Much of the San Diego Padres' disastrous 2023 season can be traced to the team's poor performance in close games. The Padres are winless in 10 extra-inning games. San Diego owns an MLB-worst 6-19 record in one-run games. It's an area in which Padres manager Bob Melvin believes he's failed his team.

In Bob Melvin's 10 years as the Oakland Athletics' manager, the A's had the most walk-off wins in baseball, according to The Athletic. The Padres are 1-10 in games that end in walk-off fashion during the 2023 season.

“We established a certain way of playing and, really, a culture (that) those are our type of games to win,” Melvin said Tuesday, via The Athletic. “And a lot of analytics and analysts will tell you that good teams blow teams out, that you’re going to lose your share of one-run games and there’s some luck involved in that. But as a manager, you don’t feel that way. You feel like you’re right in the middle of that. And the fact that it has not been good this year bothers me, and I feel very accountable for that.”

The Padres' run differential suggests that the team should have a much better record. San Diego is 57-63, occupying fourth place in the NL West. The Padres have outscored their opponents by 61 runs. San Diego is 1oth in the overall National League standings with the NL's fourth-best run differential.

The Padres traded for Juan Soto, reached the 2022 NLCS and gave Xander Bogaerts $280 million in free agency. They were projected to be among the top World Series contender.

Outside of the two New York baseball teams, San Diego might be the biggest disappointment of the 2023 season.