Coming into the 2026 season, analysts and critics weren’t too sure about the San Diego Padres.

Some were way high on them, having them in the top ten conversation, while others had them potentially in the fifteen-twenty range.

If you had told any of them that, through fifty games, Fernando Tatis Jr. hadn’t hit a home run yet, Jackson Merrill was having one of the worst stints of plate appearances of his career, and Manny Machado was hitting below the Mendoza line, the critics would have them at the bottom of the league.

But what makes great teams sometimes isn’t the stars but “the other guys.”

Just like in the famous movie with Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell, the other guys have possibly saved the Padres and could pay dividends in the dog days of 2026. Now the big names in the bullpen and starting rotation have played a massive part, but these offensive players weren’t even thought of having this big of an impact early on. Their impact is to hopefully keep the Padres afloat until the stars play to their full potential.

Miguel Andujar: .289 Average, 5 Homeruns, 17 RBI’s, .813 OPS

Coming into the year, fans knew Miguel Andujar was going to be a vital piece to the puzzle. A great bat that can help provide depth and give guys days off, and produce at a level that is good enough to win. Well, Miguel Andujar is now an everyday bat for San Diego. His ability to create great plate appearances, while also punishing the baseball, has made him a player that you just can’t take out of the lineup.

One of the indicators that you are gonna be a guy for the team is how you perform against the team up North. Andujar, in his first series vs the Dodgers, hit two home runs, with one of them being the only run of the game in a 1-0 victory. In the series vs the Brewers, Andujar recorded a single with two outs in the top of the ninth. Two batters later, the Padres would have a 3-1 lead.

Miguel Andujar opens the scoring for San Diego ? pic.twitter.com/xb9bMeCFKK

— MLB (@MLB) May 19, 2026

His stats, including being first on the team in batting average with hitters that have 100+ at-bats, second in extra base hits, second in multiple hit games, third in total hits, first in doubles, and first in triples, show you the impact his bat has had for this team. Andujar started the year as a platoon guy, so he doesn’t even have as many at-bats as some guys on the team. He has been an extraordinary addition and is going to be a main reason this team is always in the fight to win a game.

Gavin Sheets: .254 Average, 9 Homeruns, 23 RBI’s, .857 OPS

If you could handout a MVP for the Padres’ offense through this first half today, it is Gavin Sheets. He has been cold as ice in the big moment, in a good way. Sheets last year was a good player who fans fell in love with. The chant Holy Sheets can be heard in almost every game the Padres play, home or away. But he has earned this as his play this season has been phenomenal.

Early on, it wasn’t sunshine and rainbows for Sheets. But on April 10, that all changed.

Gavin Sheets recorded his first home run of the season in the bottom of the fifth to get the Padres on board first over the Colorado Rockies. That’s just the appetizer to what would come later. The Padres had a 2-0 lead all the way till the eighth. The bullpen had trouble and squandered the lead as the Rockies tied it up. Bottom of the ninth, one out, runners on the corners, and Gavin Sheets would unload on a ball over the fence to walk it off at Petco Park and give the Padres the win. This came the night after Xander Bogaerts had a walk-off grand slam; the cardiac Padres were being born.

Fast forward to April 23, the Padres trailed the Rockies 8-4 with six outs left in the ballgame. In the ninth, they got it within one. Sheets comes up to bat on his 30th birthday and deposits another three-run homerun to give the Padres the lead and ultimately the win 10-8. However, he wasn’t done with clutch homeruns yet. On the road, May 13 against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Padres trailed 1-0 and were down to their final out. With runners on first and second, Gavin Sheets hit a three-run blast to give the Padres the 3-1 lead and the win after Mason Miller slammed the door shut.

GAVIN SHEETS 9th-INNING HEROICS

Down to their last out, the @Padres have rallied! pic.twitter.com/yO0CxqvN33

— MLB (@MLB) May 14, 2026

That’s three games where, without Gavin Sheets, we are talking about a totally different season right now. He leads the Padres in home runs, slug %, OPS, and OBP with hitters that have had 100+ at-bats this year. Second in RBI’s with twenty-three and hitting .407 with runners in scoring position. It’s hard to explain the importance Sheets has had, and hopefully, Holy Sheets is a Padre for a while.

Nick Castellanos: .198 Average, 3 Homeruns, 19 RBI’s, .593 OPS

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” is the perfect way to describe Nick Castellanos for the Padres this season. While he isn’t the prolific player he once was, he has played his role perfectly. While the batting average and the everyday playing time aren’t the same, Castellanos always possesses a great at-bat in big moments with runners in scoring position.

The most notable play so far in his tenure is the game-winning two-run home run in the series finale vs the St. Louis Cardinals. A nine-pitch at-bat with two outs in a game where the Padres hadn’t even scored a run, and he comes through to give the team a chance to win in extras, which they did. Even the other night vs the Athletics, he hit a game tying homerun in the fifth, which ended up helping the team get the win.

NICK CASTELLANOS TIES IT WITH A TWO-RUN HOMER IN THE NINTH!

(Via: @MLB) pic.twitter.com/q4VXuwWObq

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) May 10, 2026

People might critique the defense, but his offense is what is really valuable to the Padres. Castellanos is second on the team in RBIs with runners in scoring position (16), while batting .286 in those situations. But one stat that won’t be highlighted in the stat sheet is the impact he makes as a veteran leader. Many questioned the fit of Nick Castellanos with the Padres, but it seems he fits seamlessly.

