Shildt preaching 'Petco Park hitting' to Padres' bats

PEORIA, Ariz. -- You can find Petco Park at 19 Tony Gwynn Drive, an address that provides a strong hint as to how new manager Mike Shildt imagines the Padres’ offense.

Some things won’t change. Big boppers Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. will be counted on to provide power. They have combined for 244 home runs since being paired in 2019, even with Tatis missing the 2022 season.

The emphasis in Shildt’s first spring has been on executing in the moment, with an eye toward moving runners, keeping the ball in play and basically doing the things that helped them go 30-17 in one-run games in 2022.

“Every at-bat is a situation,” Shildt said. “The reality is the game tells you what to do. What does the game allow? What is the game calling for at the moment? So we work on all the things that allow us to execute that.

“That’s what Petco Park hitting is. It’s really just what hitting is. It’s relative to the situation. Can you stay on the ball? Can you drive the ball through the middle? Use the big part of the field? Can you move a guy over? Can you bunt him over? Just use the whole field.

"You don’t know what [the pitcher] is trying to do, but execute what you are trying to do and get after it.”

The Padres amassed some good numbers despite not meeting expectations while going 82-80 last season. They were sixth in the National League with 752 runs scored and were fourth with a 106 OPS+. They led the league by drawing 653 walks and were fifth with 137 stolen bases.

At the same time, they seemed to struggle when more fine tuning was required. They grounded into 134 double plays, third most in the league, and other inefficiencies seemed to appear at the wrong times.

The Padres were made quite aware of their 9-23 record in one-run games and their 2-12 record in extra-inning games a year ago. No other team had fewer than 14 one-run victories, although oddly both the AL West champion Astros (1-8) and World Series champion Rangers (2-8) had similar results in extra innings.

“We just didn’t execute,” said first baseman Jake Cronenworth, who slashed .281/.431/.421 with 20 RBIs in 57 at-bats with two outs and runners in scoring position last season.

“It’s just playing the game. Last year, whether it was the situation we were in with our record or trying to put too much pressure on ourselves to execute … instead of just going out there and playing the game and doing what we know.”

The 2023 numbers were a 180 from the year before, when the Padres led the Majors in winning percentage in one-run games and were 12-5 in extra-inning games. Only Cleveland (13) had more extra-inning wins in 2022.

“It’s one of those things, the earlier you start it and the earlier you put it in your routine and practice it,” Cronenworth said. “When you look at the scoreboard and there’s a guy on second and nobody out, you are probably going to move him over. When you are practicing those situations, when you get in the game you have practiced it so much you just go up there and execute.”

The Padres spent the offseason and the early part of camp leaning into that approach.

They may not get to Gwynn’s Hall of Fame level of execution -- .338 career batting average, 790 walks against 434 strikeouts -- but it will not be due to a lack of intent.

“Petco Park hitting,” Shildt said. “[Petco] historically has been more of a pitcher’s park. That doesn’t mean we can’t score runs. We just have to make sure we are being intentional about our at-bats and how we are approaching it.

“I’m really pleased with the players’ buy-in. The staff did a good job in the offseason talking with guys, getting to make sure we have a clear identity of how we are going to compete offensively. Now we are seeing the execution take place in a game. We’re using the big part of the field. We’re pleased about the guys’ approaches. We’re seeing the results. It’s paying off.”