Two men in brown uniforms jog against a blue backdrop.
Padres Jackson Merrill (3) and Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) look on during Game 2 of the NL Division Series game against the Dodgers on Oct. 6, 2024 at Dodger Stadium. They are expected to be big contributors in 2025. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire)

The Padres open the season Thursday with a four-game set at home against the Braves, a team they easily dispatched in their Wild Card Series last year.

But the hated Dodgers – the eventual World Series champs – quickly got the drop on them despite trailing in their National League Division Series. It will be another chase to the NL West finish line against Los Angeles in 2025, but with the addition of the Diamondbacks as a contender too, if the prognosticators are to be believed.

Yet manager Mike Shildt is undaunted.

“We’ve got a deep team,” Shildt told MLB.com. “We’ve got a good team. And we’ve got options, which is always good.”

Re-grouping for 2025

The Friars stretched L.A. to the limit in a thrilling series, but it ended with a brutal 24-inning scoring drought despite their talent. Yet the Padres have the personnel to shake it off. Fernando Tatís Jr. and Manny Machado return with gifted youngster Jackson Merrill, 2024’s runner-up for Rookie of the Year, atop an excellent lineup.

Tatis certainly seems to have something to prove. “When I’m 100 percent and my head is in the right spot, I feel like I’m second to no one on the baseball field,” he told MLB.com last month, adding that he is “looking forward to being the best version of myself out there.”

But ESPN warned that the Padres’ “window might be closing fast” given the age of veterans like Machado and Yu Darvish.

Early-spring signee Nick Pivetta supplements Darvish, Dylan Cease and Michael King at the top of a solid rotation, though the prize off-season acquisition Roki Sasaki slipped through their hands – and into, yep, those of the blasted Dodgers.

Darvish, though, will start the season on the injured list, and Joe Musgrove, after Tommy John surgery last fall, will probably miss the entire year. The bullpen is also loaded with options behind All-Star closer Robert Suarez.

On paper, the Padres again have the talent to contend for their first World Series title,” according to the Associated Press. “They just need to get it done.”

Additions and subtractions

The team will try to do so with right-hander Pivetta and lefty Kyle Hart onboard, along with fellow newcomers Jason Heyward and Jose Iglesias.

But they’re moving on without left fielder Jurickson Profar, who signed with Atlanta after his resurgence – though they will see him at Petco Park this weekend – and the versatile Ha-Seong Kim, now a Tampa Bay Ray.

Left-hander Tanner Scott, catcher Kyle Higashioka, infielder Donovan Solano and outfielder David Peralta are also gone.

Could three-time NL batting champion Luis Arráez be on the move as well? His status remained in question all winter.

San Diego acquired Arráez from Miami last May and played him mostly at first base, but he becomes a free agent after the 2025 season. He is a career .323 hitter, but his .393 on-base percentage dipped to .346 last year, leaving questions about his trajectory.

On the farm

TIrso Ornelas is a face to watch, though he won’t start the season with the club.

If the outfielder continues to impress in the minors – in Triple-A El Paso last year, he hit .297 with 23 homers and 89 RBIs in 128 games, the Mexico native, could make his big league debut as the season progresses.