The San Diego Padres are returning to the playoffs. The Padres clinched their spot in the tournament with Monday night’s win over the Milwaukee Brewers at Petco Park (SD 5, MIL 4, 11 innings). This marks San Diego’s second straight postseason appearance and their fourth in the last six years. They had five postseason appearances during the franchise’s first 51 seasons of existence.
With the Padres in, five of the six National League postseason spots have been claimed. The Brewers (NL Central) and Philadelphia Phillies (NL East) have won their divisions, and Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers have clinched postseason berths. The Dodgers hold a three-game lead over the Padres in the NL West, plus they have the tiebreaker, so it’s really a four-game lead.
The Cincinnati Reds and New York Mets have identical 80-76 records, though because the Reds won the season series, they hold the tiebreaker and technically occupy the third wild card spot. The Arizona Diamondbacks are nipping at the Reds’ heels in addition to the Mets. The NL postseason field is shaping up to look like this:
- Bye: Brewers and Phillies
- WC: WC3 at Dodgers
- WC: Padres at Cubs
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San Diego has leaned heavily on run prevention, particularly a bullpen that is four deep in closer-caliber relievers, to get back to the postseason. They have allowed the second-fewest runs per game this season, though they’re middle of the pack in runs scored per game, and they’re near the bottom of the league in home runs. Creating runs can be a challenge at times.
Still, Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. are a formidable offensive core, and Xander Bogaerts returned from a foot fracture Monday. Luis Arraez, Jake Cronenworth, Jackson Merrill, and trade deadline additions Ramón Laureano and Ryan O’Hearn could be very strong complementary pieces, though they’ve rarely been hot (or healthy) at the same time this season.
Ace right-hander Michael King has battled shoulder and knee trouble this year and has been shaky of late, though he is a safe bet to start a postseason game, likely Game 1. Nick Pivetta has been the club’s most reliable starter all season. Dylan Cease can dominate on his best days, which he has not had enough of this season. A spot in the postseason rotation is not assured.
Jeremiah Estrada, Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon, and closer Robert Suarez are as good as any bullpen foursome in baseball. Righty Jason Adam went down with a season-ending quad injury earlier this month, however, taking away a high-leverage option. The plan for the Padres is simple: get good starting pitching, scratch out a few runs, and smother the opponent with the bullpen.
The Padres swept the Atlanta Braves in the Wild Card Series last year, and had a 2-1 series lead over the Dodgers in the NLDS. San Diego did not score a run in Games 4 and 5, ending their season. The Padres have never won the World Series in the franchise’s 57 season. Machado & Co. will try to get over the hump this year.