SAN DIEGO — Replicating Jurickson Profar’s stunning 2024 season was farfetched, so it wasn’t a question of whether the 2025 Padres would see an offensive dropoff in left field but rather how bad would the pain be.

The answer so far, metaphorically speaking, is like taking a Mike Tyson punch.

The meager .510 OBP from Padres left fielders entering Wednesday stood more than 400 points shy of Profar’s .926 OPS last May, a sizzling 46-game start in which the 31-year-old switch-hitter was often the team’s best hitter.

The Padres’ freefall at a key offensive position isn’t a great look for A.J. Preller, but other factors have to be considered.

Preller’s $1 million play on Profar last year was a no-doubt grand slam. And this past offseason, Preller spared the Padres a huge setback by allowing Profar to depart in free agency. Preller got $42 million guaranteed from the Atlanta Braves, only to be suspended for 80 games due to a positive test for performance-enhancing drugs.

Actually, Preller found an offensive bargain this offseason. Gavin Sheets, a lefty slugger, has already lived up to his $1 million salary by batting .283 with six home runs and a .464 slug rate.

Consider that the rival Los Angeles Dodgers spent $17 million on Michael Conforto, 32, in their quest for left-handed slugging. Conforto is batting .164 with two home runs and a .267 slug rate, with eight more at-bats than Sheets’ 138 at-bats.

Sheets, a designated hitter/first baseman, isn’t well-suited to left field, so Preller brought in several other candidates there. He didn’t know any of them as well as he knew Profar, who was a teenager when Preller brought him to the Texas Rangers.

This team’s primary left fielder has been Jason Heyward, who cost just $1 million. He hasn’t hit. Beyond Heyward, 35, whose 24 games in left field lead the positional group, right-handed Oscar Gonzalez, didn’t hit, either, and was released Monday to pursue a job in Japan. Given one game in left field, righty Connor Joe was traded this month. Tirso Ornelas, 25, was returned to the Pacific Coast League after 14 at-bats. Brandon Lockridge, 28, has fared the best by far, but was set back by injury.

We can assume that Preller, the team’s top baseball executive, expected the Padres to feel a left-field drop-off from Profar’s spectacular level.

Profar turbocharged Mike Shildt’s chess game as part of a season that blew away his career averages.

He topped .820 in OPS from both sides of the plate, and succeeded first through sixth in the lineup. Atop the order he reached base at a .450 clip in 19 games. He hit 10 home runs, one a grand slam, as the No. 2 hitter. The No. 3 hitter role saw him bat .304 with an .846 OPS. A cleanup hitter is expected to clean up. Profar did, totaling seven RBIs in six games. Batting fifth, he hit .295 and slugged .495 in the 19 games. He hit a slam in the sixth spot, too.

By June, Profar’s hot start was eliciting high praise from sharp-eyed Merv Rettenmund, who’d gone to seven World Series as an outfielder or hitting coach. “He’s roaring,” the Padres’ late coach said.

Though Profar faded deep into the season, the good times carried over into October, when the left-fielder robbed Mookie Betts of a home run in the Division Series’ second game. From there, however, neither Profar nor his Padres replacements have done much roaring.

Preller can afford to be patient. Baseball’s trade deadline isn’t until July 31, and the Padres are well-positioned in the wild-card races. A non-Padres scout said Wednesday the franchise’s top two prospects are Class-A shortstop Leo De Vries, 18, and Class-A pitcher Boston Bateman, 19. De Vries could join the Padres as soon as next year. Bateman, a 6-foot-7 left-hander, has a 4.78 ERA through four games with Lake Elsinore in his first professional system since going in the draft’s second round.

“Their system thins out some after that,” the scout said.

Preller doesn’t need to hit another grand slam here.

Getting offense out of left field that’s close to league average would strengthen the team’s bid for a fourth wild card in six years. My guess is that Preller will attempt more low-cost moves, either from within or without, if none of the current candidates can grab the job and run with it.

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