Good morning,
This time, it was their strength that wasn’t good enough.
A day after they were let down by their starting pitching, which was the Padres’ perceived weakness going into the season, it was a relief pitcher who didn’t do his job last night.
You can read in my game story (here) from the 5-2 loss about Jeremiah Estrada walking the bases loaded and allowing a dribbled game-tying infield single and how Tigers’ phenom Kevin McGonigle was again his team’s hero with an epic at-bat in the eighth inning.
In that story is manager Craig Stammen’s explanation about why he left Estrada in so long.
Basically, even though Estrada had walked the bases loaded with one out, Stammen liked Estrada against left-handed batter Riley Greene, the one whose 57 mph grounder to the left side knotted the game 2-2, and planned all along to leave Estrada in through right-handed batter Spencer Torkelson.
After Estrada struck out Torkleson is when Stammen went to left-hander Wandy Peralta to face the left-handed-hitting McGonigle, who drove in two runs by lining a single to right-center field.
We’ll break down that 10-pitch at-bat later. It was sensational, especially for a 21-year-old kid in his second big-league game.
Stammen staying with Estrada can be debated, though the walks came quickly and he did get a soft grounder and a strikeout after issuing them.
There were two decisions made well before the eighth inning that affected the situation as much as anything.
First, the Padres decided at the end of spring training to put top setup man Jason Adam on the injured list. It had nothing to do with his pitching (which was excellent) and everything to do with wanting to preserve him for the long season after he worked back in remarkable time from his September surgery to repair a ruptured quad tendon. The Padres were not comfortable using him yet in the way he would normally be used — available to pitch in back-to-back games or three times in five days.
Second, the decision was made before yesterday’s game that closer Mason Miller would not be used to get more than three outs.
“It will be an option at some point in the season,” Stammen said. “Just not game two.”
You can hardly argue against the wisdom of playing the long game with relievers’ health. It must also be recognized that in order to be playing meaningful games in September and playing at all in October, the Padres need to win enough games before then.
The battle
It turns out a meaningless at-bat in the ninth inning of a long-decided game on Thursday might not have been so meaningless.
The game-winning hit by McGonigle was his second in two days against Peralta. He had singled off Peralta in the final inning of the Tigers’ opening-day victory.
“I knew he was going to come in against me,” McGonigle told reporters in the Tigers clubhouse after last night’s game. “I saw every pitch he had [Thursday], which helped me out. He throws left-on-left changeups a good bit. I knew I had to put a good at-bat together to help this team today, and thankfully I did.”
Last night, Peralta started McGonigle off with a changeup that was fouled off before just missing with a sinker high and bouncing a changeup in front of the plate.
That is when Peralta started pounding the rookie inside. Five straight pitches were fouled off, the final one a slider that broke away off the plate after three pitches up and in and a changeup low and inside.
“Just when I’m in that kind of mode, I just get on the front half and just try to foul every tough pitch off,” McGonigle said. “I got a bat on that pitch and luckily fouled it off.”
Peralta then put a changeup in the dirt before leaving a sinker knee high and just off the middle of the plate.
“I just gave it everything that I could in that at-bat,” Peralta said. “He was fouling a lot of pitches off there, and it was just that one pitch that I left over the plate that he was able to get good contact. So I just give him a lot of credit on that at-bat. … I tried to do everything that I could. That’s why I just give him all the credit in that at-bat. Tried to do it all and just couldn’t get him out.”
Did part of his part
Luis Campusano struck out all three times he batted last night.
But he helped Michael King get two strikeouts with successful ABS challenges, and that wasn’t all King was raving about after Campusano’s first game catching in the major leagues since Sept. 7, 2024.
“I love him,” King said. “Communication-wise, we work together very well. … He had a rough day at the plate. And he came right to me after (his at-bats) and we started talking about hitters.”
Campusano doesn’t have a hit in the big leagues since 2024 (a single on Aug. 31 of that year) after going 0-for-21 last season while serving as designated hitter in eight games and pinch-hitting twice.
He spent most of 2025 tearing up Triple-A pitching and becoming highly adept at challenging ball calls. The ABS system in place in MLB for the first time has been used in Triple-A the past two seasons.
Both of Campusano’s challenges last night got a second strike for King on what would become inning-ending strikeouts. One of them reversed a ball four call.
