Padres Set To Battle Rangers' Future Hall Of Famer On His 38th Birthday

The San Diego Padres begin a three-game road series against the Texas Rangers on Friday after salvaging its series against the St. Louis Cardinals with a 6-1 win on Wednesday.

The Padres have struggled over the last month, particularly offensively. The team’s ranks in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS all rank dead-last in Major League Baseball and as a result, San Diego has lost a lot of ground on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West and is tied for the final wild card spot with two other teams.

When the best players on the team aren’t producing, it’s difficult to generate a ton of offense. Although second baseman Fernando Tatis Jr. has picked it up over his last 30 games, the power still isn’t there, and he isn’t getting much help from third baseman Manny Machado or center fielder Jackson Merrill.

Those guys need to start playing up to their standards and fast, or else the season could get away from them, and the front office may not be buyers at the trade deadline.

It’ll be tough to put together quality at-bats tonight, as the Padres draw a future Hall of Famer in Rangers right-hander Jacob deGrom. deGrom’s accolades speak for itself: Rookie of the Year, two-time Cy Young, five-time All-Star and an ERA Title in his illustrious 13-year career.

Injuries have plagued his career at times, but last season he made 30 starts, a mark he hasn’t hit since 2019. deGrom is healthy again this season, and across 14 starts, he is 5-4 with a 3.17 ERA (20th), 0.99 WHIP (sixth) and 89 strikeouts (tied-18th) to just 15 walks over 76.2 innings of work.

deGrom turns 38-years-old today, so the Padres lineup should expect the best from the birthday boy. He last worked against the Boston Red Sox and surrendered two runs on six hits while striking out five over six innings.

Right-hander Randy Vasquez will toe the rubber for San Diego and he will need his best stuff to get back to the early-season version of himself.

Vasquez is 6-4 with a 3.63 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 58 strikeouts to 22 walks through 14 starts (74.1 innings). The 27-year-old bounced back in his last outing against the Baltimore Orioles after being hit hard over his last few starts, tossing five innings and allowing two runs on six hits and two walks with five punchouts.

First pitch is at 5:05 p.m. PDT on MLB.TV and regional sports networks.