Good morning from Los Angeles,

The news broke shortly after the Padres completed their 8-2 victory over the Diamondbacks late yesterday afternoon (game story here).

The Giants had acquired Rafael Devers, a three-time All-Star, from the Red Sox.

There was some shock. But Padres players were far more engrossed in the conclusion of the U.S. Open.

Most sat on chairs and couches in front of a large television and hardly paid attention to the smaller TVs on which the trade was being reported.

The Padres will have to deal with Devers later. It would seem the National League West and the NL playoff race just became even more of a challenge.

But maybe the Devers trade will help in a way.

It might serve as a catalyst for more trades.

The Padres are looking for help.

They have been trying for more than a month to add a right-handed hitter, preferably one that can play left field.

They also have discussed catchers.

But the trade market has been stagnant, somewhat paralyzed by the fact that so many teams believe they might have what it takes to make the postseason.

Four National League teams are within 3½ games of a playoff spot, and six American League teams are within three games of a playoff spot.

The list of contenders will almost certainly dwindle as the deadline nears.

Internally, the Padres are confident they can eventually get something done that improves their offense.

However, there is some skepticism outside the organization (and even some questions inside) about whether the Padres have the prospects to swing a trade for significant upgrades.

Word is, sellers are asking for young players already in the major leagues and/or major league-ready talent in addition to prospects.

That could make the Padres something of a hybrid buyer and seller, a situation in which they part with some young relievers and/or other controllable players in order to improve their offense.

The spark is back

The Padres appear to be getting an All-Star-caliber player as well.

Getting him back.

Fernando Tatis Jr. continued to emerge from a weeks-long funk yesterday by going 4-for-5, driving in a run and scoring three times. His last two hits were doubles that he hustled up.

He also stole his team-leading 15th base. It was his seventh steal of third, which is third-most in the major leagues. And he scored from there on a groundball by Manny Machado that probably had no chance of being an RBI if Tatis had not executed his lead and timed his jump so well.

“Put on a show, really the last (few) days, with how he can help you win a ball game,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “The at-bats were great. The contact read at third was almost — I mean, it’s really as good as anything you’re going to see.”

In Saturday’s 8-7 loss, Tatis was 2-for-5, drove in two runs and scored twice. On Friday, he was 2-for-3 and scored after advancing from second to third base on a fly ball that few players would have run on and then scampering home on an errant throw from the outfield.

“The energy is contagious,” Shildt said. “The style of play sets the tone. (When) he does that, he’s the best player on the planet. He just is. I don’t like to say that because I don’t want it to be a burden to him, because that’s a heavy one to carry. But the reality is when he’s able to put his whole game together, he’s just a dynamic force that absolutely beats the other team.”

In fact, by one measure, Tatis could have beat the Diamondbacks all by himself.

According to STATS, yesterday was the third time in his career that Tatis had more hits, doubles, stolen bases and runs than the team he played against. (That is, by the way, tied with Heine Zimmerman for the most such games since 1901.)

Tatis, who certainly feels he is one of MLB’s best players, said he appreciated the compliment from Shildt. The easy smile that has been largely absent for quite a while was back yesterday, and Tatis laughed as he said he is “still angry” about how he has hit lately.

“Just finding a way a day at a time, and I know at the end of the day or the end of the season, I’ll be there,” he said. “It’s a little bit of everything — mechanics, approach, mentality. It’s a really good combination of both. That’s why hitting is so hard. But, you know, I’m glad I’m bouncing back. A I’ve still got a very, very long way to go.”

Tatis, who hit .183/.255/.333 in 31 games from May 4 through June 8, has hit .476 (10-for-21) and gotten on base at a .593 clip in the Padres’ six games since then.

He remains the Padres’ home run leader (with 13) despite having not hit one since May 27 — a 63 at-bat stretch that comprises the longest drought of his career.

Tatis plays his next four games at Dodger Stadium, where he has hit 10 home runs in 143 at-bats (including the postseason). That is more frequently than any ballpark in which he has at least 35 at-bats.

Pivetta on point

The Padres’ No.1 starter took the mound yesterday, and he delivered as he has far more often than not this season.

“It’s the expectation that the team has of me,” Nick Pivetta said. “It’s why I signed here. It’s what I’m supposed to do. I’m supposed to go deep in baseball games and give the team the best chance to win. And I’m happy that I was able to execute pitches better in the start so I could do that.”

Pivetta was actually signed to be something like a No.4 starter. But given the injuries to Yu Darvish and Michael King and the general ineffectiveness of Dylan Cease, it is certainly fortunate that Pivetta has been much better than that.

