3 San Diego Padres players who should not be on the roster on July 1

We are six weeks from the trade deadline. San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller should begin identifying problem areas with the lineup that need an immediate upgrade. And with this comes naming players who should not be on the roster come July.

Preller cannot wait too much longer before making changes to the roster. He may look to make minor cosmetic moves. Or Preller may try to reclaim his “Rockstar GM” moniker with a blockbuster trade.

Nevertheless, here are three Padres that should be off the roster:

Ryan Weathers, LH Starting Pitcher

The Friars are patiently waiting for the return of Seth Lugo to the No. 5 spot in the starting rotation. They have failed to limit the damage from his absence. Ryan Weathers has struggled to fill the void. In eight starts, Weathers is 1-4 with a 4.93 ERA. But over his last five starts, he is 0-3 and averaged only four innings per start. Not great, but not bad enough to skip over Weathers when his spot comes up in the rotation.

At times, he looks overwhelmed on the mound. At the beginning of his starts, Weathers appears to be in shutdown mode by retiring the lineup in order. But then the bottom falls out as his fastball has little movement heading toward the plate. And the hitters are rarely missing his mistakes. Last Sunday, Padres manager Bob Melvin tried a different approach by using Weathers for three innings before turning the remainder of the game into a bullpen affair.

Getting him right could not be more important for the Padres. A stint in the minors will help him regain the confidence needed to get major league hitters out consistently. To earn a postseason berth, a team will need more than five starting pitchers to navigate through the regular season. It will become a problem for the Friars if they cannot get positive results from Weathers in spot starts situations.

Nelson Cruz, DH

The Padres signed Nelson Cruz to gain increased power from the middle of the batting order. Who could argue as Cruz for his 19-year MLB career averaged 37 HRs per season. But that number has been declining since hitting 32 HRs in 2021.

Over the last two seasons, Cruz has played 160 games and totaled 618 plate appearances but batted only .235 with 13 HRs and 80 RBIs. The numbers are nowhere close to his career average (.274 with 37 HRs and 105 RBIs). The lack of production (.238/.270/.381) has Cruz clinging to his roster position. It could force the Friars to look elsewhere for a right-handed DH bat.

At 42 years old, Cruz was never expected to be a top-run producer like Manny Machado and Juan Soto, but he was supposed to be a key contributor to the Padres offensive attack. One batting trend that should have the Friar Faithful concerned is Cruz’s strikeout ratio (32.4%) which is a bit bloated than his career mark (22.8%). He has been a victim of chasing balls out of the strike zone with runners in scoring position.

The lack of production from the DH position has been concerning. It remains to be seen how much longer the Padres will keep a hitter with declining skills in the lineup. Cruz must pick up the pace or changes will have to be made.