The San Diego Padres are just two games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL West division lead. But, there are still some issues with the roster that need to be improved to become serious contenders.
San Diego’s biggest issue is the team’s inability to hit home runs. The New York Yankees have the most home runs this season with 182. The Dodgers are second in home runs this season with 170. The Padres are in 29th with just 98 home runs.
They need to find a solution to their home run hitting woes, and fast. As Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report revealed, such a solution might be in-house already, thanks to A.J. Preller’s wheeling and dealing at the trade deadline.
“But they acquired Ryan O’Hearn, Ramon Laureano, Freddy Fermin, and Will Wagner ahead of the trade deadline and just kind of need to hope that helps solve the problem.” Miller writes.
Wagner hasn’t made his Padres debut yet, and Fermin has just three home runs on the year and isn’t a power-hitting catcher. But the other two additions should help the Padres’ home run total creep up the leaderboards.
MORE: Padres trade Ryan Bergert, Stephen Kolek to Royals for a new catcher
In O’Hearn’s 13 at-bats for the Padres this season, he has one home run and two hits. He’s struggled a bit, but his home run helped defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks and get the Padres to within two games of the Dodgers.
Laureano, on the other hand, has been great for the Padres. While he also has just one home run, across his 26 at-bats for the Padres in six games, he has nine hits and five RBIs.
This year, O’Hearn has 14 home runs while Laureano has 16. They can help contribute to the Padres’ improved home run total, and should help the lineup be more competitive from top to bottom.
But, hitters like Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill, and Xander Bogaerts need to hit more home runs. While they won’t catch the Dodgers or any team in the top half of the league in home runs, they can begin to hit the long ball more.
It’s the biggest issue plaguing the team, and while they’ve had some success recently thanks to O’Hearn, Laureano, and Boggaerts, they still need to see more power-hitting this season to contend with the top teams come October.
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