“As a catcher you’ve got the best view,” Campusano said. “I think it just buys you a chance to help your pitcher.”
Campusano knows the bat has to come around, but his improvement working with pitchers is evident. And he knows that has to be independent from what he does at the plate.
“There is still ballgame left, regardless of what situation comes about,” he said. “Part of my job is to continue to guide these pitchers, keep us in the game and give the offense a chance. Sometimes you just can’t control everything. But what you can do is just stay with your boy, stay with your pitcher and just try to press the right buttons and help him by seeing what you’re seeing.”
Back on track
King had enough trouble with walks in what was an otherwise promising night.
Of the four bases on balls he issued in his five-plus inning, three were to the first batter in an inning. The last of them — at the start of the sixth inning — scored after he departed, though it was an unearned run due to an error by Manny Machado.
“Limit those walks and should have had a much more efficient outing,” said King, who threw 83 pitches while allowing one hit, hitting a batter and striking out six in his five-plus innings.
It was quite an improvement over his spring. He surrendered nine home runs in 17⅔ innings in five Cactus League starts. While he lamented the effectiveness of his changeup, King’s sinker was far more on point last night than it had been virtually all spring.
“Definitely the adrenaline, I think, locks your mechanics in a little bit more,” King said. “I also think that Arizona’s got that thin air, and here at sea level, pitches move a little bit better. So I’ve got a little bit more confidence in those pitches. But it was great to be back with the adrenaline here at Petco.”
Pulled it back
Jackson Merrill made his first home run robbery of the season and deemed it better than the two he nabbed last year.
Forget that he ran back 93 feet to make the play. The fact that near the top of his jump he had to twist his body and move his glove across to the opposite side to backhand the ball was the most impressive part. Merrill liked that it kept the score tied 0-0. And more than anything, he cherished that he had kept McGonigle’s first big-league homer from coming off King.
“Sorry to Kev, I understand first-time homers are sick,” Merrill said. “But I gotta protect my boy, Mike.”
JACKSON MERRILL ROBS KEVIN MCGONIGLE OF HIS FIRST CAREER HOMER pic.twitter.com/cfxwkgDOUv
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 28, 2026
Madness, not mad
Merrill also bounced back from a three-strikeout game on Thursday to go 2-for-3 with a walk last night.
All of Merrill’s strikeouts in the opener came against left-hander Tarik Skubal. He then grounded into a fielder’s choice against lefty Tyler Holton.
His double, single and walk last night came against left-hander Framber Valdez.
That was seven at-bats to start the season for the left-handed Merrill against left-handed pitchers before he popped out against right-hander Kyle Finnegan in last night’s eighth inning.
The turnaround in his fortune from the first game to second could be partly attributed to something that is important to Merrill this season.
“I wasn’t pissed last night, which is good for my mind,” he said. “Like I said in spring, I learned a lot the last two years mentally. Strike out three times against Skubal, tip your cap. I didn’t get any pitches to hit all day. So reset coming in and go to war. … I walked in with a smile on my face, ready to go, excited to play today.”
Merrill talked in my story earlier this week (here) about trying to remain the same player no matter what happens.
He knows his energy is important to the Padres.
That had something to do with his intense reaction after robbing McGonigle.
“I just want to get us going,” he said. “Kind of want to trade off. … Just try to build momentum any way you can, you know, build energy and get the guys going to score some runs.”
He did his best in a tangible way. Not five minutes after his catch, Merrill doubled to lead off the bottom of the second inning.
“He’s an exciting player,” Stammen said. “He’s got a great mentality. He’s one of the leaders on our ballclub. Young guy with a lot of energy. We rally around him and rally around his energy.”
Free passes, free runs
The Tigers walked eight times last night after walking four times Thursday.
And the free passes have been costly.
All three batters Nick Pivetta walked scored in the Tigers’ four-run first inning on Thursday. The batter King walked to start last night’s sixth inning scored. And all three batters Estrada walked scored. (Quick math: that is seven of 12.)
“The Tigers, give them credit,” Stammen said. “They’re putting good at-bats on us. They’re not chasing anything. And, you know, we’re paying the price a little bit with some of the walks. They’re coming around to score. … We’ll get that right. These guys throw strikes. So we’ll get them dialed back in.”
The Tigers are not always being selective. They have some selective players, like Gleyber Torres. But they have chased 30.3% of the pitches they have seen outside the zone the past two days.
Thing was, Estrada’s misses were, in his words, “all over the place.”
Only one of the 12 balls he threw to those three straight batters in the eighth inning was even close to the strike zone.
Decisions, decisions
The standard line when discussing a roster crunch is that “these things tend to work themselves out.” The idea therein is that injuries or poor performance generally help sort out fitting in what at first appears to be too many players for too few spots.
It actually did happen that way at the end of spring training, as the Padres had so many players who needed time on the injured list that they were able to create spots for players who had good spring trainings.
But that space won’t exist forever.
“It’s going to be a work in progress like any roster,” Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller. “We’ve got the opportunity with some guys that are going to start on the IL to layer in some guys throughout the next six, eight weeks or so.”
It is almost certainly a shorter timeline than that for most of the decisions.
What is intriguing about the Padres situation is that they have so many injured players that should be ready to add to the roster so soon, and they have a number of restrictions to consider.
Adam (quad) and fellow reliever Yuki Matsui (adductor) and infielder Sung-Mun Song (oblique) left for Sacramento yesterday, where they joined Triple-A El Paso for rehab assignments. Matt Waldron (surgery), also on a rehab assignment, started for the Chihuahuas on Friday and threw three scoreless innings.
Song can come off the injured list as soon as Wednesday, though he will likely need a little longer. But not much longer.
While he can stay in the minor leagues, all indications are that the Padres expect Song to be in the major leagues. His being added to the active roster will force a decision about a bench player.
The choice will almost certainly be between infielder Ty France and outfielder Bryce Johnson. Neither can be sent to the minors without clearing waivers, and France’s $1.35 million salary is guaranteed.
Adam and Matsui are eligible to come off the IL on April 6. Adam almost certainly will, while Matsui could take a little longer.
The question for the Padres when Adam returns will be whether to risk losing Ron Marinaccio, who has no options remaining and must be placed on waivers, or to simply option Bradgley Rodriguez.
Waldron probably needs three rehab starts, and the Padres can keep him on a rehab assignment for 30 days. But when he is ready, Waldron must be put on the active roster or placed on waivers because he is out of options.
If they decide they want to see him in the rotation, they might have to decide whether they still want to see Walker Buehler or Germán Márquez in the rotation.
And then, perhaps by early May, Joe Musgrove (elbow) could return.
Preller chose to see the potential rather than the problem.
“We start with a roster that we like,” he said. “We’ll have an opportunity to add some pieces.”
Tidbits
Xander Bogaerts’ infield single in last night’s first inning was his 247th since 2014, one fewer than MLB leader Jose Altuve has in that span.
Adrian Morejón threw the fastest pitch of his career (100.7 mph) last night. At least officially. He hit 101.1 this spring. The three pitches he threw at least 100 mph last night brought his career total to seven pitches in the triple-digits. I wrote earlier this week (here) about the work Morejón did in the offseason.
Left-handed-hitting Jake Cronenworth got two hits off lefties last night, one against Valdez and the other against Enmanuel De Jesus. Cronenworth was 0-for-2 against Skubal on Thursday.
Last night looked like a continuation of 2025 for Machado in the field. He made an outstanding play fielding a ball down the line and throwing out a runner in the second inning and then muffed an easy grounder in the sixth. Machado last year continued to make as many spectacular stops and throws as any infielder in the game. But his 16 errors last season were tied for seventh most in the major leagues (second among third basemen), and many came on routine plays.
As noted in Jeff Sanders’ game preview (here), France got the start at first base because he entered yesterday’s game 7-for-25 against Valdez while fellow right-handed hitter Nick Castellanos was 1-for-10. France was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts against Valdez last night.
The Padres bullpen protected the first 22 leads it inherited in the seventh inning or later last season before blowing one on May 6 at Yankee Stadium.
McGonigle, by the way, grew up in Pennsylvania with his dad instilling hitting lessons derived from watching Tony Gwynn. Here is a story about that.
Wheee!
After last night’s game might be a good time for the Padres to heed the advice on that message taped to the dugout wall.
Here is a video of an interview Annie Heilbrunn did with infield coach Ryan Goins, the man who made the sign.
All right, that’s it for me.
Talk to you tomorrow.