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[San Diego Padres]

What is Luis Arraez’s value?

Luis Arraez

The San Diego Padres traded for 1B/2B Luis Arraez in May of 2024, sending prospects Dillon Head, Jacob Marsee, Nathan Martorella and pitcher Woo-suk Go to the Marlins. Arraez had already won a batting title in 2022 and 2023 as well as being a two-time All-Star.

There has long been a debate within baseball as to what value Arraez brings to a team. It is the thought process behind any discussion about his frequent trade history. Arraez has been in the league since 2019 and is playing for his third team, having established his hitting prowess after the 2020 season with the Minnesota Twins. He was traded to the Miami Marlins for the 2023 season and then to the Padres after just a season with the Marlins.

With the Padres, Arraez got another batting title in 2024 and went to his third All-Star game. But the discussion continues regarding what he brings to a team and what his value will be when he becomes a free agent at the end of this season.

His reputation as a singles hitter, and the relative poor quality to the rest of his game, could argue that landing a contract after this season could be a challenge. It is not arguable that this is the worst season of his career since establishing himself. His first two seasons had inconsistent playing time and he didn’t break out until 2021.

Using the Fangraphs stats, Arraez has dropped in all hitting categories this season. Not just his average and OBP have dropped, but his hard hit percentage, his barrel percentage, his exit velocity and his launch angle are all down. His OBP, which is arguably the most important of his offensive stats, is .318 so far this year. His previous low was .346 in 2024. His .285 batting average is the first time he has been below .300 since 2021.

A simple way to view his decline this season is with his Baseball Savant page. Remembering that red is good and blue is bad, Arraez profiles as a player who doesn’t swing and miss a lot and squares the ball up well when he hits it, but otherwise is a poor performer in all other categories. His defense and speed are also profiling as below average. If you go back to last season and 2023, you see the steady decline in his offensive performance, while his defense and speed rate out about the same.

WAR is a measurement used to add up all aspects of player performance and assigns a value. It stands for Wins Above Replacement and compares the player to a bench or replacement player in baseball. WAR has not been kind to Arraez through his career because of his single outstanding skill, hitting the ball for a high average. His fWAR (Fangraphs assessment) has ranged from 0.5 in 2020, when he played less, to 3.4 in 2023. For 2025 his fWAR sits at 0.4, down from 1.1 last season. In comparison, the next lowest full-time position player is Jake Cronenworth at 2.4. Gavin Sheets and Jackson Merrill both are below 2.o, but have either missed time or been part-time players.

Fangraphs assigns player value (in dollars) to coincide with the skills and performance of a player. Arraez was valued at $26.9 million in 2023, his best season. For 2025, the valuation sits at $3.6 million. His only other season close to that is 2020 at $4 million.

Although there are some that don’t value what Arraez brings to a team, the Padres obviously do. They have continued to bat him second in the lineup for most of the season, never dropping him to the bottom third, based solely on his past performance and the amount of hits he has (he leads the team in hits).

The discussion remains that a single skill might not be good enough to get a good free agent contract next year and since that single skill has declined significantly, Arraez might have a tough road ahead.

Source: https://www.gaslampball.com/san-diego-padres-analysis-commentary/49668/what-is-luis-arraezs-value

 

[San Diego Padres]

Good Morning San Diego: Padres swept at home; head back on road hoping to get right

Nestor Cortes gets beat up by Orioles, Padres get swept (Matt DeWalt – Gaslamp Ball)

Starting pitcher options for 2026 (Cheri Bell – Gaslamp Ball)

Padres need more from starting pitchers in stretch run (AJ Cassavell – Padres.com)

Mason Miller wipes out O’s on 9 straight sliders in immaculate inning (AJ Cassavell – Padres.com)

Padres can’t overcome another big deficit, get swept by Orioles (Kevin Acee – U-T)

Padres’ Mason Miller is immaculate (Kevin Acee – U-T)

Padres Daily: Late struggles the norm; troubling starts; worry meter; Manny’s battery (Kevin Acee – U-T)

Mason Miller throws immaculate inning as Padres’ comeback attempt falls short in sweepMiller was perfect, but only after Nestor Cortes frustrated Padres fans: “I would have booed myself too if I was watching this game.” Dennis Lin24 (Dennis Lin – The Athletic)

Source: https://www.gaslampball.com/san-die...at-home-head-back-on-road-hoping-to-get-right

 

[San Diego Padres]

Injuries piling up on the Padres

There is an old saying in baseball that a crowded trainer’s room looks a lot like a MASH unit. Suddenly, the San Diego Padres’ training staff is treating a high volume of injuries at the wrong time of the 2025 baseball season.

