Wil Myers' redemption arc
It has been a long, wild ride for Wil Myers. But, with the postseason on the horizon, he might just be in the perfect spot to become a Padres legend.
It’s weird how perspective changes things. This is Wil Myers’ 8th season with the San Diego Padres, and his 10th season in MLB, and it’s far from the best season he’s ever had with the team.
In 2016, Myers posted a 3.4 fWAR while hitting 28 HRs and knocking in 94 RBIs. He was named an All-Star, played in the Home Run Derby, and was given a long-term contract by the Padres. The future looked very bright.
In the years since, Myers has struggled to find his place on this team. In 2017, he was so disappointing in his new position (first base) that the team jumped at the chance to sign Eric Hosmer in the offseason and move Myers (who had previously been a catcher and an outfielder) to another new position. He spent most of 2018 bouncing between the outfield and third base, and his hitting never seemed to find a rhythm as a result.
Somewhere around 2019, I started talking out loud about how the Padres should try to dump Wil Myers’ contract. Actually, “Wil Myers’ contract” became the most talked about member of the San Diego Padres, even as Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. were joining the team.
I think the thought was that Myers’ contract (and Hosmer’s contract) was going to keep the team from ever being able to spend another dime. “Sorry, guys, we tried, “ the team would say to the fans as they pointed to the $40M they were spending on Myers and Hosmer every year…
But that’s not what happened! Peter Seidler said “Damn the torpedos, we’re going for it!” (I’m using quotes here but these are just fake, made-up quotes) and continued to spend. Between Sielder and A.J. Preller, Myers (and his contract) would eventually fade into the background as a thing that Padres fans no longer complained about.
And Myers had good moments! He put up 2.0 fWAR in just 55 games in 2020. Some fans (myself included) thought that it was the beginning of a breakout for Myers, perhaps the one we had been waiting many years for, the result of the team finally sticking him in one position and leaving him there.
But then 2021 came and…Wil was Wil. His ISO dropped below .200 again and his SLG was back in the .400s. His batting average (.288 in 2020) went back to the mid .250s.
It became evident that Wil was just on a hot streak during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. The real Wil Myers is the guy that we’ve seen year in and year our since 2018 (when his yearly HR total went from ~30 to ~15). We were going to have to accept that.
This season started with Wil as the starting RF. But he lost his starting spot while injured, and he stood zero chance of getting it back once the team acquired Juan Soto. As such, Wil has finally become a version of what the team has apparently always wanted him to be: a utility fielder who can hit a little.
In 2022, Wil has played…
23 games at 1B
9 games in LF
6 games in CF
36 games in RF
1 inning at 3B
0.1 inning at 2B
3.2 innings as pitcher
The rest of the time, he’s gotten his bat in the lineup as the designated hitter.
And, all the while, the fans have learned to enjoy his hot streaks and ignore his slumps. Now that he’s not a regular starter, and not batting cleanup in the lineup every day, that has become easier to do. The more money that Seidler has poured into this team, the less it has mattered what Wil Myers makes.
What matters is that Wil seems like a generally nice and happy guy. He’s friendly with the fans and media. He’s always in the middle of celebrating the accomplishments of his teammates. He doesn’t seem to mind when he spends a few days on the bench. And when he’s called into action, he’s seemingly always ready to play.
In an ideal world, the Padres probably would’ve just stuck with Myers at 1B and never signed Hosmer. We’re getting glimpses of that now, as he fills in regularly for struggling Josh Bell. Myers is a really fun defender that uses his athleticism to make plays that most first basemen couldn’t, and he seems to be really into getting the ball in his hands and getting his teammates involved.
Anyway, let’s discuss the future. The Padres will be playing playoff games later this week and their offense is their biggest weakness. We can say, with a pretty good deal of certainty, that Juan Soto and Manny Machado will show up in the postseason. The problem is that opposing pitchers will simply pitch around those guys if there’s no threat behind them.
Josh Bell was supposed to be that threat, but it hasn’t worked out that way. Brandon Drury is occasionally that threat, but his OPS has dropped more than 100 points since joining the Padres. It’s entirely possible that the guy the Padres will need to step up and knock in the guys on base will be….Wil Myers.
Wil’s on a hot streak right now. He’s slashing .333/.429/.722 in his last 7 games. That type of performance will keep him in the lineup every night.
And can I just tell you how gross that home run is?
If you weren’t watching last night, you may not have understood that the ball was going nowhere. Even balls that were well hit weren’t making it near the warning track. The reason for the game being 0-0 in the bottom of the 8th inning had more to do with Petco Park than the pitchers on the mound, in my opinion.
And then Wil comes up, a perfect example of a super-talented baseball player that could never find the consistency to be one of the 10-15 top players in the game, and blasts a ball well over the center field wall off of a breaking ball on the outside corner.
It wasn’t a fastball he turned around because he timed it right. Wil had to power this ball himself and he almost hit it to the opposite field. On a night when the ball wasn’t flying, that one went a long way and gave us yet another glimpse into why Wil Myers has always been a tantalizing prospect.
If you’re wondering who the third bat in the lineup might be for the Padres in the playoffs, the answer might be Wil. We know that, when he goes on a hot streak, he can be one of the best hitters on the team. He can be a difference maker.
Speaking as someone who used to care more about “Wil Myers’ contract” than the guy himself, the guy who never gave the fans the middle finger for their grousing (miss you, Ian Kinsler) and never complained about a lack of support despite his poor performance (don’t miss you, Hosmer), I hope that happens. I hope he finds the glory he’s been searching for his whole career. It would be difficult to find someone who deserves it more.
Honestly, he should have been in centerfield the last month. Let the man play everyday.