Sports Illustrated - USA (2020 - Spring)

77

WHILE THE PADRES didn’t make a monster

free-agent signing along the lines of first

baseman Eric Hosmer (in 2018) or third

baseman Manny Machado (’19), they still

had a strong offseason. To boost the team’s

.308 OBP, 13th in the NL, they traded for

Rays outfielder Tommy Pham (.373 career)

and Brewers outfielder Trent Grisham

(.376 in five minor league seasons).

They filled out the starting rotation with

righthander Zach Davies and added lefty

Drew Pomeranz to the bullpen.

These reinforcements probably won’t

keep the Dodgers up at night. What will

is the army of young prospects starting to

march into San Diego. Last year shortstop

Fernando Tatis Jr. played at a superstar

level, hitting .316 with 22 homers and

16 steals in just 84 games, while righty

Chris Paddack struck out 26.9% of batters

in 26 starts, with a 3.33 ERA.

More talent arrives in 2020. Lefthander

MacKenzie Gore, 21, was the best pitcher in

the minors last year, with a 1.69 ERA at two

levels and 12.03 strikeouts per nine innings.

Righthander Andrés Muñoz, 21, made a

late-season appearance in San Diego’s

bullpen and routinely throws 100 mph.

Luis Patiño, 20, a three-pitch starter

prospect, could arrive late in the year.

Rookie manager Jayce Tingler, 39,

will have some difficult lineup decisions,

siphoning at bats from veterans such as

Hosmer and outfielder Wil Myers for

lesser-known and far less expensive players

(outfielders Pham, Grisham, Franchy

Cordero and Josh Naylor) who are likely to

provide more runs and play better defense.

The Padres are so loaded that their upside

is 100 wins and a division title. Realistically,

though, a winning season would be a good

start for San Diego.

MOVING DOWN

ERIC

HOSMER

93 OPS+ | -0.3 WAR

He was

a below-

average hitter

at 29, with

the highest

strikeout rate

of his career

(24.4%). It’s

hard to justify

his $21 millon

salary in 2020.

The Padres have some of the most exciting young talent in baseball, with more on

the way, but they can’t catch L.A. and Arizona. They’re most likely a year away.

OVER

UNDER 83

| FERNAND O TATIS JR.| SS| A stupendous 2019 rookie

season, cut short by a lower back injury, foreshadowed Tatis’s

next decade, which mixed brilliance with misfortune. We

haven’t seen this kind of star-crossed talent since perhaps

Grady Sizemore, yet while Tatis has missed his fair share of

time with injuries, “better Rafael Furcal” isn’t exactly the worst

outcome. It’s easy to think what could have been, but with Tatis

just 31 years old, he still has plenty of his career to salvage.

2030 PREDICTION

MOVING UP

FRANCISCO

MEJÍA

98 OPS+ | 0.7 WAR

A half-dozen

Padres could

go here, but

let’s pick the

24-year-old

switch-hitting

catcher who

batted .305

in the second

half of

last season.

PADRES

NL WEST

JUSTIN FINE/ICON SPORTSWIRE/GETTY IMAGES

New reinforcements in San Diego

won’t keep the Dodgers up

at night, but the Padres’ army of

young prospects will.