PEORIA, Ariz. — Jase Bowen put a jolt in the competition for what is ostensibly the final spot on the Padres’ bench on Tuesday when he stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and hit a ball 433 feet to the top of a grass berm beyond the left field wall at Tempe Diablo Stadium.
Bowen is the kind of athlete that makes other athletes marvel.
“He’s very physically gifted,” said manager Craig Stammen, who pitched 12 seasons in the big leagues and at 42 still looks very much like the high school quarterback and shooting guard he once was. “You watch him run, you’re like, ‘Man, I wish I ran like that.’ You watch him hit. You’re like, ‘Dang, I wish I could hit as far as that.”
Is Bowen quite the level of ballplayer that the Padres need at the end of their bench when they start the season?
That is what will be decided over the next two weeks.
“Trying to work on the finer things of baseball with him,” Stammen said, “(Trying to) make him into a baseball player, not just a great athlete.”
Bowen has never played in the major leagues. He got his first Triple-A taste in 2025 with the Pirates, the organization that drafted him in the 11th round in 2019 and overpaid to sign him because he had committed to play wide receiver at Michigan State.
Bowen became a minor-league free agent after the season and opted to come compete in a landscape he had yet to experience.
“I wanted to be part of a winning organization, not a losing organization,” Bowen said recently. “Some teams have a losing culture, and I didn’t want to be part of it anymore. Winning was my priority.”
That the Padres do have championship aspirations and because Stammen figures to at least emulate the winning on the margins credo of his predecessor, it figures the Padres will seek to fill out their 26-man roster with a player like Bowen, who can run and play defense in addition to being able to provide a hit here and there.
Said Stammen: “He could be a guy for us that comes up at some point during the season, whether it’s at the beginning or the middle or the end, provides a little life, little energy, steals some bags, plays great outfield and then has the ability to leave the yard too.”
Another (more experienced) player who can run and field and is a more proven offensive threat (sans the power) is the incumbent Bryce Johnson.
According to the assessments of several people who will have a voice in the room when the Padres are hashing out the roster spots, Johnson remains the favorite to be that running and defensive specialist when the season begins.
Johnson hit .342/.383/.434 for the Padres last season, and he is striking the ball well this spring while continuing to impress with his defense, running and ability to bunt.
There might be more than one bench spot to be won on the opening-day roster, as infielder Sung-Mun Song has not swung a bat since aggravating a right oblique strain on Sunday. He hopes to take swings Thursday.
The left-handed-hitting Song, who plays third and second base well and started his first game at shortstop Sunday, seemed headed for the roster before the setback. He could begin the season on the injured list or in the minor leagues.
That would likely open a spot that seems destined for one of two corner infielders who have MLB experience and are hitting this spring — Ty France or Jose Miranda — or middle infielder Mason McCoy.
McCoy would provide solid backup at second and shortstop, where France only plays second and does so somewhat dubiously. Johnson can also run, though he has been caught stealing three times in four attempts this spring.
Stammen has said this as part of evaluations regarding both France and Miranda: “If you hit, we will find a place for you.”
The Padres’ bench on most nights will likely consist of whichever catcher is not starting (Freddy Fermin or Luis Campusano), whichever first baseman/DH is not starting (Miguel Andujar, Nick Castellanos or left-handed-hitting Gavin Sheets) and the extra infielder and extra outfielder.
The expectation is that Song will be on the roster sooner or later. So the more “permanent” roster spot is perhaps available for whoever is the fourth outfielder.
The reality is that whoever starts the season as a utility player will likely not finish it there.
Jose Iglesias was the only bench player to have lasted the entire ‘25 season with the Padres. Tyler Wade was the lone survivor in ‘24. No one on the bench to start the ‘23 season was still there at the end.
A wild card when figuring the puzzle pieces is that Andujar and Castellanos have played extensively in the outfield. Song could eventually start working there as well.
Bowen, Johnson, McCoy and outfielder Samad Taylor provide speed. Outfielder Carlos Rodriguez, a left-handed hitter, has hit this spring. Outfielder Nick Schnell, another left-handed hitter, leads the Padres with three Cactus League home runs.
Needs change throughout the season.
“We’re weighing all those things in the competition when we have our meetings about who’s in the conversation of who’s going to make the roster and who’s going to be that final 26 players that we bring to Petco for opening day,” Stammen said. “But the people that are on the roster on opening day aren’t always the people that are on the roster throughout the season. We feel like we have a lot of depth, a lot of quality players that (are) going to get us through 162 games.”