Gavin Sheets has been one of the few steady sources of pop in a rough Padres season, but his left foot injury may be serious enough to require surgery after the year, according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Sheets landed on the injured list Aug. 30 with plantar fasciitis in his left foot and still hasn’t made it back into San Diego’s lineup. The issue has kept him in a walking boot, and even when he was at the ballpark Wednesday, he was only able to stand in the batter’s box to track pitches during Michael King’s between-starts bullpen session.
After that, he put the boot back on, Acee reported. If he returns this season, he might still need to wear it.
That’s the frustrating part for the Padres: Sheets was giving them exactly the kind of production they signed up for. The left-handed slugger had 16 home runs while splitting time at first base and left field, putting him on pace to challenge the career-high 19 homers he set in 2025. He was also in the middle of a strong first season in San Diego after coming over in free agency.
Before the injury, Sheets was hitting .211/.313/.388, including .220/.328/.426 against right-handed pitching. For a player who spent four mostly uneven seasons with the Chicago White Sox, that was a major step forward. From 2021-24, he hit .230/.295/.385 and averaged just under 12 home runs and 44 RBIs per season.
The Padres are still very much alive in the National League wild-card race, though their need for Sheets’ bat looks different now than it did when he first went down. On the day he was placed on the injured list, San Diego ranked 24th in MLB with a .309 weighted on-base average. Since then, the club has improved to a .328 wOBA, which ranks 11th in the majors.
Jackson Merrill has helped drive that change. His .978 OPS this month has given the Padres the dependable left-handed power they were missing for much of the year, easing some of the burden Sheets had been carrying against right-handed starters.
Still, the depth behind him has been thin. Switch-hitting utility man Luis Rengifo suffered a season-ending injury in August, and the players filling in for the missing offense - Sung-Mun Song and Dustin Harris - have combined for one home run in 149 plate appearances. That leaves Sheets’ biggest skill, power, as the exact trait San Diego has had the hardest time replacing.
For now, the Padres are hoping Sheets can get back in time to help them in October. The bigger question is whether he can do that before the foot issue turns into surgery.
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