Gavin

Sheets

Samad Taylor takes over at DH and will hit eighth in his place. Sheets has gone 1-for-2 with a two-run homer in a pair of games this postseason. The Padres are attempting to keep their season alive during Game 3 at Petco Park on Tuesday evening.

Merrill is hitting second for the first time since late July as San Diego attempts to stave off elimination and begin climbing out of an 0-2 deficit as the best-of-five series shifts to Petco Park. It’ll be Ethan Salas handling the catching duties for the third time in five postseason contests with Gavin Sheets getting the nod at DH. Here’s the full lineup: Fernando Tatis Jr. (RF), Merrill (CF), Manny Machado (3B), Ty France (1B), Salas (C), Sheets (DH), Xander Bogaerts (SS), Dustin Harris (LF) and Jake Cronenworth (2B).

There’s nothing wrong with Salas, Padres’ skipper Craig Stammen simply had a change of heart and wanted to use Sheets instead. Sheets will step right into Salas’ spot in the lineup, batting sixth and serving as the club’s designated hitter.

The Padres will face the Brewers in the NLDS. Sheets didn’t start tonight because Austin Hays was 7-for-14 with two homers against Kevin Gausman in his career. However, right after Gausman was pulled in the fourth, Sheets was asked to hit against Daniel Palencia and turned around a 100.8-mph fastball. It was his second homer in seven career postseason games. Prior to Tuesday, he had the White Sox’s most recent postseason homer, taking Lance McCullers Jr. deep in the 2021 ALDS.

Sheets is hitting sixth and playing first base in his return. The 30-year-old has hit .211/.313/.388 with 16 homers over his 412 plate appearances in 2026.

The 30-year-old slugger has finally turned the corner in his recovery from a left foot sprain and his return is said to be imminent. Sheets has been sidelined since August 29 due to the injury. Before landing on the injured list, he was slashing .211/.313/.388 with 16 homers and 46 RBI in 412 plate appearances.

Sheets suffered the injury while running the bases during Saturday’s game. No word yet on how long he’ll be sidelined for. Samad Taylor was activated from the injured list in a corresponding move to take his place on the Padres’ active roster.

Sheets homered Sunday and singled and scored Monday, but he didn’t play Tuesday against a lefty and now he’s sitting in favor of Sung-Mun Song versus Robert Stock. The Padres have Manny Machado DHing today, but they could have used Sheets in left and Luis Regnifo in third. Instead, if’s Rengifo in left and Song at third.

Sheets grabs a seat for the third straight game as he continues to deal with plantar fasciitis. The Padres haven’t given any indication that he’s headed to the injured list, but that could change in the coming days.

Sheets takes a seat for the second consecutive contest due to plantar fasciitis. It’s possible he’ll require a trip to the injured list if he’s unable to get back into San Diego’s lineup later this week.