Yu Darvish pitched five scoreless innings, Luis Campusano drove in three runs and the San Diego Padres beat the Chicago Cubs 6-3 on Monday night. Darvish (2-1) allowed three hits in his second start since he was activated off the 15-day injured list after being sidelined by neck stiffness. The Japanese right-hander, who played for Chicago for three seasons before he was traded to San Diego in December 2020, also tossed five shutout innings in a 6-4 victory against Cincinnati last week.
Free agent Jurickson Profar and the San Diego Padres finalized a $1 million, one-year contract on Saturday that gives the 30-year-old outfielder the chance to make an additional $1.5 million in performance bonuses based on plate appearances. San Diego started spring training with only two outfielders on its 40-man roster, right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. and José Azocar. Profar primarily played left field with the Padres from 2020-22 and again when he rejoined them late last season, although he played some at the other outfield positions as well as in the infield and as the designated hitter.
New San Diego manager Mike Shildt has texted with outfielder Juan Soto and plans to meet with the Padres superstar later this month. Shildt said Tuesday at Major League Baseball's winter meetings that he's been trying to get down to Florida to visit Soto, the slugger the Padres acquired from Washington via trade in August 2022. Shildt said he's seen a lot of Padres players since taking the job and had dinner with some while they were in San Diego.