Ramón Laureano regrets playing through pain, but won’t rule out comeback with Padres

SAN FRANCISCO — Five months ago, as the San Diego Padres played a series rubber match in Pittsburgh, Ramón Laureano delivered a performance that masked his discomfort.

He stole two bases in the top of the sixth inning. He made a diving catch an inning later. He came up with another in the bottom of the eighth. The pair of robberies prevented a late Pirates comeback, even as the Padres’ left fielder reaggravated a years-old hip injury.

“Something happened there,” Laureano said of that April 8 game. “And I was like, ‘Screw it. Let’s just continue to play ball.’”

At the time, early in a contract year, Laureano was leading off for a team with limited outfield depth. He took one start off before returning to the lineup. That same weekend, he homered in consecutive games.

Those two victories would mark the high point of a painfully shortened season. Speaking by phone Saturday, Laureano said a late-April trip through the elevation of Denver and Mexico affected the blood flow in his right hip — the same hip he hurt in 2021 with the Oakland Athletics. A slump at the plate turned into a swoon.

It wasn’t until May 30 that the stoic veteran told the Padres’ training staff how severe his injury was. Days later, he underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum.

“He’s going to leave everything out there for the boys,” Padres right fielder and close friend Fernando Tatis Jr. said. “That’s who Ramón is.”

Still, months later, Laureano believes it was foolish not to speak up sooner. His surgery came with an estimated recovery of approximately five months. Had he gone under the knife in April, he might have been able to help the team’s postseason push.

“I have no idea why I kept playing,” Laureano said. “I’m such an idiot. Stupid, really. That’s some stupid s— right there.”

Before the Padres held on for their sixth consecutive win Saturday — a 7-6 victory over the San Francisco Giants — Laureano expressed measured optimism with his usual candor. He put the odds of a late-October comeback, should the Padres clinch a playoff berth and advance, at under 5 percent.

That represents a far better chance, he added, than what he faced last September.

A little less than a year ago, Laureano suffered a shattered finger that ultimately ended his resurgent 2025 season. (“The finger,” he recalled, “was a 0 percent chance.”) Now, he is throwing and taking swings without discomfort in his surgically repaired hip. He’s scheduled to progress from jogging to running next week at the Padres’ spring training complex in Peoria, Ariz. He envisions reaching full strength by Thanksgiving.

The hip was not a new problem. In May 2021, Laureano strained it and landed on the injured list. A doctor recommended surgery, but with salary arbitration upcoming, Laureano opted instead for a cortisone injection.

After an offseason sports hernia procedure, he spent the next few years adjusting his swing. Once a franchise cornerstone for the A’s, he struggled at the plate, prompting three clubs to let him go over 15 months.

Then, last year, Laureano hit 15 home runs with an .884 OPS for the Baltimore Orioles. At the trade deadline, he brought his bat and reputation for hard-nosed baseball to San Diego. He was arguably the most productive hitter for a Padres team that needed a second-half surge to make the playoffs.

After fracturing his finger, however, he could only watch as the Padres’ offense fizzled in a first-round exit against the Chicago Cubs.

“They traded for me, and I didn’t even play a playoff game with them,” Laureano said. “Hopefully, I can if they sign me back.”

Laureano could be one of the more interesting corner outfielders in this winter’s free-agent class. Next year, with his hip ostensibly fixed, Laureano expects to be “stronger, faster and twitchier when I hit.”

When he isn’t busy rehabbing, Laureano has stayed in touch with teammates. He watches most innings of every Padres game. He also monitors the club’s closest pursuer for the National League’s final wild-card spot.

“I look at the standings a lot. How the D-Backs are doing. I watch D-Backs’ games, too,” Laureano said. “It’s like I’m a fan, you know?”

The Padres and the Diamondbacks will end the regular season with a head-to-head series at Petco Park. The outcome could very well decide who advances to the postseason.

If San Diego moves on, it would keep a certain flame flickering. Unlike a year ago, Laureano believes he has a small chance of returning before the end of October.

“I’m not ruling it out,” Laureano said. “Every day, I’m working, dreaming about being in the playoffs and performing. But to make it more specific, the chances of me playing are, like, less than 5 percent, the way I have to do all my (rehab) and what the doctor told me to do.”