Padres roster review: Gavin Sheets – San Diego Union-Tribune
GAVIN SHEETS
Position(s): Left field, first base
Bats / Throws: Left / Left
2026 opening day age: 29
Height / Weight: 6-foot-3 / 235 pounds
How acquired: Signed as a minor league free agent in February 2025
Contract status: Sheets will make $4.5 million after agreeing to a one-year deal to avoid arbitration; will not be a free agent until 2028.
fWAR in 2025: 1.3
Key 2025 stats: .252 AVG, .317 OBP, .429 SLG, 19 HRs, 71 RBIs, 57 runs, 44 walks, 107 strikeouts, 2 steals (145 games, 545 plate appearances)
STAT TO NOTE
.669 — Sheets’ OPS against left-handed pitchers in 2025, a career high and more than 100 points better than his career OPS (.557) against left-handed pitchers. Because success leads to more opportunity, Sheets’ 153 plate appearances against southpaws nearly equaled the number of chances he had against lefties in his career, as he was 2-for-18 as a rookie in 2021 (.269 OPS), 7-for-41 in 2022 (.464 OPS), 1-for-19 in 2023 (.103) and then had a .575 OPS across 92 plate appearances against lefties in 2024.
TRENDING
Up — A second-round pick out of Wake Forest in 2017, Sheets debuted with the White Sox in 2021 and paired 11 homers with an .830 OPS over 54 games to help Chicago win the AL Central. It also looked like Sheets had set himself up for a promising career, but he took a step back in 2022 (.706 OPS, 15 HRs) and never really got off the mat again in Chicago as he posted a .559 OPS in 2023 and a .660 OPS in 2024. Rather than give him a raise via arbitration, the White Sox cut Sheets loose after 2024, allowing him to find a new employer. That opportunity came with the Padres, who offered him a minor league deal and then were forced to put him on the opening day roster when the swing changes he’d worked on led to six homers in 24 Cactus League games. Sheets still had to earn at-bats and hitting a pinch-hit home run on opening day certainly helped. Sheets went on to hit three homers in the first month of the season (.746 OPS) and then eight more in May (.891 OPS) as he began to earn more and more at-bats against left-handed pitchers, his kryptonite heading into the season (see stat to note). But Sheets cooled in June (.725 OPS) and was ice cold in July (.725), leading the front office to trade for Ryan O’Hearn to compete for at-bats as a left fielder/first baseman (the presence of three-time batting champ Luis Arraez also made it hard to get all three in the lineup). In fact, Sheets didn’t start again until the fourth day in August and didn’t start consecutive games until Aug. 18-19. The second day was a two-homer game, his first blast since July 30. Sheets finished August with a season-low 56 plate appearances, but he made the most of it, hitting .412/.464/.745 for a 1.209 OPS. But that gave way to his worst month of the season — a .515 OPS in 95 plate appearances in September — and Sheets went 1-for-6 over three games in the NL Wild Card Series.
2026 OUTLOOK
The shift to San Diego has breathed new life into Sheets’ career and gives the Padres a dangerous corner outfielder/infielder to control for two more seasons. With O’Hearn and Arraez leaving as free agents, Sheets figures to have a firm grasp on a lineup spot against right-handers, whether that’s as a DH, first baseman or left fielder. As of mid-January, it remains to be seen if the Padres can dig up a bat to platoon with him against lefties.
Fernando Tatis Jr. #23 and Gavin Sheets #30 of the San Diego Padres celebrate after Sheets’ home run against the San Francisco Giants during the second inning at Petco Park on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 in San Diego, CA. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
ROSTER RANKINGS
15. OF Gavin Sheets
16. LHP JP Sears
17. RHP Yu Darvish
18. RHP Bradgley Rodriguez
19. RHP David Morgan
20. C Freddy Fermin
21. LHP Wandy Peralta
22. C Luis Campusano
23. LHP Yuki Matsui
24. INF Sung-Mun Song
25. RHP Matt Waldron
26. OF Bryce Johnson
27. RHP Ron Marinaccio
28. RHP Bryan Hoeing
29. LHP Kyle Hart
30. RHP Jhony Brito
31. INF Will Wagner
32. OF Tirso Ornelas
33. RHP Garrett Hawkins
34. RHP Miguel Mendez
35. RHP Daison Acosta
36. RHP Ty Adcock
37. RHP Alek Jacob
38. INF Mason McCoy
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