The San Diego Padres are off to their best start at 10-3, which is the last time they won the National League Pennant.
The team out of San Diego currently sits atop the National League West, when most seam heads thought the Los Angeles Dodgers would be in first place. They have jumped Los Angeles, who is 1-4 since their own 8-0 start to the season. The Padres won a franchise-record seven straight games to start in 2025.
“Credit goes to the players,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said after Monday’s win (via MLB.com). “They were really dedicated to winning their off-seasons. We did that, came to spring training, got a lot of quality work in during spring training. Now the season starts and the group’s ready.”
After beating the Athletics on April 7th, the Padres improved to 9-2 which tied the best start in the franchise’s history. The friars also started 9-2 in 1984 and 1998.
With the historic start, the West Coast franchise has improved its chances to make the playoffs significantly. On Opening Day, the Padres had a 32.9 percent chance to make the postseason, and with the historic start, it skyrocketed to 51.3 percent, according to FanGraphs. This is an incredible start for a team that had question marks from many about how they were going to handle losing key players from last year’s squad.
San Diego Padres Off to Best Start Since Winning the NL Pennant
Star Players Have Performed at All-Star Level
The best players on the team have not skipped a beat so far this season. It’s an obvious need, but the early performances of Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Merrill, and Manny Machado have been nothing short of superb. Due to the stellar play, Merrill was recently rewarded with a new contract of nine years, $135 million. Merrill was off to a blazing start, hitting safely in his first eight games batting .378 (14 for 37) with three home runs and 10 RBIs. However, the all-star center fielder was placed on the 10-day IL with a right hamstring strain for the first-place NL West franchise.
Tatis’ numbers have been among some of the best in the MLB, he’s second among WAR in the National League, only behind Kyle Tucker. He also has the third-best odds to win National League MVP. However, just like his teammate Merrill, the star right fielder suffered a left shoulder injury in the second inning after he swung and missed on a pitch against the Athletics on April 8th. He stayed in the game and then aggravated his injury while sliding into third base. He then exited the game at the top of the fifth inning, the Padres would go on to lose 10-4. Currently, Tatis is day-to-day and is expected to return to the lineup immediately.
As for Machado, the Padres third baseman has a .333 average, 134 OPS+, and a 0.5 War. The six-time all-star is still one of the best to do it at the hot corner, only committing one error so far on the season. Expect the veteran Machado to pick up the slack for the missing production of Merrill and Tatis.
Pitching Has Been Outstanding Thus Far
The Padres have allowed 2.91 runs per game so far, trailing only behind the New York Mets who have a 2.20 mark. San Diego has given up more than four runs only twice this season. The bullpen has been the biggest strength on the mound. The Padres have asked multiple pitchers in late innings to deliver including Jason Adam, Jeremiah Estrada, Adrien Morejon, and hard-throwing closer Robert Suarez, who already has six saves on the bump.
The mix of solid starting pitching combined a great bullpen has helped pave the way for the hot start to the season. San Diego currently ranks fourth in ERA, fifth in ERA+, and third in Opposing SLG, and seventh in Opposing OBP. Furthermore, the bullpen has struck out 30 batters and only allowed 17 runners to reach base safely. As the offense puts up enough runs to give them a lead, the bullpen takes care of the rest.
To continue the hot start, other players will have to make up for the loss of Merrill. San Diego will lean on Xander Bogaerts and Luis Arraez to contribute, who have struggled to start the season. On a positive note, Arraez only has one strikeout so far, expect him to get hits and reach base safely to allow the rest of the lineup to drive him in.
Main Image: Â Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
