The San Diego Padres lost again last night. This time around, it was a shutout loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, in which their starting pitcher made his career debut and went seven scoreless innings. This was the Padres fourth loss in their last five games, knocking them back to the third Wild Card spot, only a game and a half over the Brewers. Manager Bob Melvin was not happy.
“Very, very frustrating,” Bob Melvin said in an interview with The San Diego Tribune. “Didn’t even feel like we put up a fight. Can’t play this way, especially this time of year.”
The Padres had very high expectations coming into the season. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado were among the best duos in baseball, and the addition of Juan Soto at the trade deadline, one of the best young stars in the game, made the Padres an immediate World Series contender, at least from the naked eye. But Tatis Jr. didn't play a single game this season after a significant stint on the IL and then a shocking suspension for the use of PED's. Juan Soto is batting .202 with a .694 OPS and just three home runs since the Padres acquired him, which was certainly not the production the team was looking for. He went 0-4 last night, making the slugger 3-48 over his past 14 games.
“(The Padres offense is) lacking a lot right now. So when you go out there and you give up a couple runs and we’re playing like this, it’s not gonna hold up,” Bob Melvin said. “The way we’re going about it right now does not look good to me.”
The Padres are hanging on for dear life for that third and final Wild Card spot. The Brewers linger just a game and a half behind them and will certainly battle for that spot with only a few weeks left in the season. The frustration is boiling up in San Diego, and Bob Melvin and the Padres will look to channel that anger into some wins down the stretch to lock up a spot in this year's postseason.
Follow Us
Subscribe