San Diego Padres fans haven’t had much to make them excited for 2026 this offseason, making less than a handful of moves. Still, despite losses to key players from last season, the Padres still have enough talent to make the postseason this fall. To do so, they may need some career and bounce-back years from players along the way – here are three players who could do so:

Musgrove will return to the mound in San Diego for the first time since the fall of 2024 after tearing his UCL. Everybody in baseball already knows the pitcher Musgrove can be, as evidenced by his status as a former All-Star and his career 3.73 ERA. His return is vital to the Padres’ success in 2026 as question marks surround their starting rotation.

With Dylan Cease leaving in free agency and Yu Darvish out for the season and possibly retiring, Musgrove won’t have much time to find his form on the mound again. San Diego needs Musgrove to return to his previous levels of production from the jump if they want a shot to contend in the NL West in 2026. A bounce-back season from injury that sees Musgrove hover around his 3.20 ERA during his Padres career would significantly boost the club’s chances this season.

After two losses in Luis Arraez and Ryan O’Hearn, the Padres will need even more production out of their infielders in 2026. Cronenworth has the chance step up after what’s been a few seasons that haven’t been amazing in San Diego. He’ll likely be the club’s starting second baseman, although he can also fill in at first base and even at short if necessary.

Cronenworth saw severe dips in his xBA, xSLG, and other telling hitting metrics last season. With their lack of new signings this winter, the Padres are counting on Cronenworth to live up to his $80 million contract and return to the All-Star levels he reached in the beginning of the decade. Another decent season from him may not cut it for the Padres this year.

Like Cronenworth, Sheets’ spot in San Diego’s infield suddenly became much more important after Arraez’s and O’Hearn’s departures. Now, without a first baseman, San Diego is looking to Sheets to be the one to step up at first while Cronenworth moves to second in 2026.

Sheets enjoyed a much better 2025 season in San Diego than he had in his previous two seasons with the Chicago White Sox. His OPS rose from .660 to .746 and saw improvements in nearly every hitting statistic in the game, such as exit velo, barrel percentage, and hard-hit percentage. If Sheets continues his upward trend into the 2026 campaign, the Padres will be in a much better spot for it.