3 Padres players who stood out and 3 who stumbled in May

San Diego Padres fans were a bit disappointed with the San Diego Padres starting the season 15-14 after the month of April. After making the NLCS last season, being just one game over .500 in a month which San Diego didn't even face the Dodgers felt a little disappointing, but with the injuries and underperforming players, we all felt that May would be better.

San Diego ended the month of May with a record of 25-30. Fourth in the NL West, nowhere near the first-place Dodgers. They went 10-16 in the month and lost five of six against the Dodgers. It was an ugly month for sure.

The schedule does appear to soften up in the month of June, but the Padres will only be successful if players who struggled in May turn things around, and if players who performed well in May continue to do so in June.

Padres outfielder Juan Soto stood out in May

After a shaky second half as a Padre last season, Juan Soto got off to a rough start this season. He had an OPS of .757 through the month of April which for Juan Soto is putrid. He drew a ton of walks but saw his average sit at .202.

In the month of May, Soto was the player A.J. Preller envisioned (and Washington Nationals GM Mike Rizzo predicted he would be) when he traded everything in sight to acquire him. Soto slashed .333/.482/.632 with five home runs and 15 RBI in the month of May.

His 203 WRC+ ranked third in all of baseball behind only Aaron Judge and Freddie Freeman among all qualifiers, and his .482 OBP led the league.

Soto was still drawing walks at a ridiculous rate, but he was finally finding other ways to chip in. He was hitting for some decent power while also getting other hits. He was finally looking like the all-around hitter Padres fans were expecting. Another huge month would go a long way in helping the Padres get back on track.