The Baseball Scholar

San Diego Padres Best Single Seasons

Dave Franks
1–2 minutes

These are the greatest individual seasons in San Diego Padres history, broken down by player and position. Since we’re celebrating standout seasons, players can show up multiple times especially if they logged meaningful time at different spots on the field. Outfielders and pitchers may also appear for multiple seasons when those performances rank as the franchise’s best at their respective positions.

Catcher

  • Gene Tenace – 1979

    Gene Tenace Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    6.0 144 151 582 463 61 122 16 4 20 67 105 106 2 6 .263 .403 .445 .848

    • First Base

  • Adrian Gonzalez – 2009

    Adrian Gonzalez Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    6.9 156 160 681 552 90 153 27 2 40 99 119 109 1 1 .277 .407 .551 .958

    • Second Base

  • Mark Loretta – 2004

    Mark Loretta Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    6.0 137 154 707 620 108 208 47 2 16 76 58 45 5 3 .335 .391 .495 .886

    • Third Base

  • Ken Caminiti – 1996MVP

    Ken Caminiti Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    7.6 169 146 639 546 109 178 37 2 40 130 78 99 11 5 .326 .408 .621 1.028

    • Shortstop

  • Fernando Tatis Jr. – 2021Active

    Fernando Tatis Jr. Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    6.6 158 130 546 478 99 135 31 0 42 97 62 153 25 4 .282 .364 .611 .975

    • Outfield

  • Dave Winfield – 1979HOF

    Dave Winfield Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    8.3 161 159 686 597 97 184 27 10 34 118 85 71 15 9 .308 .395 .558 .953

    • Outfield

  • Tony Gwynn – 1987HOF

    Tony Gwynn Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    8.6 154 157 680 589 119 218 36 13 7 54 82 35 56 12 .370 .447 .511 .958

    • Outfield

  • Greg Vaughn – 1998

    Greg Vaughn Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    6.3 151 158 661 573 112 156 28 4 50 119 79 121 11 4 .272 .363 .597 .960

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Kevin Brown – 1998

    Kevin Brown Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    8.6 60 36 35 18 7 2.38 257 7 3 0 77 68 49 257 24.9% 1.07

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Dave Roberts – 1971

    Dave Roberts Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    7.5 63 37 34 14 17 2.10 269.2 14 2 0 79 63 61 135 12.4% 1.11

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Randy Jones – 1975

    Randy Jones Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    7.5 65 37 36 20 12 2.24 285 18 6 0 94 71 56 103 9.2% 1.05

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Blake Snell – 2023Cy Young

    Blake Snell Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    6.0 54 32 32 14 9 2.25 180 0 0 0 47 45 99 234 31.5% 1.19

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Ed Whitson – 1990

    Ed Whitson Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    7.0 68 32 32 14 9 2.60 228.2 6 3 0 73 66 47 127 13.8% 1.15

    • Relief Pitcher

  • Trevor Hoffman – 1998HOF

    Trevor Hoffman Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    4.1 37 66 0 4 2 1.48 73 0 0 53 12 12 21 86 31.4% 0.85

    • Relief Pitcher

  • Kirby Yates – 2019

    Kirby Yates Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    3.0 28 60 0 0 5 1.19 60.2 0 0 41 14 8 13 101 41.6% 0.89

    • Relief Pitcher

  • Cla Meredith – 2006

    Cla Meredith Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    2.5 26 45 0 5 1 1.07 50.2 0 0 0 6 6 6 37 20.0% 0.71

    • Honorable Mention

  • Catcher – Gene Tenace, 1977
  • First Base – Fred McGriff, 1992
  • Second Base – Mark Loretta, 2003
  • Third Base – Gary Sheffield, 1992
  • Shortstop – Fernando Tatis Jr., 2019
  • Outfield – Tony Gwynn, 1984
  • Outfield – Tony Gwynn, 1994
  • Outfield – Juan Soto, 2023
  • Starting Pitcher – Jake Peavy, 2007
  • Starting Pitcher – Jake Peavy, 2004
  • Starting Pitcher – Ed Whitson, 1989
  • Starting Pitcher – Bruce Hurst, 1989
  • Starting Pitcher – Nick Pivetta, 2025
  • Relief Pitcher – Josh Hader, 2023
  • Relief Pitcher – Mike Adams, 2009

    • All underlying data used in this analysis is available in The Baseball Scholar Data Library.

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