The 2025 offense ranks last in the league in hard hits (22ND) and home runs (28th), it was great to see the San Diego Padres score their first run of Cactus League play on Friday’s 7-4 loss to the Seattle Mariners at Peoria Stadium on Romeo Sanabria’s solo homer in the top of the sixth inning and Jose Miranda’s two-run homer in the top of the seventh. Of course, Sanabria and Miranda won’t be everyday players for the Padres, but it could be a sign that San Diego’s offense is changing, or has already changed under new hitting coach Steven Souza Jr.
The lineup has indeed changed under new Padres manager Craig Stamen, which is a welcome sight for Padres fans who saw former head coach Mike Shildt refuse to move Luis Alaes from the No. 2 spot in the lineup despite his poor performance last season. Xander Bogaerts, Jackson Merrill, Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr., the top four in the lineup, hit just one infield single before Bogaerts started the game. Jake Cronenworth, Nick Castellanos, Luis Campusano, Ty France and Nick Schnell combined for two more hits in the game.
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It usually takes hitters longer to find their swing in spring training, and with this being the first game of the spring, there’s no reason to get too excited about the success of Sanabria and Miranda, or too frustrated by the stat lines of the top big names in the lineup. Cronenworth was the only regular in the San Diego lineup with a hit, but he should have had a double and a double. In the first inning, a flop by Seattle right fielder Dominic Canzone kept Cronenworth off the bases and the Padres off the scoreboard. Cronenworth hit the ball well in both home runs.
Castellanos, who started at first base, made two nice defensive plays in the bottom half of the fourth inning. Game 1 required him to throw a grounder to right off J.P. Crawford’s bat and then throw an underhand pitch to first baseman Wandy Peralta, who had the first out in the inning. The second inning resulted in a final out. Castellanos made a diving play on a grounder by runner Colt Emmerson at second base, recovered and threw an overhand first down to Peralta to end the game and prevent the Mariners from extending their 3-0 lead.
Stamen failed to get his first win as a head coach in the first game of the spring season, but he and the Padres will have another chance when San Diego takes on the Kansas City Royals on Saturday at 12:05 p.m. at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Ariz.