What a week at Petco Park.
The San Diego Padres played a thrilling three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers that lived up to expectations. The Athletics came to town and battled in a very competitive weekend set.
A tale of a broken offense
The first six games of the homestand have shown the Padres’ inability to capitalize on numerous scoring opportunities. The majority of their runs came on home runs. If the ball was not traveling out of the park, the lineup had trouble manufacturing runs.
Currently, the Friars rank
30th (last) in team batting average at .219. 29th with a .662 OPS, and 25th with a 92 wRC+. Despite all the struggles at the plate, the team has a respectable 31-21 record.
It has been a frustrating week watching the lineup fail to come through, especially with runners in scoring position. Suddenly, their confidence had slipped away from situations they had capitalized on all season.
Is clutch hitting a thing of the past?
It is hard to imagine, but the Padres’ bats have been very productive with runners in scoring position. Oh, what a stark contrast this week. On Monday, the Friars posted a .258 team batting average with runners in scoring position,
However, the offensive struggles saw the lineup go 2-13 and three inning-ending double plays with RISP in the first two series of the current homestand. Poor execution dropped the team’s batting average to .223 with RISP.
The batters seem to lack the focus needed to put runs on the scoreboard. Collectively, they’re swinging at bad pitches that end potential scoring threats.
Empty at-bats with the bases empty
The lackluster offense has trouble putting runners on the basepaths. The team bats a paltry .204 with a .271 OBP when the bases are empty, ranking second-to-last in the majors. The lifeless, listless at-bats have convinced the Friar Faithful that the lineup slept through the first quarter of the season.
It is one of the more extreme batting splits you will ever see. Clutch situational hitting with RISP has driven in nearly three-quarters of the Padres’ total runs this season.
Now, solo home runs have become the main source of the offense. But to become a playoff contender, the entire lineup will need to contribute.
Sheets and Andujar: co-early season MVPs
Thankfully, Gavin Sheets and Miguel Andujar are keeping the offense afloat with big hits over the first six weeks of the 2026 campaign. Their timely hitting late in games has hidden the blemishes with the lineup.
Sheets has posted a 137 OPS+, performing 40% better than the league average. By any measure, no one has been more productive at the plate for the Padres this season.
If you’re still not convinced, look at his production on a road weekend series against the Seattle Mariners. Sheets went 6-for-8 with three HRs, five RBI, and four runs scored.
Not to be outdone by his teammates, Andujar is on a hitting spree, hitting safely in four of the six games on the current homestand. He is working toward having his highest RBI total since his rookie season with the New York Yankees in 2018.
Andujar has been an amazing free agent signing, as every major league team could have signed him last offseason. He is playing a much looser brand of baseball, as the Friars have moved Andujar to the No. 2 spot in the batting order. The front office hopes to ride his momentum all the way to clinching a postseason berth.
How to solve the offensive drought
Everyone has a solution to the Padres’ scoring woes. The consensus is to string together several good at-bats that produce some runs. Others cry out that a couple of weeks of good hitting will diminish early-season struggles.
Let’s rule out replacing the hitting coach — Steven Souza Jr. is the fifth person to hold the position since 2020. Juggling the lineup order has brought moderate improvement, but the leadoff hitter for each inning is batting .167.
The Friars’ lineup resembles a weekend softball team. As a home-run-reliant roster, they are highly susceptible to extended scoring droughts whenever the ball stays inside the park. Furthermore, the lineup lacks the speed required to manufacture runs when the bats go silent.
The lineup has more than enough talent to turn this around and resemble their former selves. They need to put good swings on hittable pitches and see what occurs. Just keep their hitting approach simple.
How long before the front office looks to upgrade the lineup? It may not be about identifying which position is more of a need, but rather about improving the offense in general.
