San Diego, CA

Tom Krasovic: Freddie Freeman shows he can still swing it in Dodgers’ blowout win over Padres

Published

5 months ago

August 24, 2025

Tom Krasovic: Freddie Freeman shows he can still swing it in Dodgers’ blowout win over Padres

Let’s begin here: Freddie Freeman is a baseball god, OK?

Cut the Padres some slack for their 8-2 loss Sunday to the Dodgers that nixed a three-game sweep and tied up the National League West’s top spot — which actually isn’t knotted because Los Angeles holds a tiebreaker.

The Padres were in trouble once Freeman found his “A” game, which for hitters of his era, belongs on the tip-top shelf.

Homering twice and also drawing a big-time walk that led to a run, Freeman made sure the Padres would not hold his team to one run for the third game in a row, despite more good work from ace Nick Pivetta.

What lifts Freeman above other very good hitters?

His concise swing path — inside out — recalls Tony Gwynn, yet the lefty has home run power to all fields. Although this baseball era is too fast for many old hitters due the abundance of velocity and spin, Freeman is still raking as he nears his 36th birthday.

Baseball men marvel that the gangly Freeman, who’s 6-foot-4, somehow maintains a precise stroke.

“I wouldn’t teach anyone to do it like he does it,” a pitching coach told me two years ago. “He’s a freak.”

Age may have eroded some of his visual skills. His strikeout rate this year, though pretty good, is his highest in eight years.

But age can’t harm his ability to read pitchers.

The walk Freeman drew off Pivetta in the first inning owed to Freeman laying off tough pitches.

The six-pitch walk loaded the bases with none out, sending L.A. to a 1-0 lead.

The Padres had gone ahead 2-1 when Freeman batted in the sixth with one out. And by then Pivetta had clicked into ace mode, having retired nine in a row.

Freeman carved Pivetta’s first pitch, a curveball, down the left-field line, meaning he stayed back on Pivetta’s slowest pitch (77 mph).

Would the flick-shot land one of his famous inside-out doubles?

It tailed foul, a foot wide of the chalk.

Pivetta came back with a much speedier pitch. A fastball, it was 17 mph quicker.

Neither tardy nor hasty, Freeman met the misplaced 94-mph fastball flush with perfect launch.

As the ball soared beyond the right-center field wall, if Padres pitcher Nestor Cortes flashed back and grimaced in the dugout, it would have made sense.

Cortes threw an inside fastball in Game 1 of the World Series last October that Freeman hit into the right-field pavilion at Dodger Stadium for the first walk-off grand slam in the event’s history. It began a run in which Freeman homered in four consecutive games, extending his World Series home run streak to six games.

The baseball god version of Freeman still exists. And if any doubts lingered in Sunday’s game, Freeman chased them by homering again off reliever Wandy Peralta. A lefty reliever, Peralta allows a long ball once every 70 at-bats. The sequence: slider for a strike, sinker for a foul ball, changeup for a home run.

Seamhead stuff

Padres relievers held L.A. to one run in six innings over the series’ first two games.

But Pivetta’s replacement, Jeremiah Estrada, gave up a three-run home run to rookie catcher Dalton Rushing after allowing two Dodgers to reach base.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said if lefty Adrian Morejon had been brought in to face Rushing, he would’ve sent up right-handed Will Smith, L.A.s’ main catcher.

Smith is a much better hitter than Rushing.

The Dodgers had batted .368 with four home runs off Estrada. But the righty never faced Rushing, whose .505 OPS in 115 plate appearances was poor.

With Shohei Ohtani on deck, the Padres sought an inning-ending double play.

Estrada tried for it by throwing five sliders or split-fastballs rather than his No. 1 pitch, a fastball that pushes 100 mph.

Rushing didn’t hit the desired grounder, then let pass Estrada’s first fastball, loading the count. Opting for another a slider, Estrada dangled it. Rushing pulled it for his third home run.

“Baseball ain’t easy,” Estrada said.

Padres fandom has its rough moments, too.

Roberts said a Padres fan wearing a Fernando Tatis Jr. jersey seated near L.A’s on-deck circle gave Ohtani a lot of guff, reminding the slugger of his struggles against the Padres in the series.

Ohtani answered with a home run in the top of the ninth. Then he went to the fan and slapped him on the hand.

With 31 games to go, the Padres will try to win their first National West title since Bruce Bochy’s final San Diego team edged L.A. in 2006. It’s hard to argue with the math of Padres hitter Gavin Sheets, who quipped that a 31-0 finish should get it done. “The atmosphere was great,” Sheets said of the three-game series. “It was good baseball to see.”

