Padres fans are begging Mike Shildt to unleash trade deadline acquisition

All baseball fans know that the Padres went above and beyond when making moves at the trade deadline, filling all the holes in the roster and then some. One of Preller’s signature moves was at the designated-hitter/first base spot, filling the vacancy with Ryan O’Hearn from the Baltimore Orioles.

The 32-year-old has put up a career year at the plate, slashing .275/.369/.460 and was rightfully named to the AL All-Star team. O’Hearn’s breakout season is coming at an opportune time, as he is set to hit free agency this winter. This alone is why the Orioles chose to sell high on O’Hearn to begin with, as they wanted to gain assets in return instead of letting him walk for nothing.

San Diego fans pushing Mike Shildt to trust Ryan O'Hearn in lineup

The move in particular gave manager Mike Shildt the perfect piece to man the designated hitter role in the lineup, as well as an option to play first base. But so far, O’Hearn hasn’t been in the starting lineup as much as fans had hoped.

In the 16 games since the trade deadline, O’Hearn has started in only nine of them, which is interesting since he was the “impact bat” that the front office added. Being a left-handed batter, it would make sense to use him against right-handed pitching. But O’Hearn’s right- vs.-left splits are almost identical, with his slugging percentage even 58 points higher against lefties.

Since arriving in San Diego, O’Hearn has seen his fair share of struggles. But we have also seen that he has the ability to turn on a ball, no matter the situation. He hit a clutch home run in the rubber match of a three-game series on the road in Arizona, which proved to be the difference in the game as the Padres closed it out by a final score of 3–2.

While the start has been bumpy, there is no reason Mike Shildt should not have Ryan O’Hearn in the starting lineup. He is one of the impact acquisitions who plays a position that is not very physically demanding. As O’Hearn begins to prove his worth, it will be interesting to see if Shildt gives him more playing time.

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