Another season has come and gone and the San Diego Padres have once more bowed out of the postseason. This year, however, the Padres did not even make it past the NL Wild Card series, with the Chicago Cubs sealing the deal on Thursday night with a 3-1 win. While winning 90 games in the regular season is nothing to scoff at, this Padres team is built to win now especially after they've given away plenty of their top prospects over the years to supplement their Fernando Tatis Jr.-led core.
Alas, Tatis himself has a lot of ruminating to do after not exactly being at his best especially during the Padres' two defeats to the Cubs that led to the end of their season. In Games 1 and 3 (when the Padres scored a combined one run), Tatis went blank from the plate, going 0-8 cumulatively and failing to set the table for a San Diego team that badly needed a jolt of offense in such a short series.
Considering how well Tatis has performed in the postseason in the past, these stinkers are very hard to ignore, especially when they came at such a crucial juncture of the season. The Padres' 2025 campaign is now over and they have nothing to show for it but one postseason win, and Tatis bears responsibility for that since he's one of the team's best players. As a result, he's being clowned all around on social media for his no-show against the Cubs.
“I didn’t think it was possible, but Fernando Tatis Jr. showed up less in the Wild Card than he has in his daughter’s life,” X user @terpycal wrote harshly.
“There is no heart in Tatis, trade him!!” @ChrisReyes8 added.
“Tatis doesn't even know who he is. Idk why hes even in the conversation of superstars, hes no ohtani, hes no judge. His best season he was cheating and we all know it,” @MmNfland furthered.
Can the Padres get over the hump in 2026?
So much of the MLB postseason is a crapshoot, although the change in format from a single-game Wild Card format to a three-game series has eliminated some of the randomness. Nevertheless, in a three-game series, anything can happen, and the Padres certainly got the short end of the stick considering they were the road team in all three games.
But they have the position player core to mount another postseason push, and they have one of the best bullpens in baseball. They might have to win the division, however, and find a way to gain whatever advantage they could just so they could get over the hump next year.