Granted, the Padres had their fair share of injuries this season. But the recent road trip and the Labor Day opening-series contest have tested the Friars’ roster depth. Several key contributors suffered injuries that could change the look of the roster for the final month of the campaign.

The loss of Adam is devastating​

The Padres placed Jason Adam on the injury list, as he is expected to miss the remainder of the season after rupturing his left quad tendon in the series-opening game against the Baltimore Orioles. The loss of Adam is a significant blow to the bullpen.

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The injury forces Jeremiah Estrada to rise in the pecking order and pitch in more high-leverage situations. The back of the ‘pen will remain intact, as Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller are the setup relievers before handing the reins to team closer Robert Suarez.

Bogaerts’ bat will be missed​

The injury malaise began when Xander Bogaerts fractured his foot in Seattle. Team doctors declared him out for the remainder of the regular season. However, all parties are holding some hope that Bogaerts can return for the postseason.

The offense will miss his bat, as Bogaerts worked his way back to becoming a consistent run-producer in 2025. His replacement will be Jose Iglesias, who is a good defender, but the Friars need more consistent hitting from him. Hopefully, playing every day will provide a spark at the plate.

The Padres’ offense works best when the bottom of the order turns the lineup over and forces opposing pitchers to face Fernando Tatis Jr., Luis Arraez, and Manny Machado with runners in scoring position.

Friars cannot lose Tatis Jr. for an extended time​

If you hear a sigh of relief inside Petco Park, the exhale came from the Friars’ dugout. The team may have avoided an IL stint for their best outfielder, Fernando Tatis Jr., after he was seen clutching his hamstring in the last game of the Minnesota Twins series.

Padres skipper Mike Shildt kept Tatis Jr. out of the lineup for one day, so as not to put his legs at risk. Shildt must avoid pushing him to the brink of blowing out his hamstring. Any time on the IL would be devastating for the team’s offense.

It is too late in the season to lose a player of Tatis Jr.’s ability. The offense cannot have another bat missing from the lineup during the stretch run to the playoffs. Shildt was correct to give him a day to preserve his body.

Injuries create opportunities for other players to succeed. At this point in the season, no team can afford to lose players indefinitely. The Padres need someone to step up and make an immediate contribution.

Source: https://www.gaslampball.com/san-diego-padres-news/49672/injuries-piling-up-on-the-padres

 

[San Diego Padres]

Padres suffer shutout loss to Rockies, continue losing skid

Nick Pivetta did his part to help the San Diego Padres break their losing streak in the series opener against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, Friday. As the starting pitcher for the Padres he allowed two runs and scattered seven hits over six innings of work. He also allowed two walks and struck out five, but it was not enough, as San Diego dropped the series opener to Colorado, 3-0 and saw their losing streak extend to five games.

Nick Pivetta strikes out five batters and only allows two runs in six quality innings of work against the Rockies#ForTheFaithful pic.twitter.com/aNtCFtIeYh

— San Diego Strong (@PadresStrong) September 6, 2025

Pivetta allowed a solo home run to Hunter Goodman in the bottom of the third inning, which allowed the Rockies to take a 1-0 lead, which is not an insurmountable deficit. But it felt like it with the way Colorado starting pitcher Kyle Freeland was working. He threw four hitless innings and got the first out in the fifth before allowing a double to Ramon Laureano. The most impressive part of Freeland’s start was him striking out eight of the first 12 batters he faced.

Hunter Goodman – Colorado Rockies (28)
pic.twitter.com/SOo5vVQgd7

— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) September 6, 2025

Pvetta allowed the second run of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning after three consecutive singles to Mickey Moniak, Goodman and Jordan Beck. Beck drove in Moniak to put the Rockies up, 2-0.

David Morgan allowed the third run of the game, when he allowed a walk to Moniak. He then allowed a double to Goodman, who hit a shallow pop fly toward the right field line. Fernando Tatis Jr. attempted a sliding catch, but did not make the play, which allowed the run to score to give Colorado a 3-0 lead.

