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The San Diego Padres had no shortage of hype surrounding them heading into 2023, especially after knocking off the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2022 playoffs and just falling short of a World Series appearance. But, this season has been a completely different story, despite a ridiculously talented roster that now has Xander Bogaerts as well.
With a brutal 37-41 record, it appears frustration is boiling over in the clubhouse. Via Dan Clark:
“Tension in the Padres clubhouse is rumored to be at breaking point, with finger-pointing, strategy disagreement, and accusations of laziness and poor preparation from certain high-profile players all common. A real lack of team cohesion. Many fear the once hyped season is doomed.”
When a lineup with so much star power continues to underperform, it's honestly not the least bit surprising to hear there's finger-pointing and disconnect between teammates. After all, the offense ranks 19th in runs scored, 24th in average, 19th in slugging, and 27th in hits. For a team that consists of All-Stars like Manny Machado, Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr, and Bogaerts, there's really no excuse for such lackluster play.
While there's little optimism within the Padres clubhouse right now, we have to remember there is still a ton of time left in the season. Sure, San Diego is 9.5 games out of first place in the NL West and 6.5 games behind in the Wild Card race, but not all is lost yet.
They have a very good pitching staff that has the fifth-best ERA in the bigs at 3.70. It simply comes down to the bats figuring it out and given the type of big names in the lineup, it feels like only a matter of time until they start raking. But, staying together and remaining on the same page is critical or else things will continue to go in a downward spiral.
