San Diego Padres slumping in second-half of MLB season


Frustration is building: Jorge Alfaro was batting just .100 in his last 7 games

Frustration is constructing: Jorge Alfaro was batting simply .100 in his final 7 video games
Photograph: AP

On paper, the San Diego Padres obtained higher on the commerce deadline. In actuality, they’ve gotten worse — and are in a short time changing into the laughingstock of the MLB.

For a 3rd straight yr, the Padres have been patrons on the commerce deadline. And for a 3rd straight yr, they’ve disillusioned.

In 2020, they obtained Mike Clevinger, Austin Nola, and Mitch Moreland. They have been swept by the Dodgers within the NLDS.

In 2021, they added Adam Frazier, Daniel Hudson, and Jake Marisnick. They completed the season 18-36 and missed the playoffs.

And now in 2022, the Padres had what folks known as the best commerce deadline ever. They obtained Juan Soto, Josh Bell, Brandon Drury, and Josh Hader, and have been being topped the favourite to win all of it.

Since, the Padres have gone 6-10, noticed their $340 million “celebrity” Fernando Tatis Jr. get banned for the remainder of the yr for PEDs, and are actually barely hanging on to that sixth and last wild-card spot.

They usually aren’t even taking part in good groups.

Apart from the Dodgers, who took care of them simply in a three-game sweep, the Padres haven’t performed a group over .500.

They’ve gone 1-1 in opposition to the (as of Saturday morning) 52-69 Rockies, 2-1 in opposition to the 59-60 Giants, and 1-2 in opposition to the 52-67 Marlins. Most embarrassingly, nonetheless, they’re a surprising 2-3 in opposition to the now 41-80 Washington Nationals, the group who gave the Padres their two finest gamers and prime contributors.

If the Brewers weren’t additionally disappointing — they obtained swept by the Pirates and misplaced two out of three to the Reds — the Padres wouldn’t be sitting within the playoffs proper now.

They’re actually hanging on for pricey life.

And the fellows they obtained through the “biggest deadline ever” — effectively let’s check out how they’ve fared.

Drury has possibly been the most effective of the bunch, though that’s not saying a lot. Drury has hit three dwelling runs and pushed in 14 runs within the 16 video games he’s performed. But, he’s hitting simply .207 since his transfer to San Diego and has struck out 15 instances.

Bell is one other man who hasn’t discovered his swing. In his 16 video games in brown and gold, Bell is hitting (and I take advantage of that phrase frivolously) .121/.250/.155 with no dwelling runs and simply two RBI. He has double the variety of strikeouts (14) as he has hits (seven). And for reference, he was slashing .301/.384/.493 in his 103 video games in Washington.

Then there’s Soto, who the Padres unloaded the farm for. Soto is hitting the most effective and continues to get on base — he has a line of .286/.444/.429. However he’s not doing very a lot injury. In his 16 video games, he’s hit one dwelling run and pushed in simply three runs.

After which there’s the nearer. Hader was the primary transfer the Padres made. Hader has been arguably the most important disappointment — or a minimum of the most expensive one.

In his 5 appearances, Hader has gone simply 3.2 innings. In his final two, he entered a tied recreation within the ninth in opposition to the lowly Nationals. He left each video games with the Nationals up, not even recording an out in his second look. His ERA as a member of the Padres is 16.20.

The Padres are but once more collapsing within the second half. They’re 18 video games again of the Dodgers within the NL West, and only one recreation up on the Brewers within the wild card.

They’ve been booed by their dwelling followers of their final two video games, and are desperately trying to find something to get them again on monitor.

Additionally they nonetheless play the Dodgers 9 extra instances this season.

If the Padres miss the playoffs, it will be one of many greatest disappointments in MLB historical past. However on the similar time, it will be about as becoming an finish as you possibly can write.

The Padres have been the laughingstock of the MLB for almost all of their 54-year existence. They’ve tried to purchase their method out of that title. However sadly for them, it simply matches too effectively. If solely there was a reinforcement on the best way