Yes It's Early, But the Padres Offense Has Been a Problem Through Four Games
The Padres dropped a 3-2 decision to the San Francisco Giants on Monday night and fell to 1-3 on the season, their worst four-game start since 2018. Jackson Merrill hit a two-run shot in the bottom of the ninth to make it interesting, but that is about the most generous way you can frame this one.
Buehler Did His Job
Walker Buehler made his Padres debut and was fine. Stammen said after the game he "started off pretty good, looked pretty sharp" before giving up the home run to Harrison Bader on a hanging curveball in the third. He called it "overall solid, not spectacular." That is a fair assessment. Four innings, three earned runs, 72 pitches. He is a reclamation project on a minor league deal who earned his way onto the roster, and three earned runs over four innings is all you can ask from him right now. Buehler said postgame, "I think when you're in good counts, you get good luck, and when you're in bad counts, you don't. That's 100% within my control." He knows what he needs to fix.
The bullpen was spotless behind him. Wandy Peralta, David Morgan, and Ron Marinaccio combined for five innings, one hit, and zero runs. Stammen said, "Doesn't matter who we throw in there putting up zeros right now. I think we've only given up two runs total on the season out of the pen, and those guys are all throwing the ball really well."
The pitching is not the issue. The offense is.
Three Hits. Three.
Landen Roupp was dominant, tossing six innings of two-hit baseball while striking out seven. Stammen credited him postgame, saying he "had a good sinker going 95 miles an hour with a good sweeper" and a cutter the Padres were not fully expecting. He also added, "He's got stuff that matches up well against some of our hitters, so we knew it was going to be a tough day. We were hoping we'd get a few more mistakes, and he just kind of limited the mistakes, limited the damage."
Fine. Roupp was good. But the Padres lineup went up there and looked completely overmatched through eight innings. Three hits as a team. A .103 batting average on the night. An OBP of .188. The at bats were passive and ugly and there was no sense of urgency until it was already too late.
Manny Machado went 0-for-4. Nick Castellanos went 0-for-3. Jake Cronenworth was the only one who even worked a walk before the ninth. The Padres left Bogaerts and Campusano on base in scoring position with two outs in what amounted to one of the few chances they had to do something meaningful before Merrill's homer.
When asked about the offense Stammen said, "I feel like we're hitting the ball on the screws at times and we're not getting rewarded for it. We just need some of those hard-hit balls to kind of fall in." He also said "today just wasn't our day." That is a very gentle response to a lineup that went 3-for-29 against a pitcher who had never beaten them before. Stammen is not wrong that balls find gloves sometimes, but four games in and this offense has not done enough to earn that kind of benefit of the doubt.
Tatis Looks Disengaged
Fernando Tatis went 1-for-4 with a walk which on the surface looks acceptable, but the plate appearances were not good. He was passive all night and the moment that stood out most was in the ninth inning when a borderline pitch went against him and he just watched it happen. No reaction. No challenge. Nothing. It looked like a guy going through the motions and that is a concerning thing to say about your best player four games into the season. Tatis is one of the most electric players in baseball when he is locked in. Right now he does not look locked in and the body language is not convincing anyone otherwise.
Campusano Needs to Start Hitting
Luis Campusano went 0-for-2 and has now been hitless dating back to the 2024 season. That cannot continue. Stammen has said publicly that Campusano is the secondary catcher and that the team's stance has not changed, but at some point the organization has to start asking questions. Freddy Fermin is on the roster for a reason.
The One Bright Spot
Merrill's ninth inning homer was the only moment all night where this lineup looked like itself. Stammen noted that Merrill "had kind of been scuffling a little bit" before that at bat, but said it was good to see him "commit to a plan against a certain pitcher and then execute it and put one in the seats." That is exactly the kind of intentional at bat this lineup needs more of from more people than just Merrill.
The Bigger Picture
1-3 is not a crisis. It is four games. But the pattern forming here is worth watching. The pitching staff is carrying this team right now while the lineup shows up sporadically. Merrill is the only one playing with consistent edge. One guy should not have to drag the offense into the ninth inning every night.
German Marquez makes his Padres debut tonight against Logan Webb. The rotation is going to need to keep pitching well because there is no guarantee the bats are going to show up and bail anyone out.