San Diego Padres? What Happened?
Last Season
The San Diego Padres last season was a chaotic mess. From megastar Fernando Tatis Jr. getting injured the first half of the season and then getting suspended for the rest of the season, how did the Padres turn it around? The Padres went out of their way to trade MacKenzie Gore, Cj Abrams, Robert Hassell III, and top prospects to acquire Juan Soto and Josh Bell from the Nationals. The Padres also acquired Brandon Duruy from the Reds and Josh Hader from the Brewers. An unforgettable moment from the San Diego Padres was Manny Machado’s MVP run. .298 batting average, .366 on-base percentage and .531 slugging percentage. It was also impressive first-year management for Bob Melvin.
Notable Highlights
Playoff baseball at Petco Park for the first time since 2006
First-time playoff appearance in the NLCS since 1998
Jake Croneworth double in the 7th Inning in the NLDS
Juan Soto, Josh Bell and Brandon Drury San Diego Padres debut.
The Offseason
The Padres we’re too focused on being all in for the 2023 season by buying their way into winning the World Series. The first move was signing Xander Bogaerts to a $280M for 10 years. After signing Bogaerts was selling out fan fest to hype up the team for the 2023 season. The Padres also acquired Matt Carpenter, Rougned Odor, Nelson Cruz, Seth Lugo, and Micheal Wacha. The Padres also paid Manny Machado, Jake Croneworth, and Yu Darvish during the off-season. By the looks on paper, this team was destined to go win the world series in 2023. During fanfest, Tatis Jr told the Friar Faithful on there World Series opponent, “It doesn’t matter cause we’re going to win it all!”
The Mistake
The flaw with the Padres during the offseason was letting Brandon Drury, Josh Bell, Wil Myers, and Jurickson Profar walk. The core pieces that were part of the 2022 trade deadline and key players in the lineup that contributed during the playoffs are gone. Drury went on to the Los Angeles Angels, Bell went to the Cleveland Guardians, Myers went to the Cincinnati Reds, and Profar went to the Colorado Rockies. The Padres should’ve re-signed three out of the four players during the off-season.
Former Padre Batting Average in the 2023 season
Jurickson Profar, .234 with the Rockies
Brandon Drury, .271 with the Angels
Josh Bell, .227 with the Guardians
Wil Myers, .189 with the Reds after being DFA’d.
Current Padre Batting Average in the 2023 season
Matt Carpenter, .178
Rougned Odor, .209
Nelson Cruz, .250
Xander Bogaerts, .255
Selling out Petco Park but not winning games!
It felt like a playoff game on opening day. Rally towels were given seat after seat in front of a sellout crowd. Blake Snell was called up as the opening-day starter. Yu Darvish wasn’t ready he didn’t pitch much in the World Baseball Classic. Joe Musgrove was recovering from a toe injury. In front of a packed house at Petco Park, the Padres went on to lose to the Colorado Rockies 7-2. The Padres are doing too much to impress fans this season. First off, the production team, after beating the Dodgers in the city-connect night. The Padres put up a video package of Clayton Kershaw crying after their win. The Padres went on to lose the series. In heart-breaking fashion, in the finale of the series, Mookie Betts hit a game tieing home run to even up the score. The Padres never won a game against the Dodgers ever since the Kershaw incident. The Friar Faithful did their part for the season by selling out Petco Park 30 times. But the magic seems lost with the Padres. The offense can’t get going. They are always looking for the home-run ball. The Padres are ranked second to last in RISP. They’ve been losing games in front of a sold-out Petco Park.
Moments before disaster.
Aj Preller’s time is up?
Is the blame on Aj Preller for not getting right? From last season's performance, his job was saved. If Preller didn’t acquire Soto during the deadline, then where would the Padres be during the 2022 season? But the argument is he’s been doing this job since 2015. Preller’s vision was to bring playoff baseball back before signing Manny Machado back in 2019. The Padres only made two playoff appearances during the Aj Preller era. The first was in 2020 for the first time in 14 years, but it was cut short to soon-to-be World Series Champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 2022 Padres were close but were cut short after Bryce Harper's game-5 home run in the NLCS. If the Padres keep performing the way they are, they will become MLB’s biggest bust this season.
The Padres can win games without Tatis Jr, but can’t win games with Tatis Jr.
East Village Times (Getty Images)
This seems evident. Looking back at the San Diego Padres magical moments, was Tatis Jr. in the lineup? A prime example was the 2022 season. The Padres went to the NLCS without Tatis Jr. Look back at Joe Musgrove’s no-hitter in Texas. Ha-Seong Kim was picking up the pieces when Tatis went down with an injury. The Padres in the 1/2 of the 2021 season, went on a nine-game winning streak against the Cardinals, Mariners and Rockies before Tatis rejoined the team after catching Covid-19. Before Tatis rejoined the team in 2023 after serving his suspension, the Padres we’re 9-11, two games shy of .500. With Tatis contract with the Padres after his 2020 performance, will he become a trade piece in the future? It’s what the Friar Faithful doesn’t want to see. Their star player becoming a trade piece or a roadblock.
Wasted Talent
With the Padres’ poor performance this year. Are they really wasting talent on the players that have been performing this season? Blake Snell started off shakey but turned it around in the month of May and June with Snell’s era being at 3.22. Joe Musgrove also did the same as well with his era being at 3.88. Newly acquired Micheal Wacha almost threw a no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals and he’s been tough as nails with his era being at 2.90. It’s also scary that Blake Snell will be a free agent after the conclusion of the 2023 season. Then the following year, Juan Soto is in the free agent market as well. With the performance this season, fans think the Padres rival is the Dodgers. But in reality, their real rival is being over .500. The question remains, are the Padres All-In this year after their terrible performance in 2023 in the first half?
It’s all falling apart!
