Predictions from 10 members of our staff on how the 2025 season will go for the San Diego Padres. 

The 2024 season ended abruptly as the San Diego Padres lost in the NLDS to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

A 24-inning scoreless streak doomed the Padres after they built a 2-1 advantage in the five-game series.

It happens. Baseball is like that. Streaks can make or break a season. For the Padres, the ending was brutal as the team looked dominating at times during the season. The bullpen was unhittable, the offense was productive, and all seemed to be clicking for the Padres.

The winter was difficult for San Diego as Jurickson Profar, Kyle Higashioka, Ha-Seong Kim, and Tanner Scott all left via free agency. The Padres also lost out on the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes and endured an ownership drama that still has yet to be settled.

Late in the off-season, A.J. Preller made several additions to the roster. Connor Joe, Jason Heyward, Martin Maldonado, Gavin Sheets, Yuli Gurriel, Kyle Hart, Jose Iglesias, and Nick Pivetta aren’t exactly household names, but each man signed with the Padres late in the free agency season.

The rosters are being finalized as the Padres possess plenty of veteran depth.

Here is a prediction from some of our staff on how the season will go.

Enjoy.

Nick Lee

It’s tough to look at the top of this roster and not say this team could be one of the best in baseball. It’s also tough to look at the rest of the roster and say this team could be one of the best in baseball. The core of Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, and Jackson Merrill, with the top tier of their pitching staff, should keep this team afloat and in contention for most of the summer. Where the season might make or break is if A.J. Preller can pull a Houdini act at the trade deadline for big upgrades down the stretch for a run at a World Series. But as is, this is a fringe N.L. Wild Card team with depth concerns.

PREDICTION- 85-77   FRINGE N.L. WILD CARD

James Clark

The season will start roughly as the Padres determine who the contributors will be for the 2025 season. A few men will be DFA’d by May, but by the end of that month the roster and lineups will be set by manager Mike Shildt. There will be a trade at some point to further complicate things on the roster. However, depth is key to a successful season and the Padres work through their roster issues. Yu Darvish will be injured for most of the season, but Stephen Kolek will prove valuable as an innings eaters. Nick Pivetta will emerge under the guidance of Ruben Niebla and the bullpen will become a strength of the team going down the stretch. Kyle Hart will also play a big role in the Padres returning to the playoffs.

PREDICTION- 85-77   N.L. WILD CARD 

Will Eskridge

I believe the Padres have enough at the top of their lineup to finish with a record of 87-75. They will grab a N.L. Wild Card spot. The bullpen is still very good. They have a couple strong starting pitchers that are quality, and their lineup is still star-studded. Overall, the talent is still very strong for San Diego and their relevant players will carry them to the playoffs in 2025.

PREDICTION- 87-75   N.L. WILD CARD

Glen Miller

The Padres will contend for a N.L. Wild Card but if they fall short, a lack of depth will likely prove to be the culprit. Spring training ailments to Matt Waldron and Yu Darvish only exacerbates the lack of quality rotation options in the organization. The team also subtracted MLB All-Star Jurickson Profar as well as Kyle Higashioka from what was a fairly balanced lineup a year ago. In their places, the team is starting the season with Jason Heyward and Brandon Lockridge in left field. That is with noted offensive stalwarts (sarcasm) Elias Diaz and Martin Maldonado behind the dish. Fact is, with Gavin Sheets in line to get much of the early action at DH, would it be surprise anyone for the Friars to get below average offensive production from 1/3 or more of their starting nine?

PREDICTION- 85 – 77   MISS N.L. WILD CARD

Mike Ursery

The Padres’ success this season hinges on key players staying healthy and performing as expected. King and Cease being dominant, the bullpen holding leads, and the lineup consistently producing all need to happen if this team wants to get back to the postseason. It’s like a machine with several moving parts. If any parts break, the machine stops working.

PREDICTION- 86-76   N.L. WILD CARD

Armando Duenas

First and foremost, the stars need to be stars. If Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. can get off to hot starts and Xander Bogaerts can find the Red Sox version of himself again, it could certainly mean a hot start for the rest of the Padres’ lineup. Rotation wise, as long as Dylan Cease and Michael King pitch to their ace potential and back-end starters such as Nick Pivetta and Kyle Hart provide quality starts in the absence of Yu Darvish, the Friars should have a chance to win ballgames regularly. And lastly, the veterans need to contribute. A.J Preller nailed the signings of Donovan Solano and David Peralta last season. Jason Heyward, Yuli Gurriel, and Jose Iglesias need to provide some sort of contribution to replicate last season’s contributions. All in all, the Friars have a ways to get back to 93 victories.

PREDICTION- 89-73   N.L. WILD CARD

Greg Hoadley

As their roster stands right now, the Padres should win around 85 games. This is assuming that Tatis and Machado perform as they are capable of performing, Yu Darvish isn’t out for longer than a few months, Xander Bogaerts can have a bounce-back season, and Jackson Merrill improves upon his 2024 numbers. While there are lots of reasons for optimism, the Padres have less margin for error than that team up the road on I-5.

PREDICTION- 85-77   N.L. WILD CARD

Willy Warren

The Padres’ 2025 outlook is quite the puzzle. The strengths are easily the front-end production from Arraez, Merrill, Tatis Jr., and Machado, and the despite Tanner Scott’s departure, the bullpen still projects out to be a top-10 unit. Beyond that, Cronenworth and Bogaerts have somewhat of an expectable floor, before you get into the messy situation in left field and behind home plate. I see 2025 as a battle to just get in. The roster construction favors San Diego in the postseason, just as it did last season. However, it will be far more of a grind this time around, and even better injury luck than last season will be crucial to maintain consistency, especially within the rotation.

PREDICTION- 88-74   N.L. WILD CARD

Al Scott

The Padres are very top heavy. Luis Arraez will hit at least .330, claiming his 4th straight batting title. Big seasons and more specifically, consistency from Tatis, Machado and Bogaerts will be paramount to having a top 10 offense again. The rotation is good enough to win a playoff series but getting enough quality innings from the backend will be interesting. I expect an acquisition of a starter at the trade deadline, in addition to a lefty reliever.

PREDICTION- 88-74   N.L. WILD CARD

Loren Casuto

After one of the most underwhelming off-seasons in franchise history, where the team lost three serious contributors and replaced them with basically nothing, the Padres will be rolling the dice on the same formula as last year. Hope their big stars truly perform to their level, hope the middling free agents they brought in will catch lightning in a bottle and hope that some of the (few) young players they have take big strides. They got very lucky and successful in 2024, but I don’t see lightning striking twice. Not with the massive holes they have in their rotation and especially the bottom of their order. I’m expecting them to miss the playoffs and likely sell off some pieces by the trade deadline to try and retool.

PREDICTION- 75-87   NO PLAYOFFS

James Clark

James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. James has written about the Padres and their prospects for over a decade. He also writes about San Diego State as well as other local sports. James is the Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.