Aside from a continued penchant for giving up home runs, Pivetta continued to be everything the Padres could ask, as he held the Diamondbacks to two runs on two hits and a walk while striking out nine in seven innings.

He did allow a two-run homer to Eugenio Suarez. It was the eighth home run he has yielded in his past nine starts after surrendering one in his first five starts.

But he retired nine of the 10 batters he faced after that to get through seven innings for the fourth time this season. The rest of the Padres starters have gone seven innings four times all together.

Yesterday was Pivetta’s eighth quality start. The rest of the rotation has combined for 14 quality starts.

Pivetta lowered his ERA to 3.40, his WHIP to 1.05 and improved to 7-2.

Next up is Cease, one of the starters the Padres actually did expect to perform like an ace. Cease (2-5, 4.28) is facing the Dodgers tonight for the second time in six days. He shut them out over seven innings on Tuesday, his first time going that long in a game this season.

Merrill to IL

I wrote before yesterday’s game (here) about Jackson Merrill going on the seven-day concussion IL.

Merrill is expected to watch the Padres’ series against the Dodgers from San Diego after traveling to Los Angeles with the team.

“It’s going to be a day-to-day thing,” Shildt said. “I think the best thing is that he’s able to keep some food down, and he had some appetite. So that was encouraging. But other than that, he wasn’t himself still. … He’s going to get back to San Diego, rest and hopefully recover quicker.”

Darvish update

Darvish is working his way back and figuring out how to work in his new normal.

He played catch yesterday morning and expects that he will make his season debut sometime next month.

“Hopefully around there,” Darvish said.

Asked whether he thought it might be by July 13, the Padres’ final game before the four-day All-Star break, Darvish said, “I don’t know. I need to ask my elbow.”

The right-hander was shut down with elbow discomfort in the middle of spring training. He worked back to make a rehab start May 14 with Triple-A El Paso in Las Vegas but felt “tightness” after that start and did not throw off a mound again until the end of May.

“It’s better than after Las Vegas,” Darvish said of his elbow. “I feel better than three weeks ago. I’m happy with it.”

Darvish said he expects his next step to be another simulated game. A rehab start could follow that.

Darvish hit 94 mph with his fastball in his simulated inning (18 pitches) Saturday against minor-league hitters at the team’s complex in Peoria, Ariz. That is down from the 97 mph he hit in his rehab start.

“I was not happy about it,” he said. “But it was good enough.”

The Padres and Darvish, who turns 39 in August, have talked about altering how hard he throws when he returns.

“If I feel good, 97,” he said of his plan. “If I don’t feel good, I will keep the velo down. I need to be smart. I’m not young.”

He and the Padres are also mulling changes to his between-starts routine, which has been notoriously rigorous over his 20 professional seasons between Japan and the United States.

Said Darvish: “We are looking for the way to keep me healthy.”

Tidbits

• Based on the Dodgers’ reported plans, it appears that much the same as they did last week at Petco Park the Padres will face a lot of pitchers over the next four days at Dodger Stadium. Among the myriad arms the injury-ravaged Dodgers will run out to patch together nine innings is a right-hander the Padres have not seen since he joined their rival last season. Shohei Ohtani will serve as the opener for the Dodgers tonight. Ohtani has not pitched since undergoing Tommy John surgery in September 2023.
• Sean Reynolds retired the Diamondbacks in order in the ninth inning and has worked 10⅓ consecutive scoreless innings over his past seven appearances.
• Pivetta fielded a grounder and ran it to first base for the second out in the third inning and then ran to first base and grabbed a ball that bounced off the bag for the third out. He was the first Padres pitcher since 2012 to record two unassisted putouts in the same inning.
• Jake Cronenworth’s two-run homer in the fourth inning extended his on-base streak to 13 games. It is the fifth-longest active streak in the majors and Cronenworth’s longest since a 14-game streak in 2023.
• Gavin Sheets was 2-for-4 yesterday and is batting .409 (9-for-22) during a six-game hitting streak. The streak is tied for longest in his career.
• Manny Machado was 1-for-5 with two RBIs yesterday and is batting .373 (19-for-51) with 16 RBIs over the past 12 games. He has in that span taken over the team RBI lead. His 43 RBIs are three more than Sheets.
• Machado is 16 hits from 2,000 for his career.
• The Padres hit two home runs in a game for the first time since May 27. They were the only team in the majors without a multi-homer game in that stretch.
• Just 82 of the Padres’ 295 runs this season have been driven in by home runs. That is the second-lowest percentage (27.8%) in the major leagues behind only the Royals (25.7%).
• Once again, it was about giving themselves enough opportunities . The Padres were 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position yesterday. They are 15-2 when having at least 11 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

All right, that’s it for me.

Talk to you tomorrow.