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.

Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts stumbled in May

While Juan Soto struggled in April and was raging hot in May, Xander Bogaerts was the exact opposite. Bogaerts was on fire in April and had an abysmal May.

In April, the newest Padre slashed .308/.400/.514 with six home runs and 13 RBI. In May, that slashline plummeted to .200/.283/.263 with one home run and seven RBI. He went from doing everything right offensively to nothing right.

This Padres offense is built around their stars, but the stars haven't gotten going at the same time. If Soto and Bogaerts had their great months at the same time there's no doubt in my mind this team would be way better than they are right now.

Bogaerts ended the month of May swinging the bat a bit better as he recorded five hits in 17 at-bats in the final five games in May.

Again, maybe the softer schedule will help, but the Padres stars have to be the most consistent pieces on the team. So far, that hasn't been close to the case.

Padres pitcher Michael Wacha stood out in May

Michael Wacha's first month as a San Diego Padre did not go as anyone expected. It had some good moments like his six shutout innings with ten strikeouts in Atlanta, but he had four other mediocre to bad starts. He ended April with an ERA of 6.75. Not exactly what you want in the back end of your rotation.

The month of May has been a completely different story as Wacha has been one of only a handful of Padres players to find any sort of consistency.

In his five starts and 32 innings of work he's allowed a grand total of three earned runs. This included good outings against solid teams like the Twins, Red Sox, and Yankees.

Wacha has allowed just 16 hits in his 32 innings of work which is a remarkable development after allowing 33 in 25.1 innings of work in April. He might not be striking many out, but he's inducing soft contact and limiting mistakes, which is all you can really ask for.

The Padres obviously don't expect him to have an ERA below 1.00, but Wacha is stablizing himself in the back end of this rotation, and that's awesome to see.

Padres pitcher Yu Darvish stumbled in May

It feels like Yu Darvish hasn't quite settled in yet. He had one great start against the Brewers in April in which he allowed one run in seven innings with 12 strikeouts, but he finished that month with an ERA of 3.60. Not bad, but not exactly Yu Darvish.

He had three quality starts in the month of May which is good but he allowed more home runs than he usually has, and hasn't struck out as many as he usually has either.

Darvish's 5.74 ERA in the month of May is effected greatly by his start against the Yankees in which he lasted just 2.2 innings and allowed seven runs in New York, but he had a 3.75 ERA and a 4.25 FIP in the month prior to that rough outing.

It's obvious that as the ace of the staff starts like the one against the Yankees (when the Padres actually scored seven runs) simply cannot happen. The team went 2-3 in his starts which isn't his fault but was sort of indicitive of how he pitched. I think his expectations are lofty, but they should be as the ace. I expect better things in May. Let's see him return to ace form.

Padres infielder Rougned Odor stood out in May

Rougned Odor is a guy I've wanted off of this team at multiple points this season. I felt like he might've just been done as he hadn't been good in the Majors since 2019, and he hadn't dont anything in the month of April to deserve a roster spot.

Odor had a .100 batting average in April with a .363 OPS. He had three hits in 30 at-bats without a home run. Had the Padres been healthy, I don't think Odor would've survived the month. His versatility and track record certainly helped.

San Diego's patience has paid off immensely as Odor showed up in a huge way for the Padres in May. He slashed .255/.328/.527 with four home runs and 15 RBI. Late in the month Odor hit a huge three-run home run in Washington to give the Padres a lead they would not relinquish. This drove in three of his five runs on the day, and he drove in five of the eight runs they'd score.

Odor had a four RBI game and a couple of other multi-RBI games as well to help the Padres win some games they might not have without him. Odor still isn't a guy I want playing every day against righties like he has been, but his versatility has been extremely helpful, and his power has also shown up when San Diego has needed it.