Originally Published: August 24, 2025 at 6:28 PM PDT

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San Diego, CA

Padres roster review: Luis Campusano

Published

7 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Padres roster review: Luis Campusano – San Diego Union-Tribune

LUIS CAMPUSANO

Position(s): Catcher
Bats / Throws: Right / Right
2026 opening day age: 27
Height / Weight: 5-foot-10 / 232 pounds
How acquired: Second round of the draft in 2017 (Cross Creek HS, Ga.)
Contract status: Will make $900,000 after agreeing to a one-year deal to avoid arbitration; Will not be a free agent until 2029.
fWAR in 2025: Minus-0.4
Key 2025 stats: .000 AVG, .222 OBP, .000 SLG, 0 HRs, 0 RBIs, 0 runs, 6 walks, 11 strikeouts, 0 steals (10 games, 27 plate appearances)

STAT TO NOTE

1 — The number of plate appearances for Campusano while in the majors between June 1 and June 13 and the one at-bat resulted in a weak, pinch-hit groundout against a position player (Kike Hernandez) on the mound in mop-up duty. Campusano was recalled to the majors four times in 2025 but did not get a real opportunity get settled after he went 0-for-6 with four walks and a strikeout in three straight starts as a DH in early May. Of course, hitting .227/.281/.361 with eight homers over 299 plate appearances after getting the first real chance to start in 2024 likely informed how the Padres viewed his opportunity in 2025.

Down — Called up a final time on the last day of the regular season, Campusano balked at the idea that the season did not go the way he wanted. “I had a great season,” he said as he and his teammates packed for the NL Wild Card Series in Chicago. And he did … for Triple-A El Paso. He hit more home runs than ever (25), drove in more runs (95) and finished with a career-high 1.036 OPS, tops among all qualifying Triple-A hitters. The disappointment inferred in the question posed to Campusano was that he was not able to impact the big-league team in any way in 2025, which began with the team choosing to bring in a 40-year-old Yuli Gurriel a chance on the opening day roster over a homegrown product. Once billed as the catcher of the future, Campusno did not catch a single game in the majors, nor did he get any hits, although the opportunity to play was sporadic after getting three straight starts as a DH in early May (see stat to note). The Padres even lost back-up catcher Elias Díaz to an oblique injury over the final weekend of the regular season, but Campusano — who played out the string for a Triple-A El Paso team that did not make the playoffs rather than participate in the majors as a September call-up — was added to the postseason roster more as a right-handed bat than a third catcher (Martín Maldonado was also re-added to the team for the playoffs as the defensive back-up to Freddy Fermin). Campusano, of course, was not asked to help the team in either capacity before the Padres were eliminated in three games.

2026 OUTLOOK

Campusano is finally out of minor league options this year, so the Padres will either have to carry him on the roster, trade him or expose him to waivers. He has fans in the organization, but two big-league staffs headed by Bob Melvin and Mike Shildt seemingly lost faith in his ability to catch a game and all the responsibilities that come with that. It remains to be seen what impact the arrival of robo umps will have on how new manager Craig Stammen views Campusano’s ability behind the plate, but he’s been a potent minor league hitter who has yet to truly get on track in the majors beyond the second half of 2023 (.875 OPS, 6 HRs). Campusano has dabbled at first base in recent years in the minors (12 starts total), so perhaps he settles into a role as a second catcher/right-handed DH/first base option to start 2026.

Luis Campusano #15 of the San Diego Padres and Nick Pivetta #27 walk to the dugout during a practice before the Wildcard series against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Sept. 29, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

ROSTER RANKINGS

22. C Luis Campusano
23. LHP Yuki Matsui
24. INF Sung-Mun Song
25. RHP Matt Waldron
26. OF Bryce Johnson
27. RHP Ron Marinaccio
28. RHP Bryan Hoeing
29. LHP Kyle Hart
30. RHP Jhony Brito
31. INF Will Wagner
32. OF Tirso Ornelas
33. RHP Garrett Hawkins
34. RHP Miguel Mendez
35. RHP Daison Acosta
36. RHP Ty Adcock
37. RHP Alek Jacob
38. INF Mason McCoy

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San Diego, CA

2 San Diego Eateries Named Among ‘Most Beautiful New Restaurants’ In America

Published

19 hours ago

January 7, 2026

Press Room

2 San Diego Eateries Named Among ‘Most Beautiful New Restaurants’ In America

SAN DIEGO, CA — Two San Diego County eateries were named among the most beautiful restaurants that opened last year in the country.

Carlsbad-based Lilo was ranked No. 4 and La Jolla-based Lucien was ranked No. 9 on Robb Report’s list of the most beautiful new restaurants in the U.S. for 2025.

