Credit: AP Photo

Another postseason has passed, and another offseason of disappointing playoff performances commences

After a 2024 elimination in which the San Diego Padres did not score a single run for 24 innings, the 2025 team managed to score only five runs in its three-game NL Wild Card series against the Chicago Cubs. 

Much of the noise surrounding the early playoff exit has centered on questioning Padres’ hitting coach Victor Rodriguez and his approach to the offense, particularly how it contributed to their lack of slugging during the season and in the playoffs.

How much of the team’s shortcomings is his to blame, or whether they fall on the shoulders of its many stars, remains to be seen. During the series, their 1 through 3 hitters of Fernando Tatis Jr., Luis Arraez, and Manny Machado went a combined 4-for-33 with only one extra base hit on Machado’s Game 2 home run. When you also account for Jake Cronenworth’s 0-for-11 performance, the Padres received very minuscule performances from half their lineup.

A lot of the criticism falls on the Padres’ contact and small-ball-oriented approach at the plate.

The offensive strategy, praised for its next man up mentality and the lauded “Power of Friendship” innings, regressed in 2025 to a hitting approach that focused solely on putting the ball in play without much hard contact or slugging. Part of what made the 2024 team’s approach so successful was the stretched-out lineup that had threats of extra base hits to add on to the singles and walks the team would all too gladly take to keep the line moving and score more runs in bunches.

Part of the difference was the loss of Jurickson Profar and a season filled with injuries for Jackson Merrill. However, it also reared its head at the top of the lineup with the miscasting of Tatis Jr. and Luis Arraez. Last year’s lineup had a threat with Arraez hitting at a much higher clip and Tatis Jr. behind him providing the possibility of extra base hits. The 2025 version of the lineup had Tatis Jr. in the leadoff spot, which, in theory, should have provided a chaotic threat with Fernando’s speed and Arraez’s ability to put the ball in play, but it never materialized.

What we did see was Tatis Jr. actually showing growth as a leadoff man by taking significantly more walks, which raised his OBP from .340 in 2024 to .368 in 2025. He struggled with his quality of contact, raising his groundball rate from 46.2% to 48.8% because he didn’t hit the ball out in front, where most power is produced. The numbers indicated a decrease in his slugging percentage from .492 in 2024 to .446 in 2025. This can likely be attributed to a conscious effort to be more of a lead-off type hitter for the team, but the regression stripped the Padres’ most talented star of his physical and metaphorical power. 

Alongside Fernando Tatis’s struggles was the regression of Arraez’s hitting profile. The left-handed hitters’ batting average, which is his biggest strength, dipped from .314 in 2024 to a still very good .292 in 2025. His slugging percentage was the same in both years, but his OBP dropped 21 points due to the very few walks. An often-criticized player for his lack of tools, arguments can be made for his bat being a strength to a team. Unfortunately, slotting him in the second spot in the lineup —the most valuable spot in modern baseball —created many problems for the Padres, including preventing Tatis Jr. from stealing more bases in 2025.

 

Victor Rodriguez must refine his coaching.

The offense never reached its same heights in 2025 as it had the year before. The roster consisted of many of the same bats, and the additions of new and improved bats after the 2025 trade deadline in Ramon Laureano and Ryan O’Hearn should have made them better.

Lineup optimization is a big part of the equation, but so is the offensive approach to which the players have bought in very aggressively. Hitting coach Victor Rodriguez’s philosophy clearly can be successful, but it does require an adjustment to get all of the potential out of this very talented lineup. Gavin Sheets, the team’s surprise contributor this season, showed improvements due to his work with Rodriguez. But Sheets benefited from being a power bat, which refined his approach to allow more contact and round out his game. Many of the Padres’ players who do have power in their bats have let it go to the wayside with this contact-first approach. 

