MIAMI -- There’s no telling yet whether these Padres have another second-half surge in them. But through 100 games, they are, in some ways, ahead of schedule.
With their 2-1 victory at loanDepot park on Monday night, the Padres reached the century mark at 55-45. As the calendar has turned to July -- and to trade season -- there are reasons to believe they might be trending toward a finish like last year’s.
“This team,” said manager Mike Shildt, “is built for the second half.”
After starting strong, the 2025 Padres spent the next few months riding the ups and downs of the early part of their schedule -- not unlike the group that began last season 50-50. Of course, that group proceeded to reel off the best second half in the Majors and the second-highest win total in franchise history.
“We’ve been putting ourselves in position the whole year,” said center fielder Jackson Merrill. “Even in the struggles, when we didn’t win a series for a little bit, it was just playing baseball. That stuff’s going to happen. We’re ready to go and dominate the rest of the year.”
If another second-half run is coming in 2025 … maybe it started early this time around? San Diego ended the first half with a 6-4 homestand against a trio of contenders and has opened the second half with a 3-1 start to the road trip.
In the middle of that stretch, general manager A.J. Preller spoke with the media after last week’s Draft and assessed his team’s situation.
“The ability to be in contention is a good spot to be in,” Preller said. “Obviously we're about 100 games in. ... We want to be in a spot where we're comfortably in a playoff position.”
And the Padres are. With Monday’s victory, they retained their firm grasp on the final Wild Card spot in the National League, and they moved within three games of the Dodgers (58-42) in the NL West, pending the result of Los Angeles’ game against Minnesota. It’s the first time the Padres have been 10 games above .500 since June 10.
As Preller said, the goal is to be in the mix. But …
“We also understand we've got some areas we've got to improve on,” Preller said. “I think we'll continue to look at that. We'll have the ability over the next couple weeks to be involved in some trade discussions and conversations. But most of it's going to come from within. Most of it's going to come from our players that are here on the big league side.”
In that regard, the Padres’ rotation getting healthier is a big deal. Yu Darvish, who has made three starts since returning from right elbow inflammation is “effectively back” after a slow buildup. Michael King is throwing bullpen sessions and eyeing an August return.
Meanwhile, San Diego's rotation has survived with efforts like the one turned in Monday by Randy Vásquez. He pitched 4 1/3 innings of one-run ball, lowering his ERA to 3.73 this season. Vásquez did not record a strikeout, but he deftly worked around some traffic and turned the ball over to the lights-out back end of the bullpen.
“We’re excited to get a couple guys back,” Merrill said. “It’s really helpful for us. But the guys that have been in here all year, they’ve been doing their jobs. Randy, I’ve been saying it all year, has been one of our best pitchers, because he goes out there and competes every day.”
The Padres’ rotation situation is promising on several fronts. They’re getting healthier. Nick Pivetta has been excellent. Dylan Cease is trending favorably. And the back end has proven capable of holding its own.
That stability might allow Preller to allocate his resources toward an offense that has been solid but far too top-heavy. Entering play Monday, the bottom third of the Padres’ lineup had posted a .587 OPS. Only the White Sox were worse.
Preller’s priority will almost certainly be “adding a bat or two” as he noted in an MLB Network Radio interview earlier this month. But how aggressive will he be?
“It's hard to tell every year,” Preller said. “I think we have a good feel for our team and where some of the holes may be and some of the areas we can try to supplement. But it's hard to make moves.
“At the end of the day, we'll weigh out what we have in the system, we'll weigh out the cost of making certain moves. Every Deadline has been a little bit different. So it's kind of hard to predict.”