Inside the Padres’ clubhouse this spring, Wil Myers is occupying two adjacent lockers, a space that previously belonged to Matt Kemp and, before him, Carlos Quentin. The assignment is an indication of Myers’ standing on a youthful team. The 26-year-old first baseman last month signed the largest contract in Padres history, a six-year, $83 million extension that cemented him as the franchise’s face.

If not for some well-timed advice, it might never have come to pass.

Before he embarked on a torrid June that led to an All-Star berth and lasting security, Myers experienced a period of trepidation. Near the end of last May, the Padres were in Phoenix on an off-day. Myers, because of a slight strain in his left forearm, had not started either of the last two games. He was hitting .262 with seven home runs. Though he maintained his ailment was not directly related to past wrist problems, he was leaning toward the side of caution. He called his agent, Jeff Berry.


“I was like, ‘Dude, this thing is hurting,’” Myers recalled. “‘Should I go on the (disabled list)? I don’t know what to do. Another fricking wrist injury.’

“Jeff was like, ‘If you can play through this and it won’t make anything worse, I think you should play.’

“I got pissed at (Jeff). Why does he want me playing hurt?”

Two days later, Myers had a conversation with James Shields, a veteran pitcher who hadn’t missed a start since the end of 2007. Essentially, Myers said, Shields told him to “quit being a baby.”


“Out of high school, I signed for $2 million,” Myers said. “I was a bonus baby. When I was in the minor leagues, if something was bothering me, it was just like, ‘OK, take a day.’ That’s the way I came up. That’s the way I thought you played the game.

“I wasn’t a wuss. I just didn’t know any better. … It took James Shields telling me three years into my big-league career, ‘You’ve got to stop being a wuss and get out there and play every day because that’s what you do here. You’re at the highest level now. There is nowhere else to go. You’re here. So it’s about showing up every day, doing your routine and playing every single day.’”

Myers, who was limited to 147 games over the previous two years, never did go on the DL. On June 1, he went 3-for-4 with a double and a home run. He homered again three days later and the day after that. He finished June hitting .327 with 10 doubles, 11 home runs and five steals. He was named the National League Player of the Month.

On June 4, amid Myers’ tear and the Padres’ rebuilding effort, Shields was traded to the Chicago White Sox. Myers continues to hold his former teammate in high esteem.


“I’m a huge fan of James Shields,” Myers said. “He’s a guy I would want on my team any day of the week. If that guy is telling me to do that, I better listen. He’s the epitome of going out every day.”

Now, Myers, despite his age, could be considered a veteran next to many of his current teammates.

“That was the greatest advice I’ve ever gotten from anyone that would be one thing I specifically talk to these young guys about, about going out there every day and grinding it out,” Myers said.

In August, Myers recalled his phone call with Berry.


“Man, I was this close to not being an All-Star,” Myers remembers thinking. “I was this close to not being in the Home Run Derby. Now, looking back on it, I was this close to not signing a contract. I was this close to, really, who knows what would have happened if I went on the DL.

“If Jeff tells me, ‘Yeah, you should go on the DL,’ I’m not an All-Star. None of this stuff happens. It took Jeff telling me to suck it up.”

The other half

Myers, of course, was an All-Star for the first time in 2016. The day before the Midsummer Classic, he came up short yet still smiled his way through the Home Run Derby. In the main event, he delighted the Petco Park crowd by doubling in his final at-bat.

It was the apex of the season. Myers went from hitting .286 with 19 home runs before the All-Star break to hitting .223 with nine home runs in the second half.


“When I got to the All-Star break I felt like my season was done,” Myers said. “It was like, ‘I’m an All-Star. I did it.’ And then I had 2 1/2 months left to play. I didn’t prepare. I didn’t lock back in quick enough into the second half. I was still in that All-Star hangover. When I found out, shoot, I’ve got to get going again, it was too late, and I started to panic.”

Myers spent up to an hour-and-a-half each day in the batting cage, attempting to wrestle his swing back into shape. When pregame toil did not translate into game-time results, he slid further down a hole.

“I went through it last year really for the first time,” Myers said. “I got to the point I was struggling really bad last year. I mean, my second half was really, really bad. I was absolutely killing myself in the cage. … I just couldn’t find it.”

Myers intends to practice a more buoyant approach this season.


“I fully, 1,000 percent believe I’m going to have a great year because I will not let myself get to the All-Star break or any time in the season and not see that end goal of 162 (games),” Myers said. “I remember going to St. Louis after the All-Star break and going, ‘I’m an All-Star.’ That bad mindset. We all get arrogant sometimes, and I got arrogant. And the next thing you know, I’m 1-for-20.

“This year coming up, when I go through one of those tough stretches that I’m going to go through because it happens in 162 games, I’m not going to beat myself up on it. I’m just going to ride the low waves, and it is what it is.”

Given Myers’ ability, the good times should come, too. Myers finished 2016 as a Gold Glove Award finalist and one of the majors’ preeminent power-speed threats, with 28 home runs and as many steals.

“He’s just scratching the surface as far as his potential,” Padres General Manager A.J. Preller said last month.


In 2017, Myers has his sights set even higher. He hopes to join Alfonso Soriano, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds and Jose Canseco as the only members of the 40-40 club. No one has gained entrance since Soriano hit 46 home runs and stole 41 bases in 2006.

“I just thought to myself, ‘Why not set the bar very high for myself and give me that high goal I want to shoot for?’” Myers said after arriving in camp Thursday. “I think it’s something that definitely can be done. Obviously, that’s the highest peak, but something I’m shooting for. I’d like to see if I can accomplish it.”

Said Padres manager Andy Green: “I think anything’s possible for Wil. I’m glad he’s got big goals out in front of him. The main goal I have is very process-oriented for him, that through the ups and downs of a Major League Baseball season, he stays consistent with who he is in the clubhouse and as a person. If he stays consistent, his unbelievable ability will play on a consistent basis.”

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