SAN DIEGO — A borderline call had just gone against him when Xander Bogaerts tapped the top of his helmet in the bottom of the first inning. There were two outs and none on, and the San Diego Padres shortstop was challenging a first-pitch strike that had pulled Brandon Valenzuela’s glove across the zone.A few seconds later, the video board at Petco Park confirmed Kevin Gausman’s fastball had indeed clipped the inner half of the plate. Angry at himself, Bogaerts tapped his helmet again, this time with his bat.Padres hitters entered Sunday’s first-half finale with a 42 percent success rate on Automated Ball-Strike system challenges, fourth worst in the majors. They left it, a 5-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, with a .500 winning percentage.Three weeks before the trade deadline, they are 48-48. It is far from clear which way the rest of their season will go. Or what direction A.J. Preller, their famously aggressive general manager, will ultimately choose.“It’s A.J. Who knows?” right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. said. “Anything can be in play. Probably even me.”He laughed.“No, I’m kidding. But let’s see what happens.”
Oh, Nando 👀 pic.twitter.com/BRlD3QMXQw
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 12, 2026The Padres have played at a 65-win pace over their past 50 games. They are hitting .226/.302/.370 despite weeks of gradual improvement. In a recent 10-game span, they were outscored by 51 runs. Their rotation is hanging by a thread; only one starter, Michael King, has completed six innings since June 4. FanGraphs has their postseason odds at roughly 12 percent.And they are 3 1/2 games back of a wild-card spot.“We’re going to go in open-minded about, you know, whether it’s acquiring players or kind of looking at if we have to go another direction,” Preller said. “I think all those things are on the table.”Preller spoke Saturday after selecting a high schooler, 6-foot-6 right-hander Coleman Borthwick, with his top draft pick for a 10th year in a row. He is never afraid to go against convention, often prizing upside over safe bets, and that approach has helped create one of the most exciting eras in the Padres’ largely nondescript history.It has also led to a second-half implosion and, three years ago, months of steady disappointment. Now, a rookie manager with no previous coaching credentials is trying to prevent a repeat of 2021 and 2023.“There’s ups and downs, and my job is to not ride the ups and downs,” Craig Stammen said. “I try to do that as best I can. Am I perfect at it? Nope, but it’s a lot of fun trying to be as good as I can at it.”
