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The San Diego Padres are not giving up on the playoff race without a fight. They may remain below .500 even after their 8-5 win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday, but make no mistake about it, they will see the 2023 season through. And with this goal in mind, the Padres made a few additions to the roster, securing the services of Rich Hill, Ji-Man Choi, and Garrett Cooper via trade.
Star third baseman Manny Machado acknowledged just how helpful those additions would be for the Padres even though they don't exactly move the needle as much as a Shohei Ohtani would have.
“Those guys are gonna be impactful to this team. You’ve got some guys who are gonna bring experience to the ballclub … and guys that are gonna boost our club. So we’re excited to have them and know that we’re in a better position today than we were yesterday,” Machado said following the Padres' win over the Rockies, per Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Given the talent the Padres already have on the roster with or without the additions of the aforementioned three (as well as Scott Barlow, the reliever the team acquired from the Kansas City Royals), they won't need them to be saviors of the team anyway. They only need to play their roles to the best of their abilities, come up with some timely strikeouts or clutch base hits, and perhaps the Padres could sneak their way back into the playoff picture.
At the end of the day, however, the onus of turning their fortunes around still falls on the Padres' star players — Manny Machado included. Their Tuesday night win against the Rockies is a good step in the right direction, especially with Juan Soto driving in four runs to lead the team.
But baseball isn't like basketball in that stars can take the majority of scoring chances. Getting back into the postseason picture — which requires surpassing four teams — will require a team effort, and the additions of Rich Hill, Ji-Man Choi, Garrett Cooper, and Barlow will go a long way towards helping the team achieve their goal.
