The Friar is feeling himself right now. There was the 7-0 start, then a five-game winning streak with three straight shutouts, even a park-wide MVP chant in the middle of April. The San Diego Padres came out swinging in 2025 and are atop the NL West. Up next is a weekend trip to H-Town and a series with the Houston Astros. Even with their underwhelming start, the Astros remain a worthwhile opponent, having qualified for nine postseasons in the last decade.
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San Diego’s pitching has been out of this world. The Padres are one of just three teams with a collective ERA below 3 (Mets, Reds). They’re keeping up in the box, too, with baseball’s second-best batting average and third-best on-base percentage. Fernando Tatis Jr. is tied for the lead in home runs in the National League. Luis Arráez is an automated singles machine. Manny Machado keeps mashing. It’ll be a fully stacked lineup when Jackson Merrill (hamstring) and Jake Cronenworth (ribs) come back.
It’s been a less auspicious start for Houston. Jose Altuve just might linger around a .300 average for the rest of human history, but the Astros are still waiting for everything around him to bloom. As of Thursday morning, the usually big bats of Yainer Diaz and Christian Walker are hitting a combined .284. Bellwether slugger Yordan Álvarez has one homer but a .391 average in 30 career plate appearances versus the Pads.
Rookie righty Ryan Gusto opens for the hosts, while lefty Kyle Hart seeks a 3-0 start with San Diego. Saturday’s FS1 spotlight pits Hayden Wesneski’s breaking ball against Michael King’s budding All-Star campaign (3-0, 2.42 ERA, 24 punchouts in 22.1 innings). The “Sunday Night Baseball” probables are suitably cool — two-time All-Star southpaw Framber Valdez alongside 200-K regular Dylan Cease.
Most home runs in both jerseys: Ken Caminiti (121 SD, 103 HOU)
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San Diego Padres
Houston Astros
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(Photo by Fernando Tatis Jr.: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
