With Ohtani’s two-way return and Devers’ arrival, Padres need their stars more than ever

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LOS ANGELES — A day after the trade of Rafael Devers rocked the baseball industry, this city reclaimed at least temporary status as the epicenter of the sport. Here, Shohei Ohtani was scheduled to make his long-awaited pitching debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Here, too, the San Diego Padres sounded eager to face another high-profile challenge in a division now filled with them.

“As Ric Flair would say, to be the man, you gotta beat the man,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said before Monday’s series opener at Dodger Stadium. “And if we’re going to be the best, we gotta beat the best. That’s what this is all about, and it’s what I signed up for and our group signed up for. So, we’re excited. But it’s about our star power as much as it is anybody else’s.”

For portions of the ensuing game, the Padres appeared to match the Dodgers in that critical category. Ohtani, pitching in the big leagues for the first time in 22 months, reached 100.2 mph in a somewhat scattershot top of the first; San Diego nicked him for a run, taking advantage of a pair of singles, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly off the bat of third baseman Manny Machado. In the bottom of the first, Dylan Cease matched a career high by firing a 100.4 mph fastball to Freddie Freeman. The right-hander wound up striking out the Dodgers’ first five batters amid two perfect innings, displaying a ceiling that occasionally puts him among the best starters in the world.

Then, the next seven innings confirmed a tendency toward inconsistency and a stark reality that overshadows San Diego’s glaring positional needs: With Ohtani’s return as a two-way unicorn and Devers’ arrival in the rugged National League West, the Padres need their healthy stars more than ever.

“This division just got better,” Machado said. “It was good already and great already. So, it just got better.”

Monday night’s 6-3 loss to the Dodgers brought mixed results. The first five batters in the Padres lineup all recorded at least one hit. Machado homered in the top of the sixth, continuing his march toward 2,000 hits. Meanwhile, the bottom half of the lineup went hitless, squashing the chances of an extended rally. On the mound, Cease went from dominating the Dodgers to running into a buzzsaw.

“It’s frustrating,” Cease said after the sport’s deepest lineup batted around and scored five runs in a decisive bottom of the fourth. “You give up that many runs, you don’t really give your team a good chance. But, I mean, I really am pretty happy with my execution. It’s just one of those games.”

As much as any player, Cease has embodied a team straining to get the most out of its considerable talent. The Padres, citing budgetary constraints, explored trading him last offseason. They ended up keeping him after months of rumors, reasoning that they needed his contract-year production more than they needed to rebalance their resources. So far, however, that gamble has yet to produce the desired returns.

Through 15 starts, Cease has a 4.69 earned run average. His 2.95 fielding independent pitching mark indicates a significant amount of poor luck, but the Padres can ill afford further misfortune. Fellow top starters Michael King and Yu Darvish are on the injured list with uncertain timetables. The rotation has recently leaned on the far greener trio of Randy Vásquez, Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert.

A continued reliance on their inexperience could end up costing the Padres in September. So could an offense that has too often slumbered. Toward that end, last weekend’s series against the Arizona Diamondbacks brought more promising results. Most notably, leadoff man Fernando Tatis Jr. emerged from a career-worst slump to go 8-for-13 across three games. The Padres, after a crushing loss, salvaged a crucial win in the series finale.

Then, moments after it was over, national baseball writer Bob Nightengale approached Xander Bogaerts and showed the Padres shortstop his phone. On it was the rapidly spreading news that Devers, one of the best hitters in baseball, had been traded from the Boston Red Sox to the San Francisco Giants.

“We both thought that it was maybe a joke or something,” Bogaerts recalled Monday afternoon.

The former Red Sox infielder texted Devers, who promptly confirmed it wasn’t.

“I don’t know if I can remember a trade kind of like this,” Bogaerts said. “Man, it made them a lot better. We aren’t going to deny it. He’s a big-time player.”

Monday night, the Padres attempted to keep pace with a team full of big-time players. Tatis scored the game’s first run and logged another multi-hit performance. First baseman Luis Arraez singled off Ohtani. Machado clubbed his 11th homer of the season to keep San Diego within striking distance. Gavin Sheets followed Machado’s solo shot with a double. Bogaerts, who has been the Padres’ least productive star, connected on an RBI double.

X marks the spot.

⭐️: https://t.co/ARilN7zMDX pic.twitter.com/9IfsFY0328

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 17, 2025

But without center fielder Jackson Merrill, who went on the concussion injured list Sunday, the rest of the offense remained dormant. And there is no guarantee that Merrill will return as soon as he is eligible.

“It’s definitely a wait-and-see,” Shildt said. “It’s just too early to tell. Clearly, we’re all hopeful it’s seven (days), but we’re going to do what’s in the best interest of Jackson.”

Shorthanded, the Padres still managed to make things interesting in the series opener. The bottom of the fourth, amid a parade of offense, saw Cease plunk Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages in the left elbow. Pages reacted with visible anger. He alleged after the game that the pitcher had acted in retaliation.

“When I got on in the (third) inning, they thought I was giving all his signs to the team,” Pages said in Spanish. “I probably shouldn’t have reacted like that, but he doesn’t miss with a slider on the corner, yet he can miss with a fastball.”

In the other clubhouse, Cease said he did not understand Pages’ reaction.

“But, I mean, it’s not going to deter me from throwing inside,” Cease added. “I don’t know if I’ve ever hit a Dodger before. You know, it just happens. It’s part of the game.”

Regardless of intent, the Padres can ill afford to allow free base runners. They now trail the Dodgers by four games. They are 1 1/2 games behind a newly reinforced Giants team. The Diamondbacks remain within striking distance.

Monday brought largely encouraging results from San Diego’s collection of high-profile players. In baseball’s most competitive division, the Padres will need even more.

“Good competition, man. Good competition,” Machado said. “It’s going to be till the end. It’s what we play for. So, it’s definitely going to be fun.”

(Photo of Manny Machado celebrating with Fernando Tatis Jr.: Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Imagn Images)

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