Thursday marked the first off day in San Diego since trade-deadline activity brought a handful of new Padres into the fold.
The local tourism board certainly knows how to sell America’s Finest City, but word of mouth is generally as convincing as anything if Casey Mize, Robbie Ray and Austin Hays are looking for recommendations for the best ways to enjoy their new city during pauses in the schedule.
A sea lion basks in the sun in La Jolla, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)
Naturally, the water is a draw for many a Padre and tourist.
Sung-Mun Song is a bit of both in his first year playing in the United States.
“I visit La Jolla Cove because of the sea lions,” Song said through interpreter Juneseo Yi. “That was my first time actually seeing sea lions in nature.”
Ty France and Mason Miller had enjoyed the beach at Coronado with their families (before the pollution issues), Jackson Merrill likes to walk in the surf with his girlfriend and Jake Cronenworth often cruises along the waterfront on his bike.
John Maher does a cutback while surfing on a wave in La Jolla during an extended Beach Hazards Statement for high surf on June 10, 2026 in San Diego, CA. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Reliever David Morgan loves the water, except he knows better than to surf during the baseball season.
“It’s not worth it,” said Morgan, currently deployed to Triple-A El Paso. “When I’m not surfing consistently, I get really sore from it. But on an off-day I’ll just hang out at the beach … or golf at The Farms.”
Count Griffin Canning and Gavin Sheets among those he could run into on a green in Rancho Santa Fe. Sheets was there a couple of weeks ago with dad, former big-leaguer Larry Sheets, and holed out on a par-3.
“Just a really fun course,” the younger Sheets said. “I have a hole-in-one there, so it’s easily become one of my favorite courses.”
Michael King and his family enjoy trying different restaurants.
“That’s our favorite thing in general,” King said. “We had to change our palate coming from New York to San Diego, because New York is very Italian, steak, that kind of food. We came over here and we tried that and it was good, but they’re like, ‘No, no, no. The best places you can go for are Mexican and fish.’
“So those are now our favorite places to go.”
Jeremiah Estrada and his fiancé frequent Buga Korean BBQ, while rookie reliever Bradgley Rodriguez and his wife have a favorite spot, too: Argentinian steakhouse Piedra Santa.
“We just like the way that they cut the steaks for us,” Rodriguez said through interpreter Jorge Merlos, “and they’ve always treated us nice there ever since the first time.”
San Diego is home to a number of attractions — from SeaWorld to Legoland to Sesame Place — that lure Padres with young kids or simply players who remain young at heart.
The entrance to the San Diego Zoo in San Diego on Thursday, July 23, 2026. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The San Diego Zoo has been a staple in reliever Adrián Morejón’s off-day rotation since he debuted as a 20-year-old in 2019.
“All the years I’ve spent here, I come like four, five, six times a year,” Morejón said. “Every time I have family in town, we all go to the zoo.”
The same goes for fellow left-hander Kyle Hart, who’s developed a bit of an evening off-day routine designed to entertain his 3-year-old daughter.
“She loves the zoo nights where they do the parade and all that stuff,” Hart said. “So we’ll go eat dinner, see a couple animals, and then watch the parade.”