With Jason Heyward struggling to find his footing at the plate, Brandon Lockridge will start in left field for a second time in three days on Wednesday for the series finale against the Angels (6:40 p.m. on Padres.TV).
Lockridge’s first start in this series was expected — against left-hander Yusei Kikuchi. But the right-handed-hitting Lockridge is starting against right-hander Kyle Hendricks as the Padres look to get something going in left field.
Heyward is hitting .173/.226/.280 with two homers, 12 RBIs and 18 strikeouts in 85 plate appearances. He is hitting .152/.189/.273 in 12 games since returning from knee inflammation, is 2-for-22 over his last nine games and for the season sports a .506 OPS that is 11th lowest among big-leaguers with at least 80 plate appearances.
Lockridge is hitting .234/.294/.319 on the season and has actually been better against righties this year (.697 OPS) than lefties (.539).
However, Padres left fielders as a whole rank second-to-last in fWAR (minus-0.6) and weighted runs created-plus (42) and dead last in OPS (.489).
To date, Heyward has started 18 games in left, followed by the demoted Oscar Gonzalez (12), Lockridge (6), the demoted Tirso Ornelas (4), Gavin Sheets (1) and Jose Iglesias (1).
Lockridge will hit eighth on Wednesday, wedged between second baseman Jake Cronenworth and catcher Martín Maldonado.
Wednesday work. pic.twitter.com/lyZMwOKek9
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 14, 2025
Tuesday’s walk-off win pulled the Padres (26-15) to within a half-game of the Dodgers in the NL West.
Third baseman Manny Machado also extended his hit streak to 13 games in the win, the longest active streak in the majors. He is hitting .458/.527/.604 with four doubles, one homer and nine RBIs during this run.
Here is how the Angels (17-24) will line up for Game 3:
Today’s #Angels lineup pic.twitter.com/Bi0vJe5m52
— Jeff Sanders (@sdutSanders) May 14, 2025
Wednesday’s pitching matchup
Angels RHP Kyle Hendricks (1-4, 5.30 ERA)
The long-time Cub has 15 walks and 21 strikeouts in 35⅔ innings (1.26 WHIP) to start his Angels tenure. Hendricks has just two quality starts in seven trips to the mound. He has a 3.27 ERA in 15 starts (93⅔ IP) against the Padres, but they knocked him around for seven runs in five innings last year with the Cubs.
Here is how Hendricks has fared against current Padres:
Padres RHP Randy Vásquez (2-3, 3.76 ERA)
He struck out more batters (5) than he walked (1) for the first time this season, paving the way for a quality start and a win at Coors Field on Friday. It was Vásquez’s first quality start since his first start of the season. Vásquez is making his first career appearance against the Angels.
Here is how Vásquez has fared against current Angels:
- C Travis d’Arnaud (2-for-5, RBI, BB, K)
- INF Kevin Newman (0-for-3)
- 3B Yoan Moncada (0-for-2)
- OF Jorge Soler (0-for-2, K)
