The San Diego Padres had something of a power outage this year, but they did have their moments. One of them was provided by third baseman Manny Machado, who hit the Padres longest home run of the season, according to Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru of MLB com, who put together a piece chronicling each team’s longest home run this season.
Coors Field came up a lot in the piece, which also wasn’t surprising, and that’s where Machado hit his 452-foot bomb on Sept. 7 in a game won by the Padres, 8-1. He hit the home run off of Tanner Gordon, and in that same game, first baseman Gavin Sheets also hit a 451-foot home run.
The decline in distance shots from Machado also highlights that overall power problem. Machado’s power decline is easy to anticipate given that he’s creeping into his 30s, but part of what the Padres were expecting to compensate was more power from Fernando Tatis Jr.
That hasn’t happened, unfortunately. It didn’t happen during the regular season, and it especially didn’t happen during the playoffs. The Padres scored just five runs in three games in the Wild Card Series against the Chicago Cub, and the playoffs are when teams need their power hitters to step up.
So who does that this season? Good question. The Padres haven’t made any meaningful offensive moves so far this offseason, other than to declare that Tatis is off limits. That’s fine as far as it goes, but it doesn’t really answer the question.
One possible source is center fielder Jackson Merrill, but he’s not really a power hitter. Merrill had 16 home runs this season despite dealing with multiple injury issues, and it’s natural to expect him to get over 20 this year given a healthy season. He had 24 the year before, and he’s going to hit more as he fills out and continues to learn the league.
But that’s a lot to put on a 22-year player, and the fan base wants more. They many not get it, though, with the team up for sale and payroll reported to be limited at $200 million. GM A.J. Preller may be able to get creative and swing a trade, but this is one of the Padres biggest issues going into 2026.
The good news is that the Padres have plenty of experience playing small ball, and they’ll need it this season. The rotation has been stripped of its ace with Dylan Cease signing with the Toronto Blue Jays, and closer Robert Suarez, who went to the Atlanta Braves in free agency.