Padres Have Grueling June Schedule, Includes Playing Dodgers Twice

The month of June is make or break for the San Diego Padres, who enter the month three games back from the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers with a crowded schedule and injury crisis looming.

The Padres have just two rest days this month, June 12 and 26, and have games on 13 consecutive days leading into both dates. They face the Dodgers during both stretches, first at Petco Park from June 9-11, then again after a road series against the Arizona Diamondbacks June 16-19.

The Padres have lost two and a half games of ground in the NL West since May 16, and with their June schedule they'll need to kick into overdrive to keep up with their competitors.

The primary issue for the time being is pitching. With Michael King's move to the 15-day injured list with a pinched nerve May 25, the Padres rotation which was already missing Matt Waldron, Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove grew even thinner than it already was.

The Padres have only four healthy starters on their roster as of Sunday: Dylan Cease, Randy Vasquez, Nick Pivetta and Stephen Kolek, who is in his first season as a major league starter. They optioned starter Kyle Hart to Triple-A El Paso after Wednesday's loss to the Miami Marlins.

Additionally, the Friars offense briefly ran cold in May, scoring just three runs over the first five games of a six-game loss streak. They've seen multiple players, such as Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill, slump for multiple games, greatly hindering their explosive lineup.

The Padres ranked in the bottom 10 in the league in batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage and wRC+ during May.

The Padres turned themselves around towards the end of May, however, winning five of eight after their loss streak and putting up eight runs in consecutive games against the Marlins, a feat they had only accomplished against the Rockies thus far.

Gavin Sheets and Manny Machado have both stepped up during the Padres dry spell, and have added some much needed power to the lineup in the absence of some of their bigger stars. Sheets has six home runs since May 16, and his .569 slugging percentage during that period leads qualified Padres hitters.

Machado hit three homers in four days between May 23-26, including a go-ahead homer against the Atlanta Braves to break their six-game duck.

Although not leading their division, the Padres have half a game of breathing room in the Wild Card race, just ahead of the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals. For a team with such high postseason expectations and aspirations, slipping up during June is not an option for the Padres.

For more Padres news, head over to Padres on SI.