WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The San Diego Padres awoke Tuesday in an unfamiliar city and, for them, an uncommon position: For the first time since June 17, 2022, they were in sole possession of first place in the National League West. And, for the first time since April 11, 2022, they were in sole possession of first place in Major League Baseball.
Hours later, after an unsightly loss to the Athletics, the Padres still occupied both positions atop the standings. It remains early in the baseball calendar, but in a matter of months, the cushion they built with one of the best starts in franchise history could make a huge difference.
The first significant tests of San Diego’s positional depth arrived Tuesday in cascading fashion. First, a right hamstring strain sent newly extended center fielder Jackson Merrill to the injured list for the first time in his big-league career. Then, during the third inning of an eventual 10-4 defeat at Sutter Health Park, starting second baseman Jake Cronenworth left the game because of cramping in his ribcage area. Two innings later, star right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. also walked off the field and into the visiting clubhouse in center field after tweaking his surgically repaired left shoulder.
The final injury, given Tatis’ history, was the most concerning. Tatis grimaced taking a swing in the second inning, ended up drawing a walk and, minutes later, reaggravated his shoulder sliding into third base after tagging up from second on a fly ball. After the game, he described the injury as mild inflammation and said, “Let’s see how I wake up tomorrow, but it’s very short notice. I’m not going on the IL or nothing like that. So, (I am) day to day so far.”
Still, manager Mike Shildt indicated the plan is for both Tatis and Cronenworth to rest for at least the next two days; the Padres, after Wednesday’s series finale, will have Thursday off. “We’ll definitely be on the side of caution with (Tatis) and Jake, just making sure,” Shildt said. Meanwhile, Tatis acknowledged that it was his first time feeling such a sensation in his shoulder during a game since his labrum repair in September 2022.
“I felt it once doing exercises, but on the field, I haven’t felt anything until this time,” Tatis said. He added, “But I have felt this before. I have dealt with this before multiple times, different ways. So, it’s something that we can definitely handle.”
How equipped the Padres are to handle the temporary absences of their right and center fielders remains to be seen. Before Tuesday’s game, the team recalled Oscar Gonzalez from Triple-A El Paso to take Merrill’s spot on the roster. The Padres started Brandon Lockridge in center field and infielder Jose Iglesias in left field, giving the 35-year-old Iglesias his first professional appearance in the outfield.
When Cronenworth departed the game, Iglesias moved to second base. Gonzalez entered in left field, where, in his first major-league appearance since 2023, he almost immediately committed an error that allowed two runs to score. Both runs went down as earned runs against Padres right-hander Dylan Cease, who surrendered nine in all for a career-worst total.
“Yeah, they got a lot of hits,” said Cease, who gave up nine in four innings. “It was disappointing, but I’ll have to sit down with (Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla) and just adjust from here.”
Dylan Cease’s ERA ballooned to 7.98 after Tuesday’s outing. (Ed Szczepanski / Imagn Images)
Like Tatis, Cronenworth felt discomfort before an early exit. The infielder had taken a fastball to the ribs two days earlier at Wrigley Field. After playing through soreness Monday, he winced in visible pain while grounding out to lead off the top of the third inning.
“It was just slowly starting to cramp up, and just all the fluid and everything that’s in there from getting hit — yeah, it just pissed it off a lot,” Cronenworth said.
“I think I should be good to (play) Friday, honestly. Obviously, the off day helps. I don’t even know if it was cramped, medically speaking, but it’s what it felt like.”
If Tatis and Cronenworth end up missing more time than expected, the Padres have options on the current roster and the 40-man roster. Iglesias, who had a career season last year with the New York Mets, could continue playing second base. Gonzalez could continue seeing time in left field. Veteran outfielder/first baseman Connor Joe or outfield prospect Tirso Ornelas can be recalled from El Paso.
“We’ve got a good club. We’ve got a lot of good parts to it,” Shildt said. “We’ve got guys that are more than capable of showing up tomorrow annd helping us win a major-league baseball game.”
Of course, none of the alternatives offers the upside of Tatis and Merrill, the Padres’ best players early this season. Those two and Cronenworth have combined for seven of the team’s 11 home runs. Merrill, who has three of those home runs, will be sidelined through at least April 16.
Late Tuesday, the Padres (9-3) could take some comfort in the fact that two division rivals, the San Francisco Giants (8-3) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (9-4), also lost. Meanwhile, the Arizona Diamondbacks (6-6) won, and most evaluators expect them to be postseason contenders. So, there appears to be little breathing room in the ultra-competitive National League West. Every early-season result — and every early-season injury — could loom large in the end.
(Top photo of Fernando Tatis Jr. from April 7: Sergio Estrada / Getty Images)