San Diego Padres fans had the wool pulled over their eyes last night by the Detroit Tigers as the Friars lost their thin 2-1 lead late into the night.
The Friar Faithful believed they were close to the first win of the season and tasted victory before an eighth-inning Tigers rally snatched it away.
Michael King looked vintage, pitching five scoreless innings of one-hit ball (in large part to Jackson Merrill’s miraculous home run robbery).
Beyond that, the Padres got to Detroit starter Framber Valdez
just enough to give a cushion typically good enough for the bullpen to keep. But Jeremiah Estrada’s eighth-inning meltdown forfeited San Diego’s chances.
Today, the Padres hope to hold off the Tigers from sweeping them this Opening Week. The Friars need to get their first win out of the way. Until they do, it’ll be hard to feel good about any minor success the club has without the wins to back it up.
Taking the mound
Jack Flaherty (DET) v. Randy Vásquez (SD)
With Flaherty hoping to rebound from a rough 2025 before he goes into free agency at the end of this year, the onus will be on him against Vásquez.
After having a career-year in ‘25, Vásquez is looking to build on his resumé for San Diego. He will get a chance to do that today after having a rough outing the last time he faced Detroit (six runs over two-plus innings).
San Diego got a fantastic start from King yesterday but somehow managed to lose the game late. The Padres won’t need an incredible start from Vásquez given the Friars’ previous success against Flaherty.
Batter up!
With the Padres’ first game against a right-handed pitcher, the starters will look more like last year’s.
The lineup will likely look similar to yesterday’s, with only a few minor tweaks:
- Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
- Xander Bogaerts, SS
- Jackson Merrill, CF
- Manny Machado, 3B
- Ramón Laureano, LF
- Nick Castellanos, DH
- Gavin Sheets, 1B
- Freddy Fermin, C
- Jake Cronenworth, 2B
Even though Tatis has been the leadoff hitter for the first two games, it’s possible manager Craig Stammen returns to his lineup from earlier this spring, with Bogaerts in the leadoff spot and Tatis batting cleanup. Though that’s unlikely to be the case against right-handed pitchers even though Bogaerts has been wrecking Tigers pitching thus far.
The assumption would be that Castellanos will be benched in favor of ‘25 breakout Gavin Sheets. But Castellanos owns a career .375 batting average and a 1.069 OPS against Flaherty (16 at-bats) so he’ll likely slide to DH over Miguel Andujar, with Sheets starting at the cold corner.
Relief corps
With Adrian Morejon going two full innings yesterday, it’s safe to say he’s out for tonight’s finale against the Tigers. Estrada is in a similar position after blowing the game wide open for Detroit with back-to-back-to-back walks to load the bases.
David Morgan has pitched two innings in as many games, so he’ll probably be kept in the bullpen. Alongside him is Wandy Peralta who has gone one and a third in the same time frame.
With that in mind, Kyle Hart, Ron Marinaccio, and Bradgley Rodriguez are all available to pitch. Closer Mason Miller has yet to be used after the Padres have failed to attain a lead in the ninth. Hopefully tonight will mark his 2026 debut in San Diego.
