while Merrill and Tatis didn’t provide what was needed.
There is an explanation for the failures of the Padres in the postseason. The challenge is for the organization to find the answers.
Looking forward
Both Xander Bogaerts and Machado are still performing, despite their advancing ages. The window of opportunity for this team should remain open as long as they are both contributors on the positive side.
The young core of Tatis, Merrill, Luis Campusano, and the newly arrived Ethan Salas provides talent to build around.
Re-signing Ty France should be an offseason priority. He wants to be here and has been their most consistent player all season. He should also be named the team MVP.
Starting pitching must be a focus this offseason. Retain Michael King; that comes first. Decide what role Randy Vasquez will be filling. Use the offseason to assess what Joe Musgrove and Nick Pivetta can do going into next season. Move on from Yu Darvish unless he decides he can pitch next year.
Walker Buehler, Casey Mize, and Robby Ray are all free agents. The team needs more stability and length than what those three have provided.
Jhony Brito should be recovered from his Tommy John rehab and needs to be assessed for what he can contribute. It seems clear neither Griffin Canning nor JP Sears can be contributors for this team.
The bench includes Gavin Sheets and Miguel Andujar. The team can retain Samad Taylor and/or Dustin Harris, but a permanent solution for left field is not among those players.
Unfortunately, Jase Bowen has no clue how to hit major league pitching.
Sung-Mun Song is a defensive marvel, but can someone teach him how to hit?
The rules could change
The offseason labor situation will impact everything the Padres need to do for the next season. When that season begins is not even clear at this point.
Padres general manager A.J. Preller and his team have a lot of work to do, but they won’t know the guidelines they have to work within until the labor dispute is settled.
New owners José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones got an exciting introduction to owning a Major League Baseball team. Hopefully, that will just whet their appetite for more.
There is potential and excitement for this Padres organization, once the labor situation is decided.
They are so close to the final step that will take them all the way.
