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The San Diego Padres are firmly in second place in the NL West division, though the gap between them and the Los Angeles Dodgers continues to grow. Just ahead of the MLB All-Star break, the Padres trail the Dodgers by 9.5 games. Injuries to key players such as Fernando Tatis Jr. have plagued the team, but they've done well to stay in the hunt with the star shortstop on the mend.
There have been some notable surprises with the Padres throughout the first half of the season. Of course, the team is doing the best it can in Tatis' stead, and they've relied upon various players to help pick up the slack. The Wild Card seems the most likely outcome for the Padres this season, despite their expectations that they could dethrone the Dodgers in the division in 2022.
Things don't always go to plan, and the Padres are learning that head-on in 2022. They've managed to press on well in Tatis' absence, but there have been some surprises along the way, both good and bad.
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Padres' biggest first-half surprises in 2022
2. Blake Snell's struggles and overall inconsistency
After missing a chunk of the season to injury, Snell has been wildly inconsistent in his return. One night, such as his performance against the Giants on June 28, the lefty will be practically unhittable. During that game, Snell picked up his first win of the season while tossing six innings of one-run ball. He struck out 11 batters and walked just two. That came on the heels of a 12-strikeout performance against the Dodgers, though he walked four batters in that game.
With performances like those, against two of their top division rivals, it's a wonder that Snell, who has started just 10 games this season, boasts an ugly 5.22 ERA and is 1-5 on the year. Snell is striking out batters at his usual high rate, registering 66 punchouts in 50.0 innings. But he's also walked 31 batters. To put that in perspective, Snell walked a total of 18 batters in the exact same amount of innings (50) during the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season. In the same body of work, he's put 31 batters on base with a free pass in 2022. His control is lacking and it's resulting in teams getting additional base runners, which has hurt the Padres.
1. Manny Machado playing MVP-caliber baseball
When Tatis went down, fans were worried that San Diego's offense would take a big hit. It has suffered, but not as much as it could have after losing its star player. That's largely thanks to Manny Machado who has been the team's heart and soul at the plate. Machado is an elite talent, that's undeniable, but he's playing at levels we haven't seen from him since his days in Baltimore, excluding his excellent 2020 season, which was the 60-game COVID campaign.
On the year, Machado is slashing .306/.381/.519 with 15 home runs, 51 RBI, and 7 stolen bases. He's currently among the favorites to win National League MVP, with him and Paul Goldschmidt widely considered the leaders of the race. Not only is the 30-year-old supplying quality at-bats for the Padres, but he hasn't lost a step defensively, where he remains one of the top dogs at the hot corner.
Machado being excellent isn't a surprise, but the 30-year-old putting on this dominant of a first half is something most Padres fans can't claim to have expected. He's absolutely crushing it right now, and the Padres will be in a great spot when Tatis returns if Machado can keep playing as he has been.
