This story was excerpted from AJ Cassavell’s Padres Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox. This edition was written by MLB.com's Cole Bradley.
For as much as the Padres lean on their stars, they’ve received far more from their contingent of role players this season.
San Diego has won 17 of its last 22 games, dating back to July 24. The Padres are tied with the Phillies for the second National League Wild Card spot with 37 games remaining in the regular season. Everything is clicking at the right time.
What did it take to reach this point? The efforts of impact players who weren’t necessarily expected to be, well, this impactful -- particularly at the plate.
For three and a half months, San Diego was waiting for its stars to start hitting like stars. Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill were mired in struggles that severely set the Padres’ offense back. Ty France, Luis Rengifo and Luis Campusano -- among others -- helped pick up the slack.
Now that those stars are hitting, and those role players continue to roll, San Diego’s lineup is producing at the level it expected all along.
It exemplifies the importance of such players to any team. The Padres have needed theirs more than most.
Here’s a look at a few of those players:
It’s difficult to imagine where the Padres would be without France this year … especially when you consider he narrowly made the Opening Day roster.
France reunited with San Diego on a Minor League deal in February. His best shot at breaking camp with the team was on the bench, and even that felt unlikely. The array of options, particularly at first base following the additions of Miguel Andujar and Nick Castellanos, certainly didn’t help his cause.
France proceeded to make the team and become the Padres’ most productive player.
He’s managed to accrue a 3.3 bWAR in 99 games, the highest mark on the club. He’s gone from a plug-and-play piece to a regular middle-of-the-order threat, all while playing excellent defense at first base.
And for a lineup that has lacked consistency this year, France has provided the exact opposite. Outside of a down June, in which he still managed to produce an .805 OPS over 79 plate appearances, France has been the most steady presence in the Padres’ order.
After the Brewers released Rengifo in late June, the Padres signed him to a Minor League deal days later.
He’s done nothing but rake since joining the team in July.
Rengifo slashed .205/.280/.254 in 209 plate appearances with Milwaukee before his release. He’s posted a .323/.411/.473 line with San Diego, with plenty of impactful moments over 27 games.
The biggest of which came against his former team. Rengifo hit his first career grand slam in the middle game of an eventual sweep against the MLB-best Brewers last week.
Rengifo came along during a time when the Padres needed a spark offensively. He isn’t solely responsible for the turnaround, but he’s played a large part in it.
The Padres have waited a long time for this version of Campusano.
Injuries and inconsistencies have hampered the former top prospect over the course of his big league development. He spent almost all of last year in Triple-A El Paso, where he was brilliant, but he hadn’t been able to replicate his success in the Minors at the next level. There had been glimpses in the past, but they were few and far between.
This year, he’s finally put it all together.
Campusano owned a .958 OPS over his first 18 games before missing nearly two months with a left toe fracture. Since returning from the injured list in early July, he hasn’t lost his stride.
There is still plenty to improve upon behind the plate defensively, but he’s more than complemented Freddy Fermin as a platoon mate.
This last one might come as a surprise. But as easy as it may be to overlook Kyle Hart’s contribution to the Padres’ bullpen this season, he’s been very important.
You could probably pick any member of the Padres’ pitching staff -- with the exception of Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon and Michael King -- to help exemplify the flexibility this group has showcased throughout the season. Prior to the Trade Deadline, when manager Craig Stammen implemented his “pitching chaos” approach just to cover innings amid the already-thin rotation’s struggles, it was all hands on deck. Almost every member of the staff was asked to be versatile.
No one has embodied that role -- or in this case, several roles -- better than Hart.
On the surface, a 4.20 ERA over 49 1/3 innings isn’t exactly going to turn heads. But the variety of ways Hart has covered innings for this team shouldn’t be discounted.
He’s opened games, finished them and provided length as the bridge in the middle innings to set up Morejon and Miller. It’s not a glamorous role, but Hart has done it -- and done it well. And he’s only gotten better.
Hart has held opponents scoreless in nine of his past 11 appearances, good for a 2.16 ERA in 16 2/3 frames during that stretch.