{"id":264271,"date":"2026-04-12T18:04:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T18:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/264271\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T18:04:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T18:04:15","slug":"san-diego-padres-players-react-to-new-city-connect-uniforms-sportslogos-net-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/264271\/","title":{"rendered":"San Diego Padres players react to new City Connect uniforms \u2013 SportsLogos.Net News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

When Gavin Sheets deposited his second home run of the night in the right field seats at San Diego\u2019s PetCo Park on Friday, it gave the Padres a 5\u20132 walkoff win against the Colorado Rockies\u2014a successful ending to an evening when the team debuted its new City Connect uniforms. Before the game, as players prepared to take the field in the new uniforms for the first time, they shared their thoughts with members of the media, including SportsLogos.net.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

While the Padres\u2019 second generation of City Connect uniforms repurpose some of the colors and typography from the first City Connects the team wore from 2023 to 2025, there\u2019s one significant new element in 2026\u2014the inclusion of Catrina, a skeletal character who has become a symbol of the Mexican tradition of D\u00eda de los Muertos. The Catrina design element appears as a sleeve patch on the jersey and was highlighted prominently in the ballpark throughout Friday evening\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jeremiah Estrada<\/p>\n

\u201cI love that it\u2019s part of \u2026 Mexican culture, I love what the meaning of it is,\u201d said Padres reliever Jeremiah Estrada, who is Mexican-American. \u201cTo see that this organization and team is putting the thought and effort into the culture, that\u2019s what means the most.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI really like the concept of what these uniforms are and the relationship that it has to San Diego and to Mexico as well,\u201d said Cuban-born relief pitcher Adrian Morejon through a translator. \u201cThey\u2019re connecting in a big way, so with the previous uniforms and with these uniforms, I really like them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t see that coming,\u201d said reliever Kyle Hart, who pitched a scoreless 7th inning in the new uniform on Friday. \u201cI think it\u2019s a nice touch that kind of kept people on their toes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Catrina\u2019s significance to Mexican culture originated in the mid-19th-century, when Mexican political satirist Jos\u00e9 Guadalupe Posada created the figure to criticize the country\u2019s wealthy elite. Two-time All Star Nick Castellanos, a newcomer to the Padres after four seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, was a bit less introspective than some of his teammates about the inclusion of Catrina in the new City Connect identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this chick\u2019s kind of cool,\u201d Castellanos said, gesturing to the sleeve patch. \u201cThe candles and everything. I think it\u2019s kind of nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Nick Castellanos<\/p>\n

Several of the Padres players identified the color palette as an important design element of the new City Connect uniforms. In particular, reliever David Morgan, who is from southern California and was raised a Padres fan, tied the colors to his childhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad grew up watching them in these colors, and those were the jerseys that we always saw in the house,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cAll the old memorabilia and stuff that we had in the house was navy and orange.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Fernando Tatis, Jr.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe colors, they play right, especially the hat,\u201d said Fernando Tatis, Jr., three-time All Star and the Padres\u2019 longest-tenured player. \u201cI feel like there\u2019s some feeling, some old school baseball, some really great memories on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cSan Diego\u2019s got a lot of history and I think they did a great job pulling that out,\u201d said first-baseman Ty France, who debuted with the Padres in 2019, then spent time in Seattle, Cincinnati, Minnesota, and Toronto before returning to San Diego this season. \u201cI know the ones last year and years prior were very vibrant, upbeat, and fun. These are a little more subtle but I still think they come across and send a good message.\u201d<\/p>\n

While some Major Leaguers have opinions on the overall aesthetics of the uniforms they wear and the significance of certain design elements, ultimately, most players keep their focus on more pragmatic matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the number one thing with these jerseys is they\u2019re really comfortable,\u201d Kyle Hart said. \u201cSo that\u2019s kind of what the underlying significance is for us, I think, being comfortable out there. So we\u2019re really happy with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Kyle Hart<\/p>\n

Fernando Tatis, Jr., agreed that the uniforms are comfortable, but had one misgiving about the pullover jerseys: \u201cI probably miss the buttons,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The players understand that the City Connect program and the phenomenon of marketing branded team gear are less about them and more about the fans. At a pregame party in Gallagher Square outside the ballpark, many fans were already wearing the new City Connects before the team had taken the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s cool to see the fans interacting with it,\u201d said pitcher Ron Marinaccio. \u201cFor me, walking to the field the other day, yesterday, I saw a line outside the team store, everybody getting their City Connect stuff, getting ready. It\u2019s good to see the fans excited about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Marinaccio reflected, he added one more thought: \u201cBut they\u2019re super comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll have more coverage of the City Connect program, including audio from the Padres clubhouse, on this Wednesday\u2019s episode of the SportsLogos.net podcast. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Gavin Sheets deposited his second home run of the night in the right field seats at San…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264272,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[74,76,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-264271","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-san-diego","9":"tag-san-diego-headlines","10":"tag-san-diego-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}