Padres-Mets Series Preview: Can San Diego get back on track?
Brady Charette
Host · Writer
SAN DIEGO — What began as one of baseball's hottest starts has turned into the Padres' worst slump in nearly five years.
After starting the season 19-9 and leading the NL West on May 19, San Diego has hit a wall. Since their 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers to improve to 29-18, the Padres have dropped 11 of their last 14 games and fallen seven games back of the division-leading Dodgers.
At the heart of the skid? An offense searching for answers.
San Diego (32-29, 3rd in NL West) returns home to Petco Park for a three-game set with the New York Mets ranking last in batting average, runs batted in and on-base percentage in Major League Baseball. The Padres also own the second-worst slugging percentage and strikeout 23.6% of the time, good for the fifth-worst mark in the league.
Over the last 10 games, San Diego has posted a 1-9 record and averaged 2.6 runs per game — scoring more than four runs just once over that span. Six of those nine losses against the red-hot Philadelphia Phillies who handed San Diego a season-series sweep, something that hasn't happened since 2005. Although Philadelphia's starting rotation is among the best in MLB, San Diego only being to muster nine runs in six games highlights a major issue.
San Diego's superstars are not performing.
Despite ending one of the most drawn out storylines of the season with a 451-blast in Saturday's 9-4 loss against the Washington Nationals, Fernando Tatis Jr. has managed just one home run in 60 games this season. To put that into perspective, Tatis Jr. launched 17 homers in 59 games during the shortened 2020 season. His inability to generate the big swing in crucial late-inning moments, that has lifted this franchise over the course of the last seven seasons, has not come this year.
Another major storyline has been the struggles of San Diego's young centerfielder. Jackson Merrill, who entered the season looking to find his breakout rookie year form, has failed to produce in the heart of the San Diego lineup. Through 58 games, the 23-year-old outfielder has posted a .207/.280/.341 slash line — all of which are the worst of his young career. His OPS has fallen from .826 his rookie year to .621 this season. The wRC+ sits at 77, way below league average. He is on pace for lowest home run total of his career.
Perhaps the biggest shock has come from San Diego's 300-million dollar third baseman, who is having by far the worst season of his 15-year career.
Prior to 2026, Manny Machado had never posted a batting average under .250 in his big league career. In 58 games this season, the 33-year old is hitting just .174 with an OBP 32 points below his previous career-low. Despite leading the team in home runs, Machado has struggled significantly in almost every other area — owning the highest strikeout percentage of his career at 23.7%. Since 2013, Machado has owned a wRC+ above league above. This season it sits at 76, one below Merrill's.
San Diego got away with the stars struggling early in the season with a steady rotation and an elite bullpen. Now, the cracks are starting to show.
The Padres will look to bounce back against the New York Mets (27-35, 5th in NL East), a team who owns a poor 12-20 record on the road this season. Despite owning the league's top payroll at $383.5 million, the Mets enter the series last in the NL East and sit 14.5 games back of the first-place Atlanta Braves.
While New York is eight games under the .500 mark in early June, they have won five of the last seven games with the help of an offense scoring 36 runs in those victories.
Bo Bichette, who signed with New York in the offseason, has moved over to shortstop to fill in for the injured Francisco Lindor who is on the 10-day IL with a calf injury. Bichette had his best day as a Met in Thursday's 7-1 win over the Seattle Mariners, going 4-4 with three RBI's.
Even with the recent surge, New York remains one of baseball's weakest offensive clubs, ranking 28th in batting average, 29th in on-base percentage and 30th in slugging percentage.
The strength of both San Diego and New York will come from its starting pitching in this series. Each team owns a top 10 ERA in MLB while New York possess the fourth highest K/9 at 9.33.
This series represents a chance for San Diego to regain some of that early season success while New York looks to continue its momentum over the last week and use it to secure the series victory away from Citi Field since May 6 against Colorado.
Game 1- Friday June 5, 2026 | 6:40 p.m. PT
San Diego Starter: RHP Michael King (4-4, 3.18 ERA, 1.13 WHIP) vs. New York Starter: RHP Christian Scott (1-0, 2.97 ERA, 1.38 WHIP)
Game 2- Saturday June 6, 2026 | 7:10 p.m. PT
San Diego Starter: RHP Griffin Canning (0-4, 7.16 ERA, 1.55 WHIP) vs. New York Starter: RHP Nolan McLean (3-4, 4.21 ERA, 1.12 WHIP)
Game 3- Sunday June 7, 2026 | 1:10 p.m. PT
San Diego Starter: RHP Randy Vasquez (5-3, 3.31 ERA, 1.22 WHIP) vs. New York Starter: LHP Sean Manaea (0-1, 5.08 ERA, 1.46 WHIP)
Injury Report
San Diego: RHP Nick Pivetta 60-day injured list (forearm), LF Ramon Laureano 10-day injuried list (inflammation), RHP German Marquez 15-day injured list (forearm), Jake Cronenworth 7-day injuries list (concussion).
New York: 1B Jorge Polanco 10-day injuried list (Achillies/Wrist), C Francisco Alvarez 10-day injuried list (knee), RHP Kodai Senga 15-day injured list (spine), CF Luis Robert Jr. 60-day injuried list (back), SS Francisco Lindor 10-day injuried list (calf).
