Padres Coach Calls Surprise Player 'Above-Average' Defender

The San Diego Padres have been rumored to go after securing more outfield depth at the trade deadline, but a player who started the season on a minor league contract is now proving to give the Friars more options as to where they can add another hot right-handed bat.

Gavin Sheets has emerged as more than simply a power hitter stashed away at the designated hitter spot, but is proving himself more each day in left field — a position with one of the largest question marks surrounding it in San Diego.

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Sheets has 11 starts at first base, 24 at left field, and 41 starts as designated hitter. Although his process of ramping up to an unfamiliar position had some early flaws, outfield coach Dave Macias spoke on the results that have shown from Sheets' work on defense.

“He’s an above-average outfielder,” said Macias. “He’s smart. He’s athletic. He can throw. He’s just a little bit bigger guy. He’s different than Jackson [Merrill]. But he’s a good outfielder. And getting consistency, (getting) reps out there is making him feel more comfortable.”

Sheets has an above average arm, ranking in the 81st percentile of active fielders in terms of Arm Value, and spoke more on the process of getting to where he is currently at in the outfield.

“I think the biggest thing is just the work that we’ve been putting in is starting to pay off in games,” Sheets said. “You can do as much as you want in practice, but until it works in games, until you see it feeding off games, that’s what really matters. So (starting) to see it work in games and making better reads, better and better each day.”

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The early struggles for Sheets were obvious, especially in his seventh start in left field for San Diego, suffering a head contusion, sore hip and a jammed wrist and thumb after a collision with the outfield wall.

Sheets had just 14 total starts in left field since 2021 before this season, and was under the impression it would be a smaller work load in non-designated hitter positions when arriving to the Padres, but nonetheless, the slugger has been committed to perfecting a new facet of his craft.

“It was tough in the beginning,” Sheets said. “I knew the role was going to be a lot of DH and then kind of bounce around to pick a guy up at first, pick a guy up in left. And with left being relatively new this year, it’s tough. You’re not getting as much work out there, and you just feel kind of naked every time you’re out there. But Macias and I put in a lot of work and feel a lot more comfortable out there. It’s still not perfect, but grinding out there and feel a lot more comfortable.”

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