With the Game 3 elimination from the Wild Card round of the playoffs, the San Diego Padres exited the 2025 season earlier than they wanted. Despite finishing the regular schedule going 5-1 and sweeping the Arizona Diamondbacks at home, the Padres bats went silent again and the stellar pitching went to waste.
Mourning the end of a promising season should not come before celebrating the most dominant bullpen the organization has ever put together. From the beginning of the year, the Padres bullpen led
all of baseball with their wipeout stuff and their consistency.
Offensive woes
What we can, and do, mourn is the inconsistent and slump-prone offense that could never sustain any kind of momentum during the season or the postseason. No one had a good offensive year and everyone had prolonged episodes of not hitting. Manny Machado was closest to achieving his normal output, but fell short and his numbers were the lowest he’s had for a full season as a Padre. He had a big hit in Game 2 of the series versus the Cubs, hitting a home run and driving in the last two runs of the game. He otherwise went 0-for-9 the rest of the series.
Fernando Tatis Jr., who started the spring with a proclamation of his super-talent, played in the most games he has ever played in as a professional. He hit 25 home runs and drove in 71 runs, but had sustained stretches of looking like he had no idea what to do with the bat. He went 1-for-12 with a walk in the postseason and was clueless at the plate in the third game, swinging wildly at pitches outside the zone for two of his three strikeouts.
Luis Arraez, who had the worst offensive season of his career, was 2-for-7 in the series. When the three top hitters are that ineffective it is very hard to win games. The three went 0-for-11 in the first game and 0-for-11 in the third game of the series.
The Padres put three left-handed hitters in the 6-8 spots in the lineup and Cubs manager, Craig Counsell, managed to force them to face left-handed pitchers for most of their at-bats. Ryan O’Hearn, Jake Cronenworth and Gavin Sheets went 3-for-26 for the series.
As a team, the Padres hit .189 against the Cubs with a .548 OPS. Those are not numbers that will win anyone many games. For the season, the Padres offense finished 28th in baseball with a .252 average and .711 OPS. For the postseason, the Padres, Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Guardians all hit below .200. No coincidence they were all eliminated from their respective series.
Pitching greatness
The Padres starters did not have too much asked of them. Nick Pivetta went five innings and allowed three hits and two runs with nine strikeouts in Game 1, but got minimal run support. Dylan Cease started Game 2 and was removed after 3.2 innings with three hits and no runs. A two-out double was enough to prompt going to the bullpen for manager Mike Shildt. Yu Darvish had the worst start of his career in Game 3, only throwing 21 pitches in one-plus inning and allowing four hits and two runs.
The bullpen, on the other hand, was amazing. Over the three games they covered 15.1 innings and allowed two runs. Adrian Morejon threw a combined 4.1 innings for the series allowing two hits and no runs. Mason Miller wowed baseball with his performance in Game 2. Topping out at 104.5 mph with his fastball, Miller recorded the fastest pitch ever thrown in the postseason. Miller struck out seven of the eight hitters he faced in that game. He led the postseason with eight strikeouts by a reliever in his 2.2 innings pitched.
The Padres bullpen posted a 1.17 ERA over their 15.1 innings with 20 strikeouts and two walks. In the two hits allowed, one was a home run (Robert Suarez). Suarez has an opt-out this offseason, but otherwise we get all these guys back next year and the injured Jason Adam will be back as well. If the Padres can address what is wrong with their offense, the pitchers will hopefully get more support in 2026.
