Major League Baseball has reached the ceremonial halfway point of the 2026 season with the San Diego Padres firmly entrenched as the worst offensive team in baseball with a .500 record.
The record portrays them as a mediocre team, losing and winning the same number of games. The stats tell a story of a team that started strong, with lots of late-game heroics, and then struggled to score runs and pitch effectively since.
With a series win over the Toronto Blue Jays before the All-Star break, the Friars
salvaged that record after slipping below .500 with a dismal June and beginning of July. Padres fans don’t need a rehash of everything the team has dealt with over the past two months. Poor performance is the leading culprit, but injuries have also significantly contributed to a team underperforming its expectations.
Offensive doldrums
Of the current active roster, only Fernando Tatis Jr. and Luis Campusano are close to what should be expected from them, with Campusano on the injured list for the better part of two months.
Infielder Ty France is performing very close to his career norms and is on track to finish on par with his best season in 2022. He has been a welcome bright spot for the Friars.
Third baseman Manny Machado is having his worst season as a hitter but is trending toward matching his season norms for both home runs and RBI. Remarkably, he just achieved a batting average over .200 while hitting 19 homers with 55 RBI.
Worse than expected pitching
The pitching is a whole other level of miserable for the Padres. After having the best bullpen in baseball in 2025, the Padres have leaned heavily on their ‘pen with the starting rotation struggling to get into the fifth inning in many of their starts. The bullpen ERA is 3.68, fifth in baseball. That is still very good considering what has been asked of them.
The starting rotation, which is mostly pieced together by reclamation projects acquired by general manager A.J. Preller during the offseason, has a 4.78 ERA and sits at No. 27 out of 30 teams. Inconsistency has been the downfall of this group. Injuries have also taken a big toll, losing Nick Pivetta early on.
While they have all had encouraging and effective starts, Michael King is the only one with an ERA below 4.71. His 3.41 makes him the ace of the staff while averaging 5.7 innings per start.
Sprinting to the finish
A team must have more than 80 wins to get to any level of the playoffs, 83 wins has been the lowest in recent years. The Padres sit at 48-48 with 66 games left in the season. Assuming 83-87 wins will get to the wild card spot, the Padres must win a minimum of 35 of their next 66 games to hope to get there. Eight games over .500 would be a safer bet and that would be 40 wins out of 66 games .
The current starting rotation does not appear likely to achieve that level of success. With the trade deadline on Aug. 3, the next two-and-a-half weeks will determine the fate of the 2026 season.
Mason Miller gets a batter
Padres closer Mason Miller got a one-batter appearance in the All-Star Game on Tuesday in Philadelphia. National League manager Dave Roberts brought him in at the top of the ninth inning to face AL hitter Munetaka Murakami and Miller struck him out on four pitches. Roberts then removed him and gave the ball to Phillies closer Jhoan Duran for the final two outs.
Injury updates and roster moves
LHP Wandy Peralta was placed on the bereavement list on July 15. He will be replaced on the roster by RHP Jhony Brito, recalled from Triple-A.
RHP Matt Waldron was recalled after Brito made his one appearance on July 7. He covered three innings with no earned runs and two hits after relieving Walker Buehler’s two-inning start against the Blue Jays.
David Morgan was placed on the injured list on June 29 with left knee inflammation. He was sent for a rehab assignment on July 15 (ACL Padres).
RHP Randy Vásquez was placed on the injured list on July 3 with a right ankle contusion after being hit by a batted ball during his start. He was assigned to the ACL team for a rehab stint on July 14.
Outfielder Samad Taylor was placed on the injured list on July 8 with a right oblique strain. There have been no updates on his status. Infielder Luis Rengifo was called up from El Paso to take his roster spot.
Catcher Freddy Fermin is with the El Paso Chihuahuas on a rehab assignment after being placed on the injured list on July 3 with a head contusion.
RHP Nick Pivetta has been throwing bullpens in his effort to return from the right flexor tendon strain that put him on the injured list on April 14. On Aug. 22, Pivetta will hit the 130-day deadline for the injury clause on his contract. The Padres could void the player option of his deal if he is not back with the team by that date.
RHP Joe Musgrove is also advancing in his throwing program and has at least two bullpen sessions under his belt. The latest update, per Kevin Acee’s daily newsletter on July 12, reports that both Musgrove and Pivetta could be throwing to hitters by next week. He reports Musgrove is pain-free with his throwing and hopes to accelerate his throwing progression.
There has been no update on RHP Jason Adam, who was placed on the injured list with a right shoulder strain on July 2.
RHP Jeremiah Estrada is close to a rehab assignment per Kevin Acee’s newsletter. He could be throwing with a minor league team before the end of July. He has been on the injured list since June 5 with right knee inflammation.
RHP Lucas Giolito, placed on the injured list on June 23 with right elbow inflammation, has been working with the training staff to build his strength and stamina while progressing on a throwing program. It was recently reported (Kevin Acee, July 13 newsletter) that he has built up strength and his fastball now sits at 94 mph. He should begin a rehab assignment by the end of July.
