Castoff From MLB's Worst Team Proving to Be Steal of the Offseason For the Padres

Last year, San Diego Padres designated hitter Gavin Sheets was hitting below league average on a historically bad White Sox team who had the most losses in modern era MLB history.

After joining the Friars on a minor league contract in the offseason, Sheets has seized his opportunity and become a reliable hitter in the Padres lineup, slashing .236/.333/.497 with eight home runs and 28 runs batted in.

“He’s lengthened the lineup,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said of Sheets. “He’s definitely a presence in the lineup. He’s been able to go out and get big swings. … Just a really good makeup guy and is able to help us win ball games in a lot of different ways. Just a great addition to the club.”

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Although the Padres' bats have slowed down in the last two series, Sheets has been a spark of offense in an otherwise quiet San Diego team. He has three home runs in the last six games, and his six RBIs account for two-thirds of the runs the Padres have scored in that span.

He is more than halfway to breaking his previous career highs in home runs (15) and RBIs (53) through one-third of the season. He hit two long balls against the Toronto Blue Jays Thursday afternoon for his first multi-homer game since 2022.

“I wanted to be an everyday guy my entire career,” Sheets said to The San Diego Union-Tribune. “That’s always been my goal. And at-bats against lefties were far and few between before, and so now to get some at-bats against them and compete to be an everyday guy, that’s a good feeling. But at the same time, you want to just keep it going and prove yourself and be an everyday guy. … The past is the past against lefties, but I wasn’t that great against righties, either. So I like to think this is a much different version.

“I trust the work I have (done). I have confidence in what I’m doing. To me, this isn’t a fluke anymore. It’s proven at-bats. I feel like it’s the hitter I am right now. And even if I go through a tough stretch … I don’t think I’m falling back in anything, because I think I’m a different hitter. My swing is different, my confidence is different, my approach is different.”

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Sheets will look to bring confidence to the rest of his team during a club-wide slump, which has seen them slide to third in the NL West. They have a chance to break their NL-worst six-game losing streak against the Atlanta Braves starting Friday.

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