There are only two days left before the San Diego Padres return to Petco Park to face the Detroit Tigers on Opening Day. The club is busy finalizing their 26-man roster to start the regular season. While some decisions were extremely clear-cut, others were not.
Here are some of the most pressing issues and how the Padres worked through them.
First Base
Ty France was drafted in the 34th Round of the 2015 Draft by the Padres. He made his professional debut in 2018 and made the Opening Day roster for the team in 2020 before getting traded that same year. Six years later, he’s back with his original club.
France played 19 games this spring training, slashing .309/.352/.510 in 54 plate appearances.
His only real competition was Jose Miranda, who put up eerily similar numbers to him in the Cactus League. Miranda only realistically edged France out in RBI and OPS. In a perfect world, both players would be exceptional on the team together. However, the Padres chose to prioritize France’s multi-tool capability.
France is most valuable in the infield. In 2025, he had a +10 OAA as a first baseman, a major bump from Luis Arraez last year, who had -9. This is the likely outcome the Padres are looking for, someone they can rely on to field exceptionally and get on base regularly.
Gavin Sheets and Nick Castellanos are also expected to get some hang time at first base and in the outfield as well.
Starting Rotation
Before spring training began, it appeared like only one position in the Padres’ starting rotation needed occupying. However, with Joe Musgrove starting the season on the injured list, that left two spots up for grabs. Those positions went to Walker Buehler and German Marquez.
Good starting pitching is hard to find and even harder to maintain. While the competition was stiff, as spring training went on, it became pretty clear who the favorites were.
Admittedly, Buehler and Marquez were likely chosen out of necessity rather than elite display. Be that as it may, they’re still good back-end rotation pieces.
Buehler made four starts for his former rival club, posting a 6.60 ERA and striking out 16 in 15 innings. The biggest green flag is that his elbow seems to have fully recovered from Tommy John surgery, which he underwent in 2022. He reported that his elbow “just stopped hurting” only now, and he seems ready to get to work in his old form.
Marquez was likely initially valued due to his strangely strong splits at Petco Park. Against the Padres, he had a 6–4 record with a 4.88 ERA over 66 1/3 innings. That said, his overall numbers were not as good. It’s not like Marquez hasn’t clearly demonstrated that he can be an excellent pitcher. It’s more like he hasn’t proved it yet.
For the Padres, he pitched five games in the Cactus League, acquiring a 7.16 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. He certainly struggled; however, he went out strong in his final outing against the Seattle Mariners. In 4 2/3 innings, he struck out eight and gave up earned one run. If he can carry that sort of momentum into the regular season, the Padres may have secured the best bang for your buck starting rotation the majors has to offer.
Of course, like all parts of the team, this rotation will likely change. With Musgrove slowly but surely getting himself back into shape and Griffin Canning returning from injury, the rotation could look very different come May.
Utility Men
Nick Castellanos, Miguel Andujar and Gavin Sheets are going to be expected to be utility men this season. Filling multiple positions around the field. These guys are tried and true veterans of the game. They’ve already proven themselves capable of adapting to an ever-shifting game.
However, utility man Sung Mun Song deserves his flowers too. The Padres’ big international signing this year came from Song, a player from the Korean Baseball Organization. While he will begin the season on the injured list as he continues to nurse an oblique strain, his time in the Cactus League was certainly fun to watch.
In his eight games, he got four hits, walked four times and even went yard. Adjusting to Major League Baseball from the KBO has always proven difficult for Korean players, but Song seems to be easing into things relatively cleanly. He’ll likely be in the big leagues sooner rather than later.
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The regular season is mere days away, and with that, we will finally see how the Padres’ offseason experiments will pay off. Nick Pivetta will start game one of the Padres Opening Series against the Tigers. This is the first time in franchise history that the team has ever faced them on Opening Day.
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