Gavin Sheets continues to hit up in the order; Fernando Tatis Jr. considers weekly award small part of big picture
Gavin Sheets is congratulated in the Padres dugout after hitting a home run during the fifth inning of Monday’s game against the Tigers. The Padres don’t need Randy Vásquez to be among the league leaders in ERA or strikeouts or batting average allowed.
) in my game story about Vásquez’s immense struggles and how Logan Gillaspie almost stopped the bleeding in time and how the Padres mounted a comeback but didn’t make enough out of their opportunities.) about Arraez going on the seven-day concussion injured list as a result of Sunday night’s collision and what the Padres are doing to try to navigate his absence, along with those of Jackson Merrill and Jake Cronenworth . Last night’s loss was not directly attributable to the Padres not having a number of key players, though it certainly did not help to be without three of their core offensive contributors. Gavin Sheets – all 6-foot-3, 235 pounds of him – did his best impression of the diminutive Arraez .“I thought it looked pretty good,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “Gavin is taking really good at-bats. … Lefties, righties, doesn’t really matter. He’s just taking good at-bats.” Sheets, who bats from the left side and has so far only started against right-handers, is batting .344 with three home runs, four doubles and five walks. He began the season hitting seventh but had hit either fourth or fifth since Merrill went down with a hamstring strain.“I mean, you’re in between two superstars,” he said of being sandwiched by Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado. “It’s a great place to be, a great spot in the lineup to hit. It’s a big role. You’ve got to protect Tati a little bit and get it going for Manny. It’s a fun spot to hit in the lineup.” Not that he looked any different. Sheets and Jose Iglesias are seeing the second-most pitches per plate appearance on the team behind Cronenworth . Sheets is also batting .250 with two strikes, sixth best on a team that leads the major leagues in two-strike batting average . And he is chasing pitches outside the zone at a 29% rate that is down four percentage points from last season. “Yeah, similar approach,” he said of batting second. “Obviously, you know the is gonna attack you a little bit more with Manny right behind you. You’ve got to keep the same approach so you don’t change who you are as a hitter. And no matter what spot in the lineup, whether it’s seventh, second, fourth, fifth, you know, it’s the same mindset, same approach.”Arraez is not expected to miss more than the next five games the Padres play during his required seven-day absence. The Padres face right-handers the next two days here. And the Rays, who will be in San Diego for three games this weekend, do not have a lefty starter.Tatis was named the National League Player of the Week yesterday afternoon for the four home runs, seven RBIs, five walks, nine runs scored and .958 OPS he put up over six games last week.“Those are the steps that you need to take — a day at a time, a week at a time — to achieve big things,” Tatis said. “So it is definitely a blessing But it’s one step of what needs to be accomplished.”“A lot of work behind it,” Tatis said Sunday night of his hot start. “Just staying consistent. This game is really tough. People don’t really know how hard injuries can take you down and can change a player. So, just happy where I’m at, man, and I’m just gonna keep working harder to get even better.”) in the spring about how Tatis felt healthy for the first time in four years and how he and others were predicting a big 2025. “All the respect to all the big-league talent that is out there,” Tatis said during the spring. “I definitely acknowledge them. But when I’m 100% and my head is in the right spot, I feel like I’m second to no one in the baseball field. But definitely knowing what the work takes to be there. And especially the competition that is out there. And definitely embracing , because players are so good right now in this time of the baseball era, it only makes you want to be better and get better. So I’m definitely in that role and looking forward to being the best version of myself out there.”Tatis singled and scored last night in the first inning and drove in a run with a groundout in the second inning. The single extended his on-base streak to 22 games, tied with a stretch last season for the longest of his career. He leads the NL with eight home runs and is second with a .349 average and second with a 1.087 OPS . Tatis is the only player in the major leagues with at least eight homers and at least seven stolen bases.Machado spoke in the