Padres Notes: Jake Cronenworth Update, Nick Castellanos DFA Explained, Major Trade Deadline Questions

The San Diego Padres lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-4, on Thursday afternoon and fell to 32-29 on the year. After being swept by the Phillies, the Friars have now dropped five straight and nine of their last 10.

Right-hander Lucas Giolito struck out five but allowed a pair of earned runs on six hits through four innings of work. Adrian Morejon then allowed three runs, putting the game out of reach.

Offensively, Manny Machado collected his 11th home run of the season in the seventh inning, a two-run shot to bring the Padres within one run. After the three-run inning by Philadelphia, Jackson Merrill hit a two-run home run of his own in the top of the ninth, but it was too little and too late for San Diego.

In other news, the Padres have a somehwat positive update on infielder Jake Cronenworth as he continues to heal from his concussion. The two-time All-Star has been out since May 4, but remains nowhere near a return.

Additionally, manager Craig Stammen spoke on the surprising move to designate veteran Nick Castellanos for assignment earlier this week.

“It just felt kind of trending towards the direction of he wasn’t very comfortable in that role,” Stammen said. “For him personally, I know he’s got a lot going on with his family and wanting to be around his kids a lot. Maybe this is an opportunity for that. But maybe an opportunity for him to go somewhere else and find a place where he could play every day.”

Finally, as the trade deadline approaches, more question marks are starting to form for San Diego, specifically surrounding the starting rotation and the offense. President of baseball operations AJ Preller has just two months to decide which direction he will guide the Friars in as they look to get back on track and make a deep October run.

Here’s all the latest Padres news and stories (click the headline for the full article):

Padres' Jake Cronenworth Has Made Slight Improvement From Concussion, Says Manager

Padres Manager Reveals Reason for Shocking Nick Castellanos DFA

Padres Facing Major Question With Trade Deadline Just 2 Months Away

Padres Manager Discusses Ramon Laureano Return Timeline From Injury

Craig Stammen Reveals One Thing Nick Castellanos Didn't Love About Padres Situation

Padres Tweets of the Day

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“I think San Diego. What the Padres are communicating to other teams is, ‘We’re gonna be aggressive at the deadline.’ They have new ownership this week, they’ve got money to spend.”

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— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) June 3, 2026

Craig Stammen spoke about how he believes the team is pressing right now, how he'd assess this road trip and what he saw from Lucas Giolito today: pic.twitter.com/Ucjd1GpKxk
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"I fully expect the Padres to be one of the many teams in on Tarik Skubal if he becomes available."@Ken_Rosenthal says he's heard that teams believe Padres' new ownership will authorize AJ Preller to take on more money. 👀 pic.twitter.com/c7sugzQaBp
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