Padres' Craig Stammen Challenges Players to Be Better in One Key Aspect

The San Diego Padres are off to a slow start this season, winning just two of their first six games.

The Padres lost consecutive series to the Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Giants, and are off on Thursday as they hit the road for a trip to Boston and Pittsburgh.

In addition to the Padres getting off to a slow start with their bats, the team has also not been as aggressive with their challenges as other teams.

Major League Baseball implemented an ABS Challenge System this season, allowing each team to challenge balls and strikes throughout the game. Each team starts with two challenges, but retains them if they're successful.

The Padres have not been quick to challenge, and that may have cost them a win in Monday's series opener against the Giants.

With the Padres down 3-0 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Fernando Tatis Jr. took a 2-1 pitch that appeared high with a runner on first base and nobody out. The pitch was called a strike, and the Padres had a challenge in their back pocket. Tatis didn't use it.

What are we doing not challenging this? It's the bottom of the ninth and would've made this a 3-1 count pic.twitter.com/hMm0EHjfhS
— Talking Friars (@TalkingFriars) March 31, 2026

Tatis ended up striking out on the very next pitch. After a Manny Machado ground out, Jackson Merrill hit a two-run home run to bring the Padres within one. If Tatis were on base, it theoretically would have been a three-run home run to tie the game.

Manager Craig Stammen was asked about Tatis' decision to not challenge the pitch. He admitted he wants to see his team be more aggressive with challenges, while also defending his player, saying he likely had a lot on his mind in that moment.

“I’m sure there were other pitches we could challenge, too,” Stammen said when asked about Tatis' decision to not challenge. “But just like thinking [Tatis] specifically, one of our best hitters, arguably our best hitter, in a ninth-inning game where it doesn’t matter if you don’t get to keep the challenge for tomorrow, maybe it’s something that we can have a conversation about.”

He added: “There’s also a piece of these guys taking an at bat and not wanting some external circumstances to be thinking about, like, should I challenge this pitch or not? It’s more like, ‘I’m going to get a hit. I got to figure out a way to get on base.’ You’re battling those two like personas in their head. You want a clear mind, simple thoughts, but then we’re also asking them like, ‘No, you need to know the strike zone. No, you got a challenge too, and you got to do it immediately.’ So there’s a give and a take with that.”

In the end, he said he would "like to see us finish the game with no challenges left, or at least challenge a little bit more.”

MLB analyst Dontrelle Willis called out Tatis for his costly decision after the game.

"You have the challenges in the back of your pocket, you have to use it," Willis said. "If you're in the ninth and you have a close [call] that could swing the count, you have to be able to have the knowledge to try to burn that. Especially if you can flip the count in your favor.”

“You have to be able to have the knowledge to try to burn that. Especially if you can flip the count in your favor.”@DTrainMLB talks about Fernando Tatis Jr. not using an ABS challenge in a pivotal at-bat in the 9th inning tonight. pic.twitter.com/AlN0cHoBl5
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 31, 2026

While Tatis' non-challenge decision was highlighted, the Padres need to be better about using their challenges overall. Padres hitters have only challenged four calls through the season's first six games, winning two and losing two. New York Yankees hitters lead the league with 10 challenges, winning eight of them, per Baseball Savant.