Jase Bowen gave Padres two spectacular reasons to keep him in their postseason plans

The Padres spent most of Friday night playing like a team still shaking off its postseason-clinching celebration. Arizona launched three home runs, chased Casey Mize early and rolled to an 11-4 win at Petco Park. San Diego wasted an opportunity to secure the NL’s No. 4 seed and home-field advantage in the Wild Card Series. The boo birds were out last night, and some of it earned.

But Jase Bowen gave us a reason to look up. He entered in center field and ended the eighth inning by climbing the wall to rob Geraldo Perdomo of a home run. Tim Tawa tried him again one inning later. Same result. Bowen turned two drives of roughly 400 feet into consecutive inning-ending outs. The catches changed nothing about the loss. But it should give the Padres something to think about in late postseason games.

Jase Bowen offers a skill the Padres cannot fake in October

Postseason benches need real jobs. It can’t be redundant. The Padres already have several candidates capable of taking a pinch-hit assignment. What they don’t have in abundance is a reserve who can enter late, handle the outfield with such athleticism and take points off the box score like that.

Bowen seems like the right candidate to do that. He also gives Craig Stammen a legitimate pinch-running option, with six stolen bases in seven attempts this season. His bat remains an obvious problem. He’s only slashing .151/.194/.258 through Friday. He struck out in his only plate appearance against Arizona. If the Padres find themselves counting on him to deliver important at-bats in a playoff game, their plan has probably gone sideways.

However, it does make his role really simple. Have him run for somebody. Or have him take over the outfield and protect the lead. 

Gavin Sheets and Miguel Andújar are nearing returns, the Padres have considered carrying three catchers, and players such as Austin Hays and Dustin Harris already provide potential pinch-hit options. The final spots on the bench are going to be a tough squeeze, and Bowen is trying to make his case to be one of them.

If the decision comes down to Bowen or another bat whose role overlaps with two or three teammates, they should consider keeping the defender. Stammen can find a right-handed or left-handed pinch-hitting matchup without carrying every possible version of one. 

The final man doesn’t need to be the 14th-best hitter on the team. He needs to be able to win one situation the other 13 can’t.

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