Padres’ Miguel Andújar faces postseason roster squeeze from Austin Hays, Samad Taylor

As the San Diego Padres prepare to host the Chicago Cubs in a reprisal of their Wild Card Round matchup from a year ago, they'll need to carefully craft the perfect roster to ensure they can advance beyond the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2024.

One of the big decisions has already been made, as the Friars placed Casey Mize on the injured list with an ankle sprain, which will keep him out of action until the NLCS at the earliest (assuming the team even makes it that far). That basically ensures that Michael King, Nick Pivetta, and one of Robbie Ray or Walker Buehler will make up the rotation in the best-of-three series, with the other serving as a long-man out of the bullpen.

Assuming the Padres go with nine pitchers in the bullpen, they'll have 14 available spots for position players on the playoff roster in the Wild Card Round. Most of those decisions will be easy enough, but there's a glaring question hanging over the bench: Where the heck is Miguel Andujar?

Padres are better prepared than ever for life without Miguel Andújar

Andujar, who has been out with a wrist fracture since mid-July, was expected to be activated at some point during the final week of the regular season. He performed well during a nine-game rehab assignment in Triple-A (.760 OPS) and has been facing live pitching in practice, but there's just been no news about his return to the team yet.

Maybe the Padres will surprise us and bring him back as a bench bat and potential starter at DH, but there's honestly no need -- he's become somewhat superfluous given the various breakouts the team has seen in the second half.

Austin Hays made a compelling case for himself by posting a 1.057 OPS against southpaws after arriving in San Diego. That both overlaps with Andujar's biggest strength and will play exceptionally well against the left-heavy rotation the Cubs possess.

Then you've got Samad Taylor (132 wRC+, 1.0 fWAR) and Dustin Harris (10 steals, +2 Defensive Runs Saved), both of whom have given the Friars everything they could ask for and more out of their outfield reserves. Gavin Sheets and Sung-Mun Song fill similar roles in the infield, making up one of the best benches the Padres have had in some time.

Andujar could still take a spot from Jase Bowen or one of the three catchers on the roster, but that's assuming he's even healthy enough to do so. By all accounts, it looks like the Padres are ready to play the Cubs without their marquee free-agent addition in tow.

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