Tyler Wade – elcajon newson Elcajon News only

TYLER WADE

• Position(s): Utility man
• Bats / Throws: Left / Right
• 2024 opening day age: 30
• Height / Weight: 6-foot-1 / 188 pounds
• How acquired: Signed as a minor league free agent in November 2023
• Contract status: Will make $900,000 in 2025 after signing a one-year deal in November to avoid arbitration; the deal includes a team option for 2026.
• fWAR in 2024: Minus-0.3
• Key 2024 stats: .217 avg., .285 OBP, .239 SLG, 0 HRs, 8 RBIs, 28 runs, 11 walks, 29 strikeouts, 8 steals (90 games, 156 plate appearances)

 

STAT TO NOTE

• 28.7 — Wade’s sprint speed in feet per second, which ranked in the 85th percentile among all runners in the majors. Among Padres, only Jose Azocar (29.0) — who was designated for assignment in September and picked up by the Mets —ranked higher in 2024.

 

TRENDING

• Idle — While there are certainly faster players in the majors than Wade (see stat to note), the Murrieta Valley High product played his part to a tee in 2024. An afterthought who joined the organization on a minor league deal early after the 2023 season, Wade won a job in spring training and wound up seeing time at third base (31 games), second base (15), shortstop (13), left field (12), right field (7) and center (2). Wade saw the bulk of his starts the first month of the season as he emerged as the preferred choice to start at third base as Manny Machado was relegated to DH duty early in the season as he worked his way back from offseason elbow surgery. Wade started fast, too, collecting five hits in his first seven games (.899 OPS). The former Yankee prospect, however, settled at his level as April wore on, finishing with a .579 OPS as the extended playing time fleshed out the holes in his game. He doesn’t hit for power and is a .217 hitter across 865 plate appearances in the majors, but he turned in the lowest strikeout rate of his career (18.6 percent) for a team that made contact its mantra in 2024. Wade has proven himself especially adept at bunting in his career and collected four in 2024, one shy of his career high. Wade was also the teams’ preferred legs off the bench for most of the season and went 8-for-9 in stolen base attempts. Wade appeared in just one postseason game off the bench.

 

2025 OUTLOOK

• Wade’s .524 OPS was his worst mark since back-to-back sub-.500 efforts in his first two years in the majors with the Yankees (2017-18) and he finished in the red in WAR, as measured by fangraphs.com, for the fourth time. That said, he fit in San Diego in the clubhouse and the ways he can contribute off the bench, and the Padres rushed to sign him to a deal that includes a team option for what would have been his first year in free agency.

==

Roster rankings