The San Diego Padres have played 100 games into a 162-game season and have a 50-50 record. They're preparing to bid farewell to another prime season for Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado, not to mention an outlier season for Jurickson Profar's career.
They swept Arizona 5-0 on Saturday night in Phoenix, improving their record to 43-18 since falling to .500 on a July night in Cleveland. They did it with half the starting lineup having an off night and starting in place of Triple-A El Paso's Randy Vasquez, allowing just one hit to the victory-hungry Diamondbacks.
“There's no question, no matter who we put on the field, this club is going to compete,” first-year head coach Mike Shildt said.
It's a 180 from last year when San Diego collapsed at the first sign of adversity and was never able to win close games. Bob Melvin managed one of the most star-studded teams in the league, going 82-80 and missing the playoffs, perhaps the most disappointing season in a franchise's history. Disappointing seasons, and this team knows all about disappointing seasons.
This isn't one of those seasons, which is why if you're looking for cheap value picks in the National League, you might want to spend a few pennies on the Padres.
A lot of “smart” money will be betting on the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. But Los Angeles' pitching staff is thinner than a runway model, and Philadelphia has been below .500 over the past 65 games.
Which brings us back to why San Diego is your NFC sleeper. Not only is it the best-playing team of any contender since mid-July, but it may have the fewest weaknesses of any playoff team.
Their starting pitching may not be as good as the Phillies', but Darvish, Joe Musgrove, Dylan Seth and Michael King are a solid rotation piece. Seth has struck out more than anyone other than Tarik Skubal or Chris Sale, while Darvish and Musgrove are finally healthy after missing most of the season . King was a revelation, posting a 2.95 ERA in 31 starts in his first full season in the MLB rotation.
The Padres can match up the bullpen with anyone. Although Roberto Suarez struggled in September, he still made 36 saves and recorded nine wins. Tanner Scott and Jason Adam are excellent playmakers, while Jeremiah Estrada and Adrian Morejon will likely provide closers for many MLB teams.
On offense, San Diego is somehow better after trading for Juan Soto, an act of wizardry that could allow general manager AJ Preller to keep his job after last year's failure.
As can be seen from the 17 home runs hit by No. 9 hitter Kyle Higashioka, its lineup is deeper from top to bottom. It leads the MLB in batting average and ranks in the top 10 in on-base percentage, slugging percentage and runs percentage. It also had fewer swings and misses than any lineup in the majors and had the fewest strikeouts.
Don't you think this makes sense? Want to know one of the hidden reasons why Houston has been so good this decade? It also doesn't pack much of a punch. Although baseball fans insist that strikeouts mean nothing, strikeouts give a team less of a chance to give the opponent the ball.
remember Mookie Wilson's grounder goes around Bill Buckner's legs 1986? It wouldn't have happened if Wilson hadn't made contact. It's always better to put the ball in play than to swing out of your hip and miss by a foot.
This is 2023 for the Padres.
It won't describe their 2024 playoff run.