Yu Darvish’s long-awaited debut for the 2025 season finally arrived, and it’s coming at a time when the San Diego Padres desperately need a spark. Last night, he pitched 3.2 innings and gave up two earned runs, striking out five. Darvish is joining one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, as the team ranks 4th in the National League in both ERA and WHIP.
Darvish will definitely help the bullpen, which looks to be a bit burned out after a lights-out start to the season, as he can pitch deep into games. Even though the Padres’ starting depth has stepped up, they’ve struggled to eat up innings. With Darvish returning and King working back up, this Padres team will soon be at full force health-wise for the first time this year.
Unfortunately, that won’t be enough to flip the switch for the Friars, who have teetered around .500 for the past couple of months.
Padres’ Biggest Weaknesses
Before diving into what AJ Preller should do at the deadline, it’s important to look at what they need. Well, it’s pretty obvious. Offense, offense, offense. The pitching staff has proven to have the overall depth, front-line starters, and elite high-leverage arms in the bullpen. They definitely could benefit from adding a lefty reliever, but that isn’t the priority.
They need more offensive production, specifically at the catcher position and in left field. Gavin Sheets has been a godsend this year and recently has taken over as the everyday left fielder, but he’s ideally a designated hitter. The Padres must bring in some high-level bats if they are going to improve from being the third-lowest scoring offense in the NL.
Unfortunately, the farm system doesn’t have a ton to offer outside of highly ranked Leo De Vries and Ethan Salas. They could muster some trades to improve, but it will be hard to outbid other teams to land the guys who are actually able to move the needle.
Time to Trade Away Dylan Cease?
As with every trade deadline, playoff teams are desperately looking to add pitching. This year will be no different. Plus, there doesn’t look to be many front-line starters available in trades.
The Padres need to have a legitimate discussion about trading away Dylan Cease. The former Cy-Young runner-up will be a free agent this offseason, and he has struggled this year. Over 18 starts, Cease has a 4.62 ERA and 1.325 WHIP. The reality is that losing Cease wouldn’t be that hard to stomach. With Darvish and King returning, they have enough pitching depth. Randy Vasquez, Stephen Kolek, Ryan Bergert, and Kyle Hart have all flashed potential this season. While it’s not perfect, they can combine to fill the 4th and 5th starting spots in the rotation.
If the Padres trade Cease, some fans would think that the team is selling and trying to get what it can before he walks in free agency, but that wouldn’t be the case. Despite Cease’s numbers this season, he would garner a decent return due to the light market and his past production. The Padres could then immediately use the acquired capital to improve the offense. Trade Cease, add a catcher and a couple of other solid bats, and you look up to see that the Padres are a better overall team with a similarly ranked farm system.
There’s no doubt it would be a risky move on the pitching front, but it may very well be worth it to get this offense going. As it stands, the Padres just aren’t a good team. If they want to change that, they may need to make a bold move like this soon.
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