Gavin Sheets could see limited Wild Card role for Padres against Cubs' lefties

Gavin Sheets returned to the San Diego Padres just in time to get some live, in-game reps before the playoffs, and he certainly impressed despite a month-long absence. He went 2-for-7 in the final two games of the regular season, including a 423-foot blast to center field in the finale.

By all accounts, he looks ready for the postseason and will make the Friars' Wild Card Round roster. However, that doesn't mean he's going to play much against the Chicago Cubs.

You see, the Padres' first-round opponent is loaded with left-handed pitching. Their Game 1 starter, Matthew Boyd, held lefty batters to a scant .586 OPS this season. Two more of their starters (David Peterson, Shota Imanaga) and two of their key relievers (Ryan Rolison, Caleb Thielbar) are also southpaws.

As a result, expect Sheets to mostly function as a pinch-hitter during this series.

Padres' improved bench depth will keep Gavin Sheets away from bad matchups in playoffs

It's probably unfair to label Sheets as a matchup-dependent bat after he spent much of the summer helping to carry a scuffling Padres offense, but that's who he is at this point: a platoon bat. He posted a 33 wRC+ against southpaws this year compared to a 116 mark against righties, which is more or less in line with his career splits.

Sheets did start against Boyd in Game 1 of last year's NL Wild Card Round, though he went 0-for-2 against the 2025 All-Star. That was part of a team-wide offensive outage, so the Padres' offensive failures are hardly Sheets' sole fault, but he certainly contributed to the struggles.

However, Sheets being forced to start in that contest was a reflection of the state of that Padres roster. They lacked the quality bench depth to appropriately match up with the Cubs' starters, which led to a lot of the stagnation we saw from the collective unit.

Now, though? The Friars are swimming in lineup options, many of whom can hit left-handed pitching better than Sheets. That includes Samad Taylor (117 wRC+ vs southpaws in 2026), Austin Hays (159 wRC+), and even Dustin Harris (87 wRC+). With three catchers likely to make the roster -- including two offensive-minded ones in Ethan Salas and Luis Campusano -- it's just difficult to see a reason why Sheets would ever take an at-bat against a lefty this postseason.

There's no shame in being a platoon bat, and Sheets should still gather at least one start in this series against one of the Cubs' right-handed starters. But anyone expecting him to play a huge role after his impressive return from injury would be wise to keep their expectations in check.

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