San Diego Padres: Wil Myers Will Continue To Improve in 2018

The San Diego Padres are well aware of the superstar they have in Wil Myers. Myers has been nothing short of spectacular since coming to the Padres. He now looks to improve on his last two-plus seasons with an even stronger 2018.

Sure, giving up what the San Diego Padres did to acquire Wil Myers in 2014 was a risky move. After playing in only 60 games during his first season in San Diego, performing well below Padres’ team brass expectations, Myers came back in 2016 with a chip on his shoulder and a lot to prove.

And prove he did. Wil Myers’ injury-shortened 2015 saw him produce well, but not the way the San Diego Padres had hoped. In 225 at-bats, Myers hit .253 with eight HR and 29 RBI. His OPS was a healthy .763, which was a very encouraging sign after his injury-hampered sophomore slump year of 2014 in Tampa Bay (.222/.294/.320, 6 HR, 35 RBI).

Wil Myers Shows Up In A Big Way For the San Diego Padres

In 2016, Wil Myers absolutely exploded. Healthy again, Myers showed San Diego Padres fans why the front office was willing to part with Trea Turner and a number of other top prospects to acquire a player of Myers caliber.

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In just shy of 600 at-bats (599), Wil Myers set career-highs in hits (155), doubles (29), triples (4), home runs (28), RBI (94) and stolen bases (28).

Thanks to these numbers and his slash line of .259/.336/.461, Myers earned his first All-Star selection in 2016.

Padres fans had to pinch themselves to make sure they weren’t dreaming. They needed to be sure that their Friars actually had themselves a bonafide superstar. In 2017, Wil Myers solidified those cautiously optimistic notions.

Wil Myers Continued to Improve in 2017 For the San Diego Padres

Wil Myers continued his clobbering ways in 2017, putting up very similar stats to his 2016 campaign in many areas. There were a few dips in production in a handful of areas, but Myers most definitely cemented his place as the cornerstone of this young San Diego Padres franchise.

Myers slashed .243/.328./464, leading to the 3rd best OPS of his career (.831 in 335 AB in 2013; .797 in 2016). Wil Myers increased his power output, besting his 2016 HR total by two, reaching 30 for the season. His RBI dipped to 74 and he nearly led the NL in strikeouts with 180.

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Despite the slight drop in production last season, Wil Myers has been all the San Diego Padres hoped he would be, and more. If he can continue to develop and improve in the areas that need improvement (which aren’t very many), Wil Myers could find himself in the conversation for NL MVP at some point very soon.