The Padres Lead the League in This Surprising Category

Maren Angus-Coombs | Apr 23, 2024

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

The Padres ran into two outs on the bases in Sunday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Could it be a byproduct of their aggressive baserunning?

San Diego leads the league in going first to third on singles and ranks seventh in the majors in baserunning runs above average. But in their 6-3 win over the Blue Jays at Petco Park, San Diego seemed caught off-guard on a couple of occasions.

The Padres were caught on baserunning blunders twice on Sunday. Jurickson Profar was picked off at second to end the first inning with Manny Machado on third base and then Tyler Wade was doubled off second when Fernando Tatis Jr. lined out to second baseman Davis Schneider in the fifth inning.

“I just thought it was over his head,” Wade said. “I knew where Schneider was. I just thought it was about two feet higher. In that situation, I don’t need to be that aggressive.”

Manager Mike Shildt wasn't upset with the two mistakes after the game. He was pleased with the team's aggressiveness but explained there is a fine line between being aggressive and over-aggressive which is what those two gaffes crossed.

“We make plenty of plays,” he said. “I mean, these guys are playmakers. We’re always balancing the line between aggression and just blind aggression. We’re an aggressive club. We’ll play aggressive baseball. We’ll learn from the aggression. But there were some things today that were over-aggression that we’ll clean up.”