Padres pregame: Gavin Sheets in lineup, JP Sears set for first SD start

Gavin Sheets is in the starting lineup for the first time since the trade deadline to start a three-game series at the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Monday’s first pitch is at 6:40 p.m. (Padres.TV/MLBN).

In Arizona to start the week. pic.twitter.com/S4W8efRW0t

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 4, 2025

Sheets has not started or played at all since the Padres traded for, among others, first baseman/corner infielder Ryan O’Hearn.

Both are left-handed and do the same things on a roster, with O’Hearn pairing 13 homers with a .283/.374/.463 batting line as an All-Star for the Orioles and Sheets hitting .249/.312/.423 with 15 homers.

O’Hearn has started twice — at DH and first base — in three games since arriving at the trade deadline and is 1-for-8 as a Padre. He’ll give way on Monday to Sheets, who will serve as the DH.

Sheets hit his 15th homer on Wednesday but is hitting .125/.222/.200 in 11 games since the trade deadline.

Sheets will hit sixth on Monday, between shortstop Xander Bogaerts and left fielder Ramón Laureano, who has started all three games since coming over with O’Hearn in the trade from Baltimore.

Freddy Fermin will start a third straight game behind the plate and bat ninth.

First baseman Luis Arraez is riding a career-best 16-game hitting streak in which he is hitting .400/.435/.508. He was 1-for-5 in Sunday’s win.

Before the game, infielder Trenton Brooks cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A El Paso.

Here is how Arizona will line up for Game 1:

Back home. https://t.co/epBmrbYHsx is only $17.99 for the rest of the season! pic.twitter.com/HNZIzUXBPX

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 4, 2025

Monday’s pitching matchup

Padres LHP JP Sears (7-9, 4.95 ERA)

A 3.34 strikeout-to-walk ratio would be a career high if the season ended today and so would his home run rate (1.9 per nine innings). Sears had a 5.48 ERA in 10 starts at the A’s Triple-A ballpark in Sacramento before the trade to San Diego and a 4.55 ERA in 12 road starts. His only appearance against the Diamondbacks was a no-decision last year (6 IP, 3 ER).

Here is how Sears has fared against current Diamondbacks:

• 2B Ketel Marte (1-for-3, 2B, 2 Ks)
• INF Blaze Alexander (0-for-3)
• OF Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (2-for-3, HR, 2 RBIs)
• C James McCann (1-for-3, RBI)
• OF Corbin Carroll (1-for-2, 2B, K)
• SS Geraldo Perdomo (0-for-2)

D-backs RHP Brandon Pfaadt (10-7, 5.11 ERA) 

He allowed a season-high 11 hits en route to giving up seven runs in 4 ⅔ innings last week in Detroit. Pfaadt has a 6.55 ERA on the road and a 3.68 ERA at Chase Field. He has a 3.24 ERA in seven starts against the Padres and beat them in July with two runs over eight innings.

Here is how Pfaadt has fared against current Padres: