What would a successful season look like for the Padres in 2025?

The San Diego Padres won 93 regular season games in 2024. They clearly had one of the strongest rosters in all of Major League Baseball, but they still fell a bit short in the postseason.

Building off of that bittersweet campaign, what would a successful season for the Friars look like in 2025? We are three games into the regular season, and this squad has shown to bring some late-inning magic on offense as they seek a four-game sweep over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday, March 30. Have we seen enough to figure out what this Padres team is capable of?

What would a successful season look like for Padres in 2025?

Continuing to come up in the clutch

San Diego is 3-0. It's been exciting to watch, considering all three victories came with a go-ahead hit in the seventh inning or later. Whether it was Gavin Sheets starting up a rally with a game-tying homer on Opening Day, Jake Cronenworth rocketing a go-ahead home run in the second game, or Yuli Gurriel flicking a go-head two-out RBI single, the Padres are proving that they can come up in the clutch.

The offense won't be clicking every day, just like any other team, but if the entire lineup is capable of getting a hit late in the ball game, then we can expect more wins for the Friars. Baseball is all about executing, and San Diego has been perfect in their execution through three games.

Superstars stay healthy

It's difficult to find season-long success if your superstars cannot stay on the field. Last year, Fernando Tatis Jr. missed 60 games, which is enough time to adversely affect the lineup.

Just three games into the 2025 campaign, Manny Machado has experienced right calf tightness, and Yu Darvish is on the injured list. There doesn't seem to be an overwhelming amount of concern around Machado's injury, but Padres fans know they cannot afford to have him shelved for too long. Hopefully, Darvish's elbow inflammation isn't too bad. His absence can directly translate into San Diego's success or failure, especially in the postseason.

Middle of the rotation offers consistency

There is some pressure on Kyle Hart, Nick Pivetta, and Randy Vásquez to perform. Who knows if Michael King and/or Dylan Cease will wind up getting traded, but regardless if that happens, these three guys need to be impactful.

Vásquez dialed up a tremendous first outing of the season on Saturday. He twirled six scoreless innings against the Braves in the 1-0 victory. In 20 starts last year, Vásquez accomplished that stat line twice. If he can pitch deep into games and hold the opposition to a minimum, there will be less of a stress on relying on a strong bullpen.

If all three of these things happen in 2025, then Padres fans can call it a successful season. Winning 90-100 games will come rather easily if they can continue hitting in the clutch, keeping the top-end talent healthy, and the middle-of-the-rotation taking on some of the load.