spring about wanting to walk more. Or at least to give himself a chance to do so. “Obviously, my walk rate went down last year,” he said in early March. “I think I was swinging a little bit more.” En route to a 7% walk rate that was his lowest since 2015, he took pitches at a lower rate than any of his previous 12 big-league seasons and swung at the first pitch of a plate appearance more often than all but two previous seasons. Part of that, he said, was that he sometimes wanted to try to get a hit early to cut down on his number of swings he had to take because his surgically repaired elbow hurt when he swung. The elbow is healthy now. Machado has walked four times in 41 plate appearances . That includes his nine-pitch walk in the first inning last night, 12-pitch walk on Sunday and nine-pitch walk last Monday. Machado is averaging 4.05 pitches per plate appearance, higher than he has averaged over any full season.A higher rate of getting on base is part of the goal, though a residual effect of showing his willingness and ability to take walks could be getting more pitches to hit. Also, improved selectivity theoretically leads to better swings at the punishable pitches. Now, Machado is also chasing pitches outside the zone more often than usual, though many of those have come when he is protecting with two strikes. with a .435 OBP.Sheets made it around the bases in 18.75 seconds after his home run on opening day. It still stands as the fifth-fastest home run trot in the major leagues this season. His home-to-home time yesterday was 21.18 seconds, which was faster than the 22.71 second in which he rounded the bases following his second homer of the year. Sheets has three of the seven fastest home run trots by a Padres player this season. Merrill has two, Arraez and Cronenworth the others. Tatis has the slowest by a Padres player in 2025 — 29.41 seconds on April 11. The Padres wore their brown tops for the second straight game after winning in them Sunday. Vásquez is the only starting pitcher who prefers the brown tops, and most position players prefer the pinstriped sand road uniforms as well. Vásquez has chosen the brown tops in two of his three road starts and lost both. He won in the pinstripes. Want to bet which one he chooses next time?A lot of people who have traveled via commercial airline the past few days can attest to how particularly brutal it has been due to different weather issues. He boarded a flight four times in Houston on Sunday to try to get to Detroit for a good night’s rest, as starting pitchers often do when the team is traveling late. Each time, he and the rest of the passengers on board were ushered back off the plane. Eventually, Vásquez returned to Daikin Park and then took the team charter to Detroit, which landed around at 3:30 a.m. yesterday. All right, that’s it for me. It has been a long day, thanks to lightning that essentially shut down air traffic in Houston for three hours yesterday morning.Padres relieved, ‘cautiously optimistic’ following win, Luis Arraez’s return from hospitalEncinitas may hire private security officers to combat downtown problemsLuis Arraez heads to IL, leaving Padres’ offensive core halvedTrump administration replaces commissioner overseeing management of sewage crisisPadres Daily: Keeping on keeping on; Cease’s positives; Tatis from his seat; Darvish update
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Padres Daily: Shildtball; Gillaspie’s long day; Merrill’s strength; Tatis’ eye (and foot)Manny Machado makes one of his trademark plays; Luis Arraez continues to heat up; Jake Cronenworth gets hit again
Read more »
Padres Daily: Doing what they said; Tatis too; West is bestFernando Tatis Jr. shows how locked in he is; Michael King pitched better than his results indicate; Luis Arraez stays hot
Read more »
Tatis and Sheets homer to back sharp Pivetta as Padres beat Rockies 8-0Fernando Tatis Jr. and Gavin Sheets homered, Nick Pivetta struck out 10 and combined with two relievers on a three-hitter and the Padres beat the Rockies 8-0 for their fourth win in five games.
Read more »
Padres Daily: Making their own good fortune; Pivetta’s pace; Tatis’ shoulder; Darvish’s progressNick Pivetta throws strikes, and he throws another seven scoreless innings; Gavin Sheets has found a new consistency he can trust
Read more »
Padres Daily: Good win vs. bad team; Tatis does it all; Hart attacks; Manny and MerrillYu Darvish throws off mound for first time since being shut down with elbow soreness
Read more »
Padres Daily: Why they win; the comfort of home; Fernando Tatis Jr.’s humanityFernando Tatis Jr. hits two home runs, but that is not the biggest reason the Padres improved to 14-3 over all and 11-0 at home
Read more »