SAN DIEGO -- Padres left fielder Ramón Laureano sustained a fracture in his right index finger and will be out at least through the Wild Card Series, manager Mike Shildt confirmed after his team’s 3-1 loss to Milwaukee on Wednesday afternoon.
Acquired from Baltimore at the Trade Deadline, Laureano has been one of the Padres’ best hitters over the past two months and was a crucial right-handed bat in a lineup that skews a bit lefty-heavy.
“Listen, winners find solutions,” Shildt said. “Right when we were about to get the band together, this happens. It was one of those things. Ramón has been fantastic for us. … He’s a winning player. It hurts. But we’ve got to figure out a way to move forward, which we will.”
Laureano’s status
Laureano sustained the fracture while taking a swing in the bottom of the second inning. He appeared in obvious discomfort but remained in the game to finish the at-bat, eventually striking out.
Shildt noted that Laureano would be out at least through the Wild Card Series. He wouldn’t offer a timetable beyond that, if the Padres were to advance, but it doesn’t sound particularly optimistic.
“I want to temper expectations,” Shildt said. “But I also want to keep everything on the table. I wouldn’t expect to see him early in the playoffs, but I would hold out hope for later.”
In 132 games this season, Laureano has posted a .281/.342/.512 slash line with 24 home runs. He was dealt from Baltimore to San Diego along with Ryan O’Hearn in exchange for six prospects just before the July 31 Trade Deadline. Laureano has a $6.5 million team option for the 2026 season that the Padres seem likely to exercise.
Replacing Laureano in left
This seems like a fairly obvious fit for Gavin Sheets, who emerged as the Padres’ regular left fielder before the move to acquire Laureano at the Deadline. Since then, Sheets has mostly returned to his DH role, but he’s still played left occasionally.
Sheets’ defense there is passable -- and greatly improved from the early part of the season. But he’s a clear downgrade defensively from Laureano. Shildt has generally used Bryce Johnson as a defensive replacement for Sheets late in games.
“I would expect [Sheets] to get the majority of the opportunity there, but Bryce has played very well also,” Shildt said. “So, we’ll see. We’ve still got time to figure this out.”
It’s probably safe to expect Sheets in the starting lineup against right-handed pitching. But the Padres’ likeliest first-round opponent is the Cubs, who could feature two lefty starters and a host of lefty relievers. That could open the door for Johnson to potentially earn starts, keeping Sheets’ lefty bat available off the bench.
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The Padres were just getting healthy. Xander Bogaerts returned from a foot fracture on Tuesday, and Shildt noted that Fernando Tatis Jr. was feeling much better and could return from his illness on Friday.
And then … this.
At full strength, the position-player side of the Padres’ playoff roster seemed fairly settled prior to Laureano’s injury. Suddenly, however, there are questions about whether the Padres have enough bench depth.
That bench will include Johnson, Elias Díaz and Jose Iglesias. Either Sheets or O’Hearn was set to serve as the lefty-hitting, pinch-hit weapon off the bench. There’s no easy replacement, but the lefty-hitting Will Wagner, who was sent down when Bogaerts was activated, could be recalled.
It’s a further test of the Padres’ depth. But they’ve passed plenty of those tests so far this year.
“It’s one of those seasons we have seldom had our entire lineup in one piece,” Shildt said. “We’re used to it, and we’ve figured it out. We’ve gotten this far.”