The Padres acquired the following players for their 2025 active roster:
- Jason Heyward, leftfielder
- Connor Joe, utility
- Nick Pivetta, starting pitcher
- Kyle Hart, starting pitcher
Heyward looks to be a platoon player against right-handed pitchers. In three of his last four seasons he posted overall OBPs under .300. Against right-handers in that time, he hit .232/.308/.402. At least there is some pop in there.
Joe does a better job of getting on base, but with little power. He might be the other side of the platoon, hitting .254/.350/.415 for his career against left-handed pitching.
Pivetta gives the Padres a solid fourth starter. He pitched at least 140 innings in each of his last four seasons with a high strikeout rate. He does get hurt by a high home run rate, 1.53 per 9 IP for his career. His home parks were in Philadelphia and Boston. PETCO Park could reduce his home run numbers, making him look like a much better pitcher.
Hart pitched 11 MLB innings in 202 for the Red Sox, and may be the ultimate three-true outcomes pitcher. He allowed 10 walks and four home runs in those eleven innings, striking out 13. That’s 27 PA that ended with no fielder action out of 67 batters faced. Hart pitched better than that in the minors, but played in Korea last year and blew batters away with 10.4 K per 9, 2.18 BB per nine, and just 0.63 home runs per 9. The Padres took a shot on him as their fifth starter.
All these players are older, so they are filling in holes while the rest of the team hopes they play well enough again to make a run to the World Series.