PEORIA, Ariz. -- In San Diego, new Padres hitting coach Steven Souza Jr. inherits an offense headlined by Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill.
Which is to say, he’s inheriting an offense that should be able to mash.
And yet, somewhat perplexingly, the Padres finished 28th in the Majors in home runs last season and 22nd in slugging percentage. Therein lies the first -- and most important -- challenge for Souza, the 36-year-old former big league outfielder hired by new manager Craig Stammen to lead the hitting group in San Diego.
On Tuesday, the day before Padres pitchers and catchers are slated to hold their first workout at the Peoria Sports Complex, Souza spoke with reporters for the first time since he was hired in November. He laid out an offensive vision in which the club would not sacrifice its current strengths, while finding a way to tap into that power.
“You’re only as good as the players you have and, I think, the culture you create,” Souza said. “There’s a lot of really good players in this offense that do a really good job of a lot of different things, have had some Hall of Fame careers and some MVP-type years. I think having that foundation is good.
“What I am going to try and bring is controlling the zone, hammering mistakes, being able to make the pitcher do something different out there. Because when these guys put the ball on the barrel, it’s hit hard and goes a long way, typically.”
Maximizing the Padres’ offense
Miguel Andujar and Sung-Mun Song are in. Luis Arraez and Ryan O’Hearn are out. But it’s mostly the same key contributors back in San Diego.
On the whole, the Padres’ offense was slightly above average last season, finishing with a 102 wRC+ (an all-encompassing hitting metric). Still, there’s little doubt they left something on the table collectively because of their inability to tap into their power.
“We obviously have the ability to slug,” Souza said. “There’s no doubt about that. You look at the roster, there’s power up and down the lineup.”
But don’t expect Souza to come in asking his players to swing out of their shoes. He boiled down his philosophy to one key tenet:
“Controlling the zone is a big part of that,” Souza said, “picking the pitches that we want to do damage on.”
That approach, Souza says, will allow the Padres’ offense to maintain its biggest strengths from last season -- contact and situational hitting, specifically -- while tapping into power when needed.
Souza’s arrival
Former hitting coach Victor Rodriguez helmed what was perhaps the best offense in Padres history in 2024, before a disappointing ‘25 season, all things considered. Rodriguez left to take the same role in Houston.
Assistant hitting coaches Pat O’Sullivan and Mike McCoy remain on staff. Stammen, left in search of a lead hitting coach, turned to Souza, his former Nationals teammate. Like Stammen, Souza’s final big league season came in 2022. Like Stammen, Souza didn’t hold a coaching role in the interim, instead working in a front office (with the Rays, in Souza’s case).
“He’s a very good communicator, and he’s very relational with people,” Stammen said. “That type of personality fit with our staff. … I felt very comfortable with how he views hitting, how he attacks it, and then how he can communicate.”
Souza acknowledged that he never envisioned becoming a big league hitting coach. But when Stammen called …
“It’s hard to say no,” Souza said. “I love hitting. I’ve always studied hitting; it’s been a passion of mine. Getting back in the grind and doing this, it wasn’t my first vision. But now that I’m here, I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of it.”
What to expect
Souza has never held a direct coaching role, so, in some ways, he’ll be learning on the fly.
As such, he cited Dodgers hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc and Rays hitting coach Chad Mottola as his biggest influences. That probably shouldn’t be a surprise. They’re two of the most respected hitting minds in the game, and Souza played for both.
Souza cited their deep understanding of the swing. In Mottola’s case, specifically, he touted the freedom that hitters were given to experiment in the batting cage and the level of support they were given during their struggles.
“Being able to take those things, what they were doing, and make my own identity out of it -- that’s probably what I’ll try and do,” Souza said.
The ceiling is undeniably high for this Padres offense. But Souza’s first challenge is a big one: Finding more power from a team that plays its home games in a ballpark known for suppressing it.