Beyond our fantasy baseball content, be sure to check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Baseball Tools as you prepare for your draft this season. From our Cheat Sheet Creator – which allows you to combine rankings from 100+ experts into one cheat sheet – to our Draft Assistant – which optimizes your picks with expert advice – we’ve got you covered this fantasy baseball draft season.

Welcome back to our 2020 team-by-team previews. Today we will be checking out one of the teams with the most star-studded talent in fantasy this year, the San Diego Padres.

You can find all of our 2020 fantasy baseball MLB team previews here.

Prep for your draft with our award-winning fantasy baseball tools

Starting Lineup

• Better in OBP formats: Tommy Pham, Trent Grisham
• Worse in OBP formats: Eric Hosmer
• Better than his ADP: Trent Grisham (305), Jurickson Profar (364), Wil Myers (295)
• Worse than his ADP: Manny Machado (57)
• Bench bat(s) worth rostering: Franchy Cordero
• Player(s) most likely to lose a starting spot: Francisco Mejia

Quick notes: This team is loaded with talent. Fernando Tatis is a risk/reward pick in the early rounds, but he could be a top-5 pick in 2021. Eric Hosmer is boring, but it’s nice to see him finally coming around on analytics and trying to elevate the ball. He’s an accumulator. Trent Grisham is a guy that you should target and grab in every draft at his current price. There’s nothing but value there.

Pitching Rotation

• Better than his ADP: Garrett Richards (285)
• Worse than his ADP: Dinelson Lamet (125), Joey Lucchesi (234)
• Starter least likely to stick in the rotation: Zach Davies
• Non-starter most likely to enter the rotation: MacKenzie Gore, Cal Quantrill, Adrian Morejon

Quick notes: Chris Paddack is a bonafide ace. Don’t overthink it. Speaking of aces, just wait until you see MacKenzie Gore when he gets called up, as he has top-10 overall upside at SP. The Padres have no reason not to let Garrett Richards throw as many innings as he possibly can since he’s a pending free agent. The strikeouts will be nice, but Dinelson Lamet is a two-pitch pitcher (with one elite pitch), who gets hit hard when the batters make contact, and he struggles with walks. He’s a reliever long-term, and this year, if you want his production, just wait a few rounds and take Robbie Ray instead.

Bullpen

• Projected closer: Kirby Yates (Job Security: MEDIUM-HIGH)
• Top backup: Andres Munoz, Emilio Pagan
• Premier holds option: Drew Pomeranz
• Sneaky holds option: Craig Stammen

Quick notes: Kirby Yates has a strong hold on the closer’s role, but if he slips up at all, there are many guys in the wings that the Padres — who are feeling the pressure to compete this year — can turn to in a moment’s notice.

Prospects

• Relevant in 2020: MacKenzie Gore
• Worth a look for 2021 and beyond: Luis Patino, Taylor Trammell, C.J. Abrams, Luis Campusano,
• Don’t believe the hype: Gabriel Arias (has good power — impressive 17 homers in a tough ballpark in the Cal League — but a lot of holes in his swing.)

Other Helpful Fantasy Info

• Park Factor: 90.4 for runs, 87 for homers, 95.7 for singles, 94.6 for doubles, 87.1 for triples.
• Green Light Rating: Unknown (new manager).
• Likeliest 2020 roster moves: Acquiring a bullpen arm and bench bats.
• Bold Fantasy Prediction: Trent Grisham posts a 27/18 homer/steals line.
• Bland Fantasy Prediction: Manny Machado finishes outside of the top-12 at 3B and SS.

Check out all of our 2020 Fantasy Baseball MLB Team Previews.

Practice fast mock drafts with our fantasy baseball software

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | SoundCloud | Stitcher | TuneIn

Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.