The 2023 San Diego Padres were a disappointment. It sounds harsh, but facts are facts. They were projected to make a deep playoff run and challenge the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL West title.
Neither happened. They went 82-80, missed the postseason entirely, and finished 18 games behind the Dodgers.
Star third baseman Manny Machado didn’t pull any punches when speaking about the San Diego Padres' disappointing 2023 season with Ben and Woods of 97.3-FM Wednesday:
“Look at what happened to us last year. This game is hard. We let down a lot of people. We let down fans. We let down our owner. We let down our organization. This game is hard. If you don’t know how to embrace that, you don’t know how to take it in, you don’t know how to take the bad, and celebrate the home runs, celebrate the wins – no, there’s more to the good than what is out there. You have to understand how to take that.”
— Manny Machado via Ben and Woods
It's not always apparent outside a clubhouse how hard players on the inside react to a disappointing season. Perhaps Machado and the other leaders within last year's team needed some time to reflect.
Clearly, the Padres' players understood what was at stake. Fans supported them in record numbers, as they finished second in MLB in average home attendance (40,390) at Petco Park. The death of team owner Peter Seidler in November only added to the sense of disappointment.
Machado believes this season will be different. With a new manager in Mike Shildt, the Padres are ready to flip the script in spring training, and not try to play catch up all season.
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