Since the start of June, the Padres offense has been one of baseball’s least productive units.
So giving Luis Campusano a start — finally — can’t hurt a whole lot.
The beleaguered catcher is starting a game for the first time since May 31, at designated hitter and in the eight-hole for Saturday’s 4:15 p.m. start on FOX.
Game 2 in Arizona. pic.twitter.com/fV8D7AVCBP
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 14, 2025
Campusano is looking for his first hit this season.
He is 0-for-14 with six walks and six strikeouts. His only appearance since May 31 was a pinch-hit opportunity against Dodgers utility man Kike Hernandez on Tuesday, when he grounded out to shortstop in an 11-1 win.
The 26-year-old Campusano was once the catcher of the future, but the Padres are committed to Elias Díaz and Martín Maldonado as the sole catchers and using Campusano as a designated hitter against left-handers.
Except Campusano isn’t facing a left-hander on Saturday (see below).
All but one of his starts this season have come against left-handers.
Campusano is a .243/.297/.377 hitter with 17 homers and 77 RBIs in 176 games since making his debut in 2020.
Campusano was hitting .313/.432/.611 with 10 homers and 29 RBIs in 37 games this year at Triple-A El Paso.
The Padres are 6-6 in June despite 28th this month in OPS (.632), 27th in weighted runs created plus (84) and last in home runs (5).
With Campusano serving as the DH, Gavin Sheets (.757 OPS) will man left field and bat sixth and Luis Arraez (.702 OPS) will play first base and bat second.
The Padres (38-30) have slipped to third in the NL West, two games behind the Giants (41-29) and Dodgers (41-29) in the division and 1½ games up on the Brewers (38-33) in the race for the NL’s third wild card.
Here is how the Diamondbacks (35-34, 4th in NL West) will line up for Game 2:
Let’s keep it going. pic.twitter.com/npA6LOWFbv
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) June 14, 2025
Saturday’s pitching matchup
Padres RHP Ryan Bergert (1-0, 1.26 ERA)
The 25-year-old rookie has allowed two runs over 10⅓ innings in his two starts since reing the big-league team, including 5⅓ innings of one-hit ball in his last start (4 Ks, 4 BBs). Both starts have been on the road, as have three as his four relief appearances. This is Berger’s first appearance against the Diamondbacks.
D-backs RHP Zac Gallen (4-8, 5.15 ERA)
His 36 walks are the most in the NL and he has allowed at least four runs in eight of his 14 starts. Gallen has a 6.38 ERA in eight starts at Chase Field. Gallen has a 3.16 ERA in 12 starts (68⅓ IP) against the Padres, but he has not faced them since 2023, when he had a 1.78 ERA over four starts.
Here is how Gallen has fared against current Padres:
