Front Row Seat: Tatis Jr. hits 1st HR in a month

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Weekend Recap: Padres bullpen falters & SDFC clinches a playoff spot

Did a bad decision by the Padres manager spoil a good weekend or are we just trying to assign blame for a loss?

Section 1904John Gennaro

San Diego Padres

Padres blow lead built with home runs as Mariners clinch Vedder Cup - San Diego Union-Tribune
The victory was the Mariners’ fourth in four meetings between the teams this season, rendering the remaining two games here this week utterly meaningless.

The Vedder Cup trophy — an actual 1963 Fender guitar designed by Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder, a one-time resident of both San Diego and Seattle — will remain at T-Mobile Park for at least a year.

Still available as consolation prizes for the Padres in 2025 are their first National League West title since 2006, their first back-to-back playoff appearances since 2005-06, their first World Series appearance since 1998 and their first championship ever.

Tatis hoping to start power surge after first HR in a month - MLB.com
Over the last month, Fernando Tatis Jr. has been a perfectly useful leadoff man. In the calendar month leading up to Monday’s 9-6 loss to the Mariners at T-Mobile Park, Tatis had reached base at a .406 clip. He’d been a constant threat on the bases. The Padres were 18-9 in that span.

Then again, he didn’t look much like Fernando Tatis Jr. during that stretch. Namely, because he wasn’t hitting home runs.

That changed on Monday night. Tatis snapped the longest homerless drought of his career at 128 plate appearances with his 416-foot drive just to the right of straightaway center field.

Home Field Advantage - Letters to A.J.
Luis Arraez has continued to occupy the 2nd spot in the order, and this late in the season it’s fair to continue to question whether this is the optimal way to deploy him. 2025 has been far and away the worst season of Arraez’s career. We’ve written about this extensively, but there’s reason to continue to explore this, because the season is in its final stages, and conversations about Arraez seem to be stuck in a rut. There are two camps locked in internecine discourse about Arraez, we’ll call them the ‘Three-time Batting Champion’ camp and the ‘Singles Merchant’ camp. And both are overlooking what should be the focus of discussion of Arraez’s role on the 2025 Padres.

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