Though the San Diego Padres were able to squeak out a 1-0 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks, their offensive performance continued to provide reason for concern.
Dropped down to the number five spot in the order, Jackson Merrill turned in another 0-for-3 performance and has shown no signs of breaking out of his 5-for-46 slump. Merrill isn’t the only underperforming Padres star: After a blazing start, Fernando Tatís Jr. has slashed just .212/.329/.326 over his last 49 games. Though Manny Machado has continued to play at an All-Star level, the struggles of Tatís Jr. and Merrill have dragged down the entire lineup, and with players like Elías Díaz, Trenton Brooks, and Jose Iglesias regularly rounding out the order, the Padres don’t have many options to pick up the slack.
Given that the Padres rank 23rd in Major League Baseball in runs scored, ahead of seven teams sitting below the .500 mark, it is somewhat remarkable that they currently sit just one game back of the third National League wild card spot. The credit can be given to a pitching staff that has posted the seventh-best ERA in MLB, as new addition Nick Pivetta has stabilized the rotation and the bullpen has continued to be one of the best and deepest units in the league.
On the strength of their pitching staff alone, the Padres should be able to stay in the playoff race throughout the summer, but simply being competitive should not be good enough for a club that was just a game away from knocking off the eventual champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series. The Padres need more offense, and the Athletic’s Tim Britton, Aaron Gleeman and Chad Jennings believe they can find a big bat within their own division, listing them as a potential fit for Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Josh Naylor.
“Traded last winter to Arizona after making his first All-Star team, Naylor is in the midst of perhaps his best season,” they wrote. “Only a dozen qualified hitters strike out less often than Naylor, and among them only Mookie Betts and his old teammate Jose Ramirez hit with this kind of power.”
Though Naylor has been everything the Diamondbacks could have hoped for, the club is facing an uphill battle in their playoff push. They currently sit 5.5 games back of the third Wild Card with three teams in between them and the San Francisco Giants. With matchups with the first-place Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros looming, the Diamondbacks may find the odds insurmountable come July 31, making pending free agents Eugenio Suarez and Naylor prime trade candidates.
Not only would Naylor’s unique blend of power and bat-to-ball skills be an ideal fit for a Padres club that ranks 27th in MLB in home runs, but he would also help their defensive alignment. Though Naylor will never win a Gold Glove at the cold corner, he is a far superior defensive first baseman to Luis Arráez and would allow the former batting champ to move to DH full-time.
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