Much of the fan base has called for Rodriguez’s job to make way for a new voice. While change is needed from manager Mike Shildt and his hitting coach, the Padres have maintained consistency and a central voice that has worked in their favor in creating a winning culture within the organization. A way to honor that is to be open to adjusting the approach. Rodriguez has found success in the past as assistant hitting coach for the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Guardians; however, a couple of interesting names that could prove to be massive additions to the coaching staff (either in conjunction with Rodriguez or as a replacement) are Fernando Tatis Sr. and legendary right-handed hitter Manny Ramirez.

 

Credit: Sports Illustrated

Fernando Tatis Sr. has successful experience with the team’s best player.

Fernando Tatis Sr. is the current manager of Estrellas Orientales in LIDOM (Dominican Winter League).

He has also been chosen to be the hitting coach for the Dominican team in next year’s World Baseball Classic. He orchestrated Las Estrellas’ first championship in 41 years, alongside his son and many current and former Padres players and prospects. A team that historically has been at the bottom of the league is a perennial contender under his stewardship.

Tatis Sr. has proven himself as an offensive mind, not only in his work with his son but more impressively with former Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar.

Speculation on banned substances aside, Profar showed mechanical changes that led to his breakout in 2024, and many of those same qualities remained in the half-season he played with the Atlanta Braves in 2025. An emphasis was put on Profar being ready earlier at the plate to make more contact out front to generate more power. Profar credited Tatis Sr. for the change in approach as his trainer and his manager in the Dominican Republic.

This kind of emphasis was also what created the turnaround in Tatis Jr.’s season this year as he embraced more power in September. Those kinds of meetings between father and son have benefitted Tatis Jr. throughout his career and is the type of approach that could unlock more power from the Padres in 2026 and beyond. But can he work his magic on the whole Padres’ roster? 

 

A new philosophy is needed, and Manny Ramirez would be instant credibility.

The less experienced but arguably more fascinating option the Padres could explore is Manny Ramirez.

Ramirez, at 53 years old, still trains with hitting coaches and has always maintained his passion for baseball, playing in several different countries. These days, in addition to learning from trainers, he also works to help his own sons, Manny Ramirez Jr. and Lucas Ramirez. The latter was drafted by the Angels in 2024. Ramirez does have experience. In his last stint, he was in minor league baseball as a player-coach for the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate in 2014. The following two seasons, he was utilized as a hitting consultant for the Cubs.

Manny Ramirez was praised by the likes of Theo Epstein, Javy Baez, and several other Cubs players during their championship run from 2014 to 2016. He played more of a mentorship role for players, which is where Ramirez found success, and he can adopt a more hands-on approach with Victor Rodriguez running the show. Manny Ramirez is a legendary presence to Latino and, more specifically, Dominican ball players, of which the Padres have quite a few.

 In a video for Gradum Gswing on YouTube, Manny speaks about his approach with David Ortiz and Gradum founder Lorenzo Garmendia. He shows how smart and calculated he was as a hitter. Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz (Talk Hitting) with Lorenzo. He emphasizes that bison look for his pitch and have a strategy for every at-bat. Superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. echoed this approach in an interview with “Abriendo El Podcast,” where he shared that he would love to speak to Manny Ramirez specifically to learn this trait and improve his mental side of the game.

VLADIMIR GUERRERO JR: HABLA DE LAS OFERTAS QUE HA RECIBIDO DE PARTE DE TORONTO, JUAN SOTO Y MÁS

This, again, is something that could help unlock more offense from the Padres as they become smarter hitters and approach their offense in a more balanced manner. With confirmed reports from reporter Mike Rodriguez (@Mikedeportes on X) that Manny Ramirez is looking for an MLB opportunity as a hitting coach, this could be the way to add tons of production.

Whatever the Padres do, it is clear that general manager A.J. Preller will need to make substantial additions to the offense both on the field and potentially in the dugout. An adjustment in philosophy would go a long way to optimizing the organization’s talent before spending a dollar on player contracts. An open-minded approach by Padres brass with self-evaluation might be the difference between another early playoff exit and achieving the organizational goal of bringing a championship to the city of San Diego. 

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