The Padres are beat up and outmanned. They need what remaining healthy starters they have left to step up. Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts have not carried the team as hoped.

When the Padres handed four-time All-Star Xander Bogaerts a massive 11-year, $280 million deal, the expectation was that he continued being one of the best shortstops in baseball. At times, that would mean carrying the Padres when others were struggling or hurt—Ditto for Manny Machado, who signed an 11-year, $350 million extension before the 2023 season.

With Jackson Merrill, Luis Arraez, Jake Cronenworth, and Jason Heyward all on the injured list, most of them for an extended period, the Padres need everyone else to step up.

The two of the Padres’ top three paid players are not pulling their weight. Just when the team needs them most, they are shrinking.

Bogaerts has been, frankly, dreadful this season. Now, with basically one-third of the lineup on the shelf, it sticks out like a snowplow in La Jolla. He is hitting for virtually zero power, ranking 105th in slugging percentage among 128 MLB hitters with at least 100 plate appearances this season.

Over his last 15 games, he is batting .184 with a measly .546 OPS.

He has just four extra-base hits in the entire month of April. He hasn’t driven in a run since April 8.

His last home run came on September 21 of last year.

Machado isn’t excused either. Yes, he is hitting for better average and slug than Bogaerts, at .272 with a .760 OPS this year. However, in the last 15 games, a stretch where the Padres have been decimated by injuries, he is slumping to a .208 average and .629 OPS. He has just two homers this year, and just one since April 9.

In Machado’s corner is his experience and track record in a Padres uniform. He has had slow starts before and broken out of it. Not counting the shortened 2020 season, he has never hit less than 28 homers or had less than a .782 OPS with the Padres.

Bogaerts is drawing the ire of the fanbase more than anyone else at the moment. He has mostly failed to deliver in a Padres uniform since coming over from Boston over a consistent stretch of a season.

Bogaerts’ barrel rate is in the 8th percentile to start 2025, which is very concerning. His .684 OPS would be his worst in a decade over a full season.

And this is not just about Bogaerts’ bat. His poor defense at shortstop, a position he openly prefers, has cost San Diego several runs and perhaps even a loss or two. His Outs Above Average checks in at the 18th percentile level.

All this, while the Padres toil in an epic slump. Since beating the Cubs 10-4 on April 14, they have scored 23 runs in 11 games. Yes, that’s barely over two runs per game in nearly two weeks.

Everyone deserves a stern look over the last few weeks, except No. 23, Fernando Tatis Jr. Over the same 15-game span where Bogaerts and Machado are flopping, Tatis owns a .333 batting average, six home runs, and a 1.094 OPS. He’s playing like an MVP.

Indeed, the injured list for the Padres is longer than some surfboards you see near the Oceanside pier. However, the veterans still in the lineup are leaving too much meat on the bone.

If the Padres can’t snap out of their funk soon, they will have given back all the ground they gained with their hot start to the season. They need to maintain their solid stretch of play by being something in between their white-hot start and whatever this is that fans are watching now. It’s time for two of the highest-paid players on the roster to earn their paychecks.

Nick Lee

Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.