A quote from his postgame interview after the Cardinals’ comeback win with 97.3 The Fans, Sammy Levitt, Castellanos says, “I don’t think chemistry is overrated…in those big moments, we’re really pulling for each other.” Those are words from a person who understands and impacts this clubhouse in all the right ways.

Ty France: .278 Average, 4 Homeruns, 14 RBI’s, .824 OPS

This former Padre came back and benefited the team in a big way. Ty France had a stretch where he was on fire offensively. But if we are all being honest, the offense is just a bonus that comes with the glove. The A.L. Gold Glove winner at first base last season, France has always been an elite defender, and this season has been just as excellent. But his bat has been the factor that has really helped this struggling Padres offense.

Ty France had an excellent April at the plate, batting .310 with a .975 OPS. His biggest impact was in game one of the Mexico City series vs the Arizona Diamondbacks. Trailing 4-0 early, France hit a solo shot to get the Padres on the board. This sparked the offense as they would go on and take the lead 5-4. But France would put the cherry on top of the win with another solo shot to add insurance and help the team secure game one in Mexico. He would have seven RBI’s in three games after that showing.

Ty France connects for a home run in the #MexicoCitySeries ? pic.twitter.com/cvppNgV1W3

— MLB (@MLB) April 25, 2026

His stats on this team have been excellent in the slimmed-down amount of playing time he has gotten. Batting .288 with 14 RBI’s, with a .310 average when runners are in scoring position. Add the offense to the defensive steadiness of a .995 fielding percentage, and multiple times picking throws in big situations to bail out his fellow infielder.  They had to pay 1.35 million to get this guy who has made this big of an impact.

Luis Campusano: .288 Average, 3 Homeruns, 10 RBI’s, .958 OPS (Been on IL since May 6th)

Even though we haven’t heard from Luis Campusano for a while due to an IL stint, he deserves his flowers for impact. Everyone wrote Campusano off and believed a change was coming. But one hit in Boston changed the dynamics for the catcher, and we haven’t looked back since.

April 3, 2026, will be a day that Padres fans will look back on if Campusano comes back and continues his production the way it was before going on the injured list. In a loss, Luis Campusano hit a double off the green monster. That seems random that it’s labeled as a big play, but in the big picture, it was a weight taken off Campusano’s shoulders. That hit broke a 0-for-32 slump. Since then, Campusano is hitting .336 with three home runs and was the main catcher before he suffered a fracture in his big toe.

Luis Campusano is on the board in the hits column, and the Padres have tied the game at 2 in the fifth. pic.twitter.com/IeKTTBVtdN

— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) April 3, 2026

The extra base hits are where his bat has been valuable; ten of his fifteen hits are for extra bases. A great OBP of .362 and an OPS of .958 have all the right things trending for him; he just needs to get healthy and come back producing right where he left off.

Other notable contributions

Rodolfo Duran is a pleasant surprise as the replacement for Campusano while he is on the injured list. Duran was finding his footing early on. After getting his first major league hit — a home run — following eleven seasons in the minor leagues, he has emerged. Feels like every at-bat is a battle that ends in a walk or a hard hit that falls in or is an out. His OBP since he notched the first hit is through the roof.

But he caught the Padres’ eye with his defense, catching five guys stealing in five games played. An elite knowledge of the zone helps with the ABS challenge system, which saved Mason Miller in a closing situation vs the Dodgers. He has made the decision-making process at catcher tough for Manager Craig Stammen when Campusano comes back.

Gotta show some love to Rodolfo Durán. Helped navigate a shutout. Threw two runners out. 3 for 3 on ABS challenges. Hit a ball 108.3 mph. Long PA to walk. Almost had a hustle single. I’m a fan. pic.twitter.com/Tu4IkS1Mou

— Giannis Auntiegotapoodle (@TooMuchMortons_) May 19, 2026

One last guy who deserves praise as a name people weren’t expecting to emerge is reliever Bradgley Rodriguez. He has played a multitude of roles this season, high leverage situations, low leverage situations, opener, whatever you need, he can do. Rodriguez is the bullpen swiss army knife and has posted outstanding numbers early on. Twenty-four and a third innings pitched, with twenty strikeouts, a 3.3 strikeout to walk ratio, along with a 1.48 ERA, have been very impactful for the dominant bullpen that just keeps adding studs.

All these guys have made such big plays that this season almost feels lost without them. Multiple games won by their individual efforts alone have made this start wild to imagine. Their contributions will hopefully be a major talking point after a historic season for this team. However, that will not happen if the big money guys don’t show up. The other guys have done their job to help keep the season alive and be ten games above .500 through fifty games. It’s time for the superstars to come alive and take this good start and run with it in hopes of an unforgettable season in the city of San Diego.

Wyatt Dearen

Hi Padres fans, I’m Wyatt Dearen. I am from Farmington, New Mexico, which is home to one of the most prestigious high school baseball tournaments in America, the Connie Mack World Series. When it comes around, I do color and statistics for the radio. I am currently pursuing a degree in Sports Administration at the University of Houston #GoCoogs. I have been a sports fan my whole life, following all the major sports leagues since I could walk, and it has been my dream my whole life to work in sports. Thankful to write about the team and for the East VillageTimes.