Good morning,
However this season turns out for the Padres, it seems destined to be remembered as the year Luis Campusano broke out.
And it is simplifying things only a bit to say this was the series Campusano won.
You can read in my game story (here) about his crucial home run and the crucial runner he threw out in yesterday’s 4-3 victory over the Yankees, which came two days after he threw out three runners trying to steal and hit a walk-off home run in the 10th inning.
Yes, the story also includes recounting of the three home runs the Padres hit against Gerrit Cole at the start of the game.
But then they did virtually nothing until Campusano’s home run leading off the seventh inning.
“I’m so happy for him,” Fernando Tatis Jr. said yesterday. “Just the confidence that they have (given) him to just go out there and perform. You know, it was something that was missing a little bit back in the years. But this year, they — we have built together as a team, especially him, giving him a chance to, don’t be afraid to make mistakes, just swing the bat. And I feel like that has (given) him confidence to show the quality of a baseball player that he really is.”
That is at the crux of Campusano’s emergence.
He is playing. And he has been empowered.
“At the end of the day, he’s gotten the opportunity to go out there and be him,” Manny Machado said. “In the past, it’s been a little bit different. … I think we’ve always seen it. We always knew that he had it in him. So, to finally kind of see it all stick together, it’s been nice.”
I wrote in spring training (here) about the concerted undertaking by people at all levels of the organization to pour support into Campusano. Chief among those people was first-year manager Craig Stammen, both for his sincere belief in Campusano and his role in building him up after the previous two managers had essentially given up on the young catcher.
“It means a lot,” Campusano said of Stammen believing in him. “Means everything. We played together, so he knows me like the back of his hand. And there wasn’t any time to try to get to know me. It was just like, ‘I know who you are. I know what you’re capable of doing, and let’s see what you got.’”
Stammen gives Campusano most of the credit.
“I think the biggest change is he’s able to interact with everybody else,” Stammen said. “And he’s not as much tunnel vision about, ‘What do I have to do to be good today?’ He’s, ‘What can I do to help the team be great?’ And I think his overall view of being able to be that type of person in the clubhouse has then, in turn, changed his individual game.
“(Catchers coach) Kevin Plawecki deserves a ton of credit for that. Everybody in the organization that continued to believe in him and not cast him to the side deserve a lot of credit. And then the new people that we brought in the organization immediately believed in him and saw the talent that he had, and the future that he could have on our team. And I think that has played into Campy feeling valued, feeling like he has a place in this organization. And he has a great place in this organization.”
The improvement
The 27-year-old Campusano is not the first guy to take time to develop as a major league catcher.
And for as long ago as his big-league debut was, he wasn’t given a lot of time to develop before this season.
Campusano played first major league game on Sept. 4, 2020. That was as a designated hitter. His first start behind the plate came in ‘21, and yesterday was just his 174th start at catcher.
His lack of MLB service time (three years, 169 days) is a product of multiple injuries and perceived inadequacy.
There is a prevailing belief, from the clubhouse to the front office, that Bob Melvin and, especially, Mike Shildt gave up on Campusano too early and destroyed his confidence.
Not that them not trusting him to catch for contending teams was entirely without merit.
Earlier in his career, Campusano had lapses in concentration, struggled with some aspects of defense and did not connect with pitchers. Some of them did not want to throw to him back in 2021, ’23 and ‘24.
As discussed in my story from February, there may have never been a player that decision makers in the organization were more split on than Campusano.
But it was clear this spring that was not the case. Even more clear was the strides Campusano had made in communication skills. And it turns out, he continues to improve defensively as well.
His ability to help control the running game has grown immensely.
Campusano has thrown out 14 would-be base stealers in 41 chances this season after throwing out eight of 41 in 2024 and one of 41 from 2021 to ‘23.
His arm strength is not any better than it was before this season, and it does not rank anywhere near the top of the league. But he has done the work with his stance, his feet and his transfer.
“Just letting the ball travel and staying under control has been a big focus with him, and just not getting too quick when you see a good jump,” Plawecki said. “His move is a lot quieter. It’s allowing him to stand under control and make a good throw.”
Watching video of Campusano between 2021 and ‘24 (he did not play catcher in the major leagues in ‘25) showed he used four different stances.
“The main focus starting in January with the two of us was just to quiet up everything,” Plawacki said. “It was, one, finding a stance that worked and being able to be consistent in that stance. Everything goes off of that between receiving, blocking, and throwing. It allowed him get in a position to feel comfortable to throw. … I think mainly it’s just being consistent in his stance and being in a constant good position to throw the baseball.”
