The first mile marker of the 2026 season — Memorial Day — finds the Padres within striking distance in the NL West in spite of themselves.
They are 1½ games behind the Dodgers in the NL West heading into Monday’s 3:40 p.m. start (Padres.TV). They have the fifth-best record in the game. Their bullpen has the best ERA (2.43) in the eighth inning or later.
Yet their position as a team with a 31-21 record seems a bit tenuous given the state of the offense and the Padres stars.
Their .661 OPS is the second worst in the majors. Their batting average is the second worst. Fernando Tatis Jr. is still looking for his first homer and Tatis (.615), Manny Machado (.608) and Jackson Merrill (.599) are sit 149th and lower among qualifiers in OPS.
All three are in Monday’s lineup, with Tatis playing second base and leading off, Machado serving as the third baseman and clean-up hitter and Merrill in center field and in the fifth spot as the lone left-handed bat starting against Phillies left-hander Jesus Luzardo.
Monday afternoon matchup. pic.twitter.com/xTHWYZqKzS
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 25, 2026
Designated hitter Miguel Andujar (.790 OPS) is in the two-hole and batting second, followed by shortstop Xander Bogaerts (.703 OPS). Nick Castellanos (.577 OPS) will play right field and bat sixth, followed by first baseman Ty France (.846 OPS), left fielder Ramón Laureano (.674 OPS) and catcher Rodolfo Durán (.516 OPS).
The start is Durán’s first in the majors with right-hander Griffin Canning as he could be getting more playing time over Freddy Fermin, who is hitting .146/.250/.191 to start the year.
Castellanos is also facing his old Phillies teammates for the first time since his release in spring training.
He addressed the topic with Philadelphia media for the first time in the clubhouse before the game. The Union-Tribune will post a story on this later today.
“What, I’m going to sit here and just be thinking about a lot of stuff and be playing judge and jury? I could do that, but it’s not going to help anybody or make any situation better.” #Padres OF Nick Castellanos addresses the #Phillies media for first time since his release: pic.twitter.com/BSryyFBEh7
— Annie Heilbrunn (@annieheilbrunn) May 25, 2026
Here is how the Phillies will line up for Game 1 of a three-game set:
Out on the West Coast#RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/UrOZMAU1Ch
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 25, 2026
Monday’s pitching matchup
Phillies LHP Jesus Luzardo (3-4, 4.85 ERA)
He won 15 games while finishing seventh in NL Cy Young voting last year (3.92 ERA). Luzardo has quality starts in five of his last six starts (2.73 ERA). He has a 4.50 ERA in five career starts against the Padres, the last in 2024 (6 IP, 3 ER).
Here is how Luzardo has fared against current Padres:
Padres RHP Griffin Canning (0-2, 9.00 ERA)
The Padres have lost each of his last three starts (12.27 ERA), although he struck out five against one while over five innings of three-run ball his last time out. He won both starts against the Phillies last year (3.60 ERA) while in the Mets rotation but has a 4.80 ERA in 15 innings against Philadelphia.
Here is how Canning has fared against current Phillies:
