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Three reasons why Padres are having incredibly disappointing season
The New York Mets are not the only big-money disappointment in Major League Baseball season.
The San Diego Padres are giving them quite a run for their money and are rapidly falling out of the National League playoff race.
The Padres were swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday afternoon, blowing a 4-0 lead in a 5-4 loss to extend their losing streak to five games. They are also just 2-8 in their past 10 games and 37-44 on the season. That puts them 10.5 games out of first place in the National League West and eight games out of a wild-card spot.
After reaching the NLCS a year ago and boosting their payroll to more than $246 million, there were sky-high expectations for this season. They are not meeting them. Let's try to take a look at a couple of reasons why.
1) Manny Machado is having an awful year
At least by his standards.
Machado received a $300 million contract extension this winter after finishing as a runner-up for the 2022 National League MVP award. He is not coming close to matching that performance.
Following an 0-for-5 effort on Thursday, Machado has a .690 OPS for the season, a number that is .138 points below his career average and .208 points below what he did a year ago.
When one of your best and highest-paid players is having that sort of down year, it makes it really difficult to win. If the Padres are going to turn things around, it is going to have to start with a Machado turn around.
2) The offense as a whole has been underwhelming
Machado is not the only player in the Padres lineup struggling. As of Thursday the Padres find themselves 21st in the league in runs scored and 18th in OPS. That is far below what you would expect from a contender.
Even though most of the Padres' 2022 success was driven by the pitching staff carrying a middle-of-the-pack offense, the lineup still performed better than this and expectations should have been significantly higher.
Not only did they keep Machado, but they were also getting a full season of Juan Soto (after acquiring him midseason in 2022 from Washington) and added Xander Bogaerts in free agency. On paper, it should be one of the most powerful lineups in the league. But it has largely underwhelmed as only two players (Soto and Fernando Tatis Jr.) have an OPS over .800 for the season. Machado, Bogaerts and Jake Cronenworth are all performing well below expectations.
3) Some bad luck
It may not be the only reason for the Padres' struggles, but it is a part of it.
As bad as the Padres' record is, there is reason to believe they could realistically turn things around at some point.
For one, they still have a plus-19 run differential that is sixth-best in the National League. That should equate to a better record in the standings. That run-differential is aided in part by a pitching staff that remains mostly outstanding with a 3.81 ERA that is ninth-best in the majors.
They have also not consistently had their full complement of players. Tatis (suspension) and Machado (injury) have both missed nearly 20 games this season, while Soto had his slow start.
Add all of those things together and you have a recipe for a massively disappointing season.
More must-reads:
- San Diego Padres: Stock up, stock down
- The biggest disappointments from the 2023 MLB season so far
- The 'Recent 40 home run seasons' quiz
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