Staying hot
Campusano has hit before, but 2026 has been his most extended period of getting on base and slugging.
He has also developed into something of a catalyst.
Campusano is batting .372 with a 1.029 OPS in Padres victories this season. That is the highest average and highest OPS on the team. His hottest periods at the plate this season have coincided with the Padres’ success.
He hit .394 with a 1.293 OPS while the Padres went 17-4 from April 4 through 27. He hit .316 with an .857 OPS while they went 21-7 from July 24 through Aug. 23. He is 6-for-19 with two home runs over the past six games, during which the Padres have gone 3-3 after losing five of their previous six games.
“I think when he’s an offensive catcher, it adds another dynamic to our lineup that helps a lot,” Stammen said. “… Having that extra guy kind of a little lower in the lineup that can produce a run at any moment is a big deal.”
So much good stuff
Three batters, 15 pitches, three home runs.
That is how the Padres began their half of yesterday’s first inning.
“There (is) not a better start that you can have to a game,” Jake Cronenworth noted.
(That’s a real thinker by the Michigan grad.)
But the Padres’ first three batters didn’t just homer.
Tatis hit a ball the other way to right field. Cronenworth hit a ball the other way to left field. Machado hit a ball to center field.
“Against one of the best pitchers in the game,” Machado said, “I mean, you don’t really see that.”
That was potentially the most significant part — that they were facing Cole, who went into the game having allowed two home runs in his previous seven starts and with a 2.36 ERA in that span.
“That was really fun, especially the quality of the starter that we were facing today,” Tatis said.
Padres Back-To-Back-To-Back To Start The Game pic.twitter.com/cmgPPKHDQB
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) September 6, 2026
Cole was the 15th starting pitcher the Padres have faced in the past 24 games who has above-average stuff, based on Stuff+ rating. (The Padres are 13-11 in that span.)
“We’ve run into a stretch of really good arms here these last few weeks,” Cronenworth said. “It’s not going to stop. Where we want to inevitably get to, it’s not going to stop there either. This is where we need to show our preparation.”
Now, it is a good thing the Padres hit four home runs yesterday.
Because they had just seven hits.
It was the fifth consecutive game in which the Padres have had seven or fewer hits.
They were 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position yesterday and are 14-for-92 (.152) in that situation over their past 12 games.
Those are just a couple of the recent symptoms displayed by the Padres’ streaky offense.
Playoff race
The Padres are right where they were when the series against the Yankees began, a half-game behind the Diamondbacks in the race for the final National League postseason spot.
It appears to be a two-team race for the sixth seed, as the Phillies are 4½ games up on the Diamondbacks and the Marlins and Cardinals are 3½ games behind the Padres.
It has only been the Padres or Diamondbacks holding the final spot seed since Aug. 17. The Padres were in that spot from Aug. 17 to 29, but there have been five lead changes in the past eight days.
The Padres have 19 games remaining, the Diamondbacks 18. They play their final three games against each other Sept. 25-27 at Petco Park.
“I feel like we’ve been playing these games since the trade deadline (or) a week-and-a-half, two weeks before the deadline,” Cronenworth said. “… And now it’s a race with the D’backs. Every game is important. We’ve got 19 left, and it’s the 19 most important games.”
20/20 the hard way
Tatis’ homer was his 20th of the season, making him and Jackson Merrill the first Padres teammates to have at least 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in the same season.
There have been just 17 20/20 seasons (by 11 players) in franchise history.
Even though this is Tatis’ fourth time to make the 20/20 club, his doing so this season might make his 2026 membership one of the most unlikely ever.
All of his home runs have come in his past 86 games after he hit zero in his first 55 games. None of the other 20/20 Padres ever went 55 games into a season without a homer.
“A lot of hard work, a lot of challenge,” Tatis said. “And that’s how you bounce back, you know. You don’t sit down and just take it for granted, or just, cry yourself to sleep. You try to figure it out and you trust yourself. You build confidence, and I feel like at the end of the day, this game will reward you. Sometimes. Sometimes it won’t.”
Opposite Day
It seemed nothing could quite match the excitement the Padres felt when Cronenworth did something he had not done before.
“I never thought it was going to happen,” Cronenworth said. “So, the fact that it happened is insane in itself.”
The big deal?
It was the first of Cronenworth’s 85 career home runs to go to the opposite field.
“We’ve always been talking (about it),” Tatis said. “… It only took him seven years. We were going crazy because of that.”
Cronenworth had trailed only Isaac Paredes (110) and Didi Gregorius (121) on the list of players with most home runs without any to the opposite field since Statcast began tracking such things in 2015.
“I was trying to go for the record with most pull-side homers without an oppo one,” Cronenworth said with a smile. “But we ended that today.”
Here is a look at where all 85 of Cronenworth’s home runs have landed:
More work
All three Yankees runs yesterday came in the eighth inning against Adrian Morejón.
He has allowed five runs (four earned) in his past three games (2⅔ innings) after allowing three in his previous 18 games (22 innings).
Morejón, who has thrown a career-high 76⅔ innings, acknowledged the workload but said that wasn’t the problem yesterday.
His inning went like this: strikeout, infield single; walk; double on an 83 mph groundball to bring in the first run; infield single to bring in the second run plus an ill-advised and wild throw to first base to allow the third run to score; caught stealing; lineout.
“Today, that’s a weird game,” he said. “I know I walked Goldschmidt on four straight balls, but other than that, I don’t feel like that’s really good contact on the three base hits. I think the throw to first, that’s emotional. When I throw the ball, I was thinking, ‘Oh, you need to hold the ball and keep the game slow.’ But, you know, sometimes things happen.
“And it’s good for me. I finished the inning and (kept) Mason (Miller) for the ninth. That’s the most important (thing) for me.”
Morejón, who has a 2.93 ERA, is one of 10 relievers in the major leagues to have made fewer than 67 appearances and thrown more than 69 innings this season. He has worked more than one inning 24 times, five more than he did all last season.
“Yeah, I’ve pitched a lot,” he said. “I feel good. Last game in Cincinnati, I think that’s the worst I felt. I know I still threw 100 (mph), but in Cincinnati I didn’t feel like I threw 100. But today and (Friday) against the Yankees, it feels better.”
Morejón said he is focusing on “better recovery” and talking with the athletic training staff more than ever.
“He has pitched a lot this year,” Stammen said. “There’s no doubt about it. And there’s times where that workload just comes up when you don’t expect it. Today it was just the walk and then the swinging bunt which he throws into right field. But for the most part, he’s still throwing the ball really well. And we got to try to give him as many days off when we can give him a day off. Try to not warm him up as much prior to him going in the game as much. I think those are things that are on the top of my mind to help him out as much as we can to navigate the rest of the season. He’s been such a durable, important piece for our bullpen. We’re going to need that going forward.”
Tidbits
You can read in Jeff Sanders’ notebook (here) about Nick Pivetta’s scheduled return to the rotation and what the Padres expect from him tonight against the Nationals. Jeff also wrote in that story about Michael King’s start against his former team, which ran his scoreless streak to 21⅔ innings .
The Padres have won just four of their past 12 games. And it is true their pitching has had some inauspicious moments in that time. But when Padres pitchers have been good lately, they have been brilliant. Despite allowing seven or more runs three times, the Padres have an MLB-low 2.80 ERA over those 12 games. (That is a 2.93 ERA in 61⅓ innings by the starters and a 2.63 ERA in 48 innings by the relievers.)
The Padres stopped a four-series losing streak against the Yankees and are now 3-7 in series against them. That does not include the 1998 World Series.
Machado’s home run on Saturday made him the only active player in the major leagues with at least 25 home runs in 11 seasons. His home run yesterday, the 395th of his career, made him one of 30 players ever to have that many seasons with at least 26 home runs.
Tatis and Machado were also involved the last time the Padres hit three home runs in an inning. That was in the bottom of the eighth inning on Sept. 18, 2024, and Donovan Solano’s homer followed ones by Tatis and Machado. That 4-0 victory over the Astros was also the most recent of the six times in Padres history all four runs they scored in a game came on homers.
Machado increased his on-base streak to seven games. He is batting .417 (10-for-24) and getting on base at a .516 clip during that stretch.
Machado’s home run yesterday was his 14th since 2015 with a launch angle of 18 degrees or lower. That is second most in the major leagues in that span behind Giancarlo Stanton’s 23. For context, Machado’s home run was 55 feet off the ground at the apex of its flight. That is at least 20 feet lower than most home runs.
The Padres remain last in the major leagues with 59 first-inning runs. Their 18 home runs in the first inning are tied for 26th.
The Padres won a pair of one-run games against the Yankees after having lost their previous six one-run games.
All right, that’s it for me. Early holiday game time today (2:10 p.m. PT).
Talk to you tomorrow.