5 Reasons Why the Padres Are World Series Dark Horses

The Padres’ bullpen was stacked even before Preller acquired flame-throwing righty Mason Miller. As a Padre, Miller has posted a 0.77 ERA and 0.73 WHIP in 22 appearances since being acquired at the July 31 trade deadline.

A setup-to-closer combination of Miller handing the ball to Robert Suarez is an intimidating prospect for trailing opponents. Suarez turned in a 2.97 ERA and led the NL with 40 saves.

The Padres owned the best bullpen ERA in 2025 at 3.06. Adrian Morejon was one of baseball’s premier lefties, posting a 2.08 ERA in 75 games. Righty Jeremiah Estrada finished with a 3.45 ERA in 77 games.

All of these guys own incredible strikeout-to-walk ratios. Manager Mike Shildt has many options to call upon to shut down situational opponent batters.

No. 2: Offense Heating up at the Right Time

San Diego ended the regular season with Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Merrill and Luis Arraez all finding their best strokes. Arraez hit a scorching .352 in September.

Manny Machado fizzled in the final month to a .207 average. The seven-time All-Star will need to boost his underwhelming lifetime .684 OPS. 

Losing Ramon Laureano to a fractured finger hurts. That said, the Padres still have enough mashers in their lineup to do damage.

No. 3: ‘What-If’ Rotation Has Potential To Be Great

Dylan Cease, Nick Pivetta, Michael King and Yu Darvish represent a talented rotation with big upside.

Pivetta will take the ball for Game 1 against the Cubs. The 32-year-old enjoyed a career year, posting a 13-5 record, a 2.87 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP. 

Cease gets the call for Game 2. The former Cy Young contender fell back down to earth in 2025, but he hasn’t allowed a run in 7.2 career postseason innings. If he can continue this trend, the Padres will boast a strong one-two punch.

Darvish and King’s seasons were interrupted by injuries. Though Darvish is 39, he still has solid innings left in his arm and King pitched to a 2.59 ERA before he landed on the injured list. King will be eager to prove his health and his value ahead of winter free agency.

There’s a lot of “what-if” with this rotation but if they can put it all together, the Padres will be hard to beat given their dominant bullpen.

No. 4: Intimidating Home Field Advantage

Padres fans came out to Petco Park in droves and set a new club attendance record of 3,437,201. It’s going to be a rocking atmosphere both inside and outside the stadium with fans packing Gallagher Square.

Petco Park was the first name that came to mind when Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts was asked about tough road stadiums.

"I would say San Diego and Philly are probably the hardest," Betts told FanSided.

Petco was designed to amplify noise and with the fans bringing their loudest voices, it’s going to be a tough building for opponents.

No. 5: Good Vibes Only

It feels like there’s a confidence that’s growing inside the clubhouse. Players, manager and executives are aligned in their belief that this group is capable of a special postseason run.

“We're in — I think right in the beginning of — the best era of Padres baseball,” Shildt recently said to reporters.

“We feel like we have a team that can win the whole thing,” Preller added. “It starts by getting in. That’s the first part.”

At the end of the day, talk is only talk. The Padres will have to prove that they can walk the walk in October.