Lilo, which opened in April, features a multi-course tasting menu served around a 24-seat chef’s counter.

The restaurant, co-owned by Chef Eric Bost and John Resnick, earned a Michelin star just months after opening its doors. The eatery was also the only one in San Diego to land on The New York Times list of the 50 best restaurants in America.

Lucien, which opened in July, also offers a chef’s tasting menu, with more than a dozen courses. The 30-seat restaurant, is owned and helmed by Northern California native Chef Elijah Arizmendi, along with partners Brian Hung and Melissa Lang.

“I’m very grateful for the recognition from Robb Report,” Arizmendi told Patch. “Lucien is deeply personal to me, and the space was designed as an extension of my philosophy — one centered on intention, hospitality and the joy of sharing something meaningful to others.”

The list spotlights 21 restaurants in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City and other cities across the country. View the full report here.

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San Diego, CA

Proposed fuel pipeline draws interest from investors. Can it give San Diego drivers a break?

Published

1 day ago

January 7, 2026

Press Room

Proposed fuel pipeline draws interest from investors. Can it give San Diego drivers a break?

Plenty of financial and regulatory hurdles still need to be cleared, but a fuels pipeline project that may lead to lower gas prices in San Diego and Southern California has received a healthy amount of interest from other companies.

Phillips 66 and Kinder Morgan have proposed building what they’ve dubbed the Western Gateway Pipeline that would use a combination of existing infrastructure plus new construction to establish a corridor for refined products that would stretch 1,300 miles from St. Louis to California.

If completed, one leg of the pipeline would be the first to deliver motor fuels into California, a state often described as a fuel island that is disconnected from refining hubs in the U.S.

The two companies recently announced the project “has received significant interest” from shippers and investors from what’s called an “open season” that wrapped up on Dec. 19 — so much so that a second round will be held this month for remaining capacity.

“That’s a strong indicator that people would be willing to commit to put volume on that pipeline to bring it west long enough for them to be able to pay off their investment and provide a return for their investors,” said David Hackett, president of Stillwater Associates, a transportation energy consulting company in Irvine. “They won’t build this thing on spec. They’ll need commitments from shippers to do this.”

The plans for the Western Gateway Pipeline include constructing a new line from the Texas Panhandle town of Borger to Phoenix. Meanwhile, the flow on an existing pipeline that currently runs from the San Bernardino County community of Colton to Arizona would be reversed, allowing more fuel to remain in California.

The entire pipeline system would link refinery supply from the Midwest to Phoenix and California, while also providing a connection into Las Vegas.

The proposed route for the Western Gateway Pipeline, a project announced by Phillips 66 and Kinder Morgan designed to bring refined products like gasoline to states such as Arizona and keep more supplies within California. (Phillips 66)

A spokesperson for Kinder Morgan told the Union-Tribune in October that there are no plans for the project to construct any new pipelines in California and the proposal “should put downward pressure” on prices at the pump.

“With no new builds in California and using pipelines currently in place, it’s an all-around win-win — good for the state and consumers,” Kinder Morgan’s director of corporate communications, Melissa D. Ruiz, said in an email.

The second round of “open season” will include offerings of new destinations west of Colton that would allow Western Gateway shippers access to markets in Los Angeles.

Even with sufficient investor support, the project would still have to go through an extensive regulatory and permitting process that would undoubtedly receive pushback from environmental groups.

Should the pipeline get built, Hackett said it’s hard to predict what it would mean at the pump for Southern California drivers. But he said the project could ensure more fuel inventory remains inside California, thus reducing reliance on foreign imports, especially given potential political tensions in the South China Sea.

“I’d much rather have our gas come from Texas or Missouri than from Asia, at least from a geopolitical strategic standpoint,” Hackett said.

This past summer, Reuters reported that California’s fuel imports hit their highest levels in four years.

About 70% of the imports — roughly 187,000 barrels per day — came from South Korea and other Asian countries that have long been top trading partners for California and other states along the West Coast, according to Kpler, an international firm that tracks global shipping and trade.

Fuel supplies and gasoline prices have received greater focus in the wake of a pair of refinery closures in California.

Phillips 66 planned to shutter operations at its twin refinery in the Los Angeles area by the close of 2025, and Valero is scheduled to close down its 145,000-barrel-per-day facility in the Northern California city of Benicia in April. The Valero and Phillips 66 facilities combine to account for about 18% of the state’s crude oil capacity.

The average price for a gallon of gasoline is higher in California than in any other state in the continental U.S., according to AAA.

On Tuesday, the average price in the Golden State was $4.254 while the national average came to $2.815. Hawaii had the highest average in the country, at $4.423 per gallon.

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