San Diego hitters were kept off balance all game and did not record the second hit of the game until the bottom of the eighth inning. Jose Iglesias singled with two outs, but was left there when Jake Cronenworth grounded out to end the inning.

The Padres tried to mount a rally in the top of the ninth with a Luis Arraez pinch-hit leadoff walk. Tatis Jr. followed with a single to put runners at first and second with no outs. Ryan O’Hearn then flied out to shallow left field and Manny Machado grounded into a double play to end the game.

San Diego plays Colorado, Saturday at 5:10 p.m.

Source: https://www.gaslampball.com/san-die...-shutout-loss-to-rockies-continue-losing-skid

 

[San Diego Padres]

Game 141: San Diego Padres at Colorado Rockies

San Diego Padres at Colorado Rockies, September 5, 2025, 5:40 p.m. PST

Location: Coors Field, Denver, CO

Watch: Padres TV

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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GB community, this is your thread for today’s game. Enjoy!

Source: https://www.gaslampball.com/san-die...game-141-san-diego-padres-at-colorado-rockies

 

[San Diego Padres]

Mason Miller provides a highlight

Mason Miller

It’s hopeful we can call this the low point to the season and that this is where it stops. With their starting pitchers struggling to get out of the fourth inning and the offense in a hole before they can get started in most of the games, the San Diego Padres went 1-5 for the past week. Their overall record stands at 76-64 and they remain in competition for the NL West while holding on to their Wild Card spot by one game.

Taking one game from the Minnesota Twins on the road and being swept at home by the Baltimore Orioles, the Padres did not play good baseball and saw their MLB best bullpen severely taxed, while trying to bail out the team. The bullpen remains the tops in baseball with a 3.07 ERA, but the starters sit 15th with a 4.12 ERA for the season. In the nine games since the end of the Dodgers series, the starters have averaged 3.2 innings per start and have a 7.52 ERA.

Outfielder Ramón Laureano continues his sweltering streak of success. Since joining the Padres (31 games), Laureano has a .322/.376/.574 line with seven home runs and 24 RBI. He has also played stellar defense in both left and center field. In the recent power rankings for MLB, he is listed at No. 6.

Gavin Sheets has extended his hot streak as well, hitting .368 for the week with a .903 OPS, while not playing every day. Both Manny Machado (.182/.568 OPS) and Fernando Tatis Jr (.200/.654 OPS) are mired in hitting slumps.

The Immaculate Inning

Reliever Mason Miller gave the Friar Faithful something to cheer about in the last game of the home series versus the Orioles. Pitching the eighth inning in the 7-5 loss, Miller threw the second immaculate inning in Padres history. Striking out the side with nine sliders in a row, Miller threw nine pitches for three outs and joins former Padre Brian Lawrence (2002) as the only Friar to accomplish the feat. The immaculate inning is the reliever version of a no-hitter and is even more rare. There have been 118 immaculate innings in major league history compared to 326 no-hitters. The rarest feat in baseball is the perfect game- there have been 24 in MLB history.

Roster changes and injury updates

Michael King was at the Peoria Sports Complex in Arizona yesterday and threw a 62 pitch, five inning effort according to an update by manager Mike Shildt on the Ben & Woods program (97.3 FM) Friday morning. Depending on how he recovers from that effort, a return to the Padres rotation could be this next homestead.

Shortstop Xander Bogaerts went on the IL with a fractured foot after fouling a ball off himself. He will be out for the rest of the regular season, but could be eligible in October. He was replaced on the roster by Mason McCoy.

Kyle Hart, who has been working as a reliever recently, was called up Aug. 31 and Alek Jacob was sent to El Paso

Catcher Martin Maldonado, who was released by the Padres at the trade deadline, signed a minor league deal.

Sean Reynolds was brought up and Jackson Merrill was activated off the IL on Sept. 1. These players served to fill the two extra roster spots allowed.

Jason Adam ruptured his left quadriceps tendon on Sept. 1, while trying to lunge for a liner hit past him. The injury was confirmed by MRI the following day. Adam was placed on the IL and underwent surgery on Sept. 3 recovery is six to nine months. Alek Jacob returned from El Paso to fill the bullpen spot.

• This article was written prior to the Padres’ 3-0 loss to the Rockies, Friday

Source: https://www.gaslampball.com/san-die...ntary/49726/mason-miller-provides-a-highlight