San Diego Padres vs Philadelphia Phillies Prediction & Picks - MLB

Prediction published on 5/25/26, 3:32 PM  by Bill Christy | Modified on 5/26/26 at 11:12 PM in MLB Picks

Two teams that have hit a rough patch lately will meet for a 3-game set in sunny San Diego. The Padres (31-21) will host the Philadelphia Phillies (26-27).

The Phillies have been rolling since Don Mattingly took over as manager. But have lost 4 of their last 5 games and have seen their bats go ice cold. Many are pointing to the fact that this lineup is just going to struggle against lefty starting pitching. Their lone win over the last 5 games came against a righty in Cleveland’s Slade Cecconi. They will look to turn things around as they face a righty here in game one of the series with San Diego. The Padres will start Randy Vasquez in this one. The righty is 5-2 with a sub-3.00 ERA. He is coming off a rough start against the Dodgers, where he was lifted after 4 innings. He allowed 3 runs, walked 3, and did not pick up a single strikeout. While pitching is likely to be the main story in this contest, there is a story within the story in this series.

The Padres picked up Nick Castellanos after the Phillies let him go this offseason. There was some bad blood between Casty and the Phillies’ former manager, but there may still be some motivation for him to get back at his old ball club. That might be hard to do, considering the fact that he is batting just .190 on the season.