Padres hyped for showdown vs. Dodgers
PHOENIX – The San Diego Padres haven’t had their All-Star shortstop for a single inning this season.
Their MVP candidate hasn’t played in 10 days.
They are playing with a short bench and have offensive holes at three different positions.
Still, there was music blaring in the visitors clubhouse Wednesday afternoon after their 4-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, laughter that was even louder, and even faced with playing the next four days against the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers at home, the boys in brown were almost giddy. Scared? Apprehensive? Concerned? The Dodgers have ruled the National League West for years.
Now, going to Dodger Stadium on Thursday for the first time this season to begin a four-game series, the Padres couldn’t wait to show what a difference a year can make.
No Fernando Tatis Jr.? No problem. No Manny Machado? No biggie. No manager for 20 games? No worries.
Precious little offense coming from the outfield, first base and DH positions? No fear.
The Padres are 46-31 and rolling into LA on Thursday with the third-best record in the NL, just 1 1⁄2 games behind the Dodgers in the West Division.
“Our confidence is sky-high, the highest since I’ve been here,” says Machado, who hopes to be in the lineup this weekend after being out with a badly sprained ankle. “It’s just different now. A big part of it is the coaching staff we have, and (manager Bob Melvin) is the key to that. He gives us the confidence that we’ll go out there and win every day. We’ll know we’ll be there. We’ll be there to the end. Let other teams do the talking.”
It would have been easy, if not natural, for the Padres to sit around and feel sorry for themselves the moment they heard this spring that Tatis broke his wrist in a motorcycle crash. Tatis originally was hoping to be back by early June, but a bone scan this week revealed that he likely will need at least two more weeks before he can even go on a rehab assignment. If he returns before Aug. 1, the Padres will be elated.
“Obviously, Tatis is an absolute game-changer,” Padres closer Taylor Rogers says, “but I don’t think anybody thought we wouldn’t be doing what we were doing. It was never like, ‘Hey, just roll with the punches until Tatis gets back.’
“We were always expecting to win, and when he gets back, we’ll be that much better.”
The Padres are suffocating the life out of teams’ offenses with their starting rotation, led by Cy Young candidate Joe Musgrove. They have seven legitimate starters, going with a current six-man rotation that has produced a major league-leading 41 quality starts, keeping everyone fresh.
“Our starters are going out there seven-plus (innings) almost every time,” says Musgrove (8-1, 2.12 ERA), who leads the major leagues with 12 quality starts. “At the end of the year, I think you’re going to really see it pay off. Our bullpen guys should be fresh at the end of the year.”
Just ask starter Mike Clevinger, who gave up one hit and pitched six scoreless innings Wednesday in his longest outing since recovering from 2020 Tommy John surgery.
“I think the extra day is huge,” says Clevinger. “Anyone in this clubhouse can tell you the dividends it has paid in our recovery.”
While the Dodgers have long been the king of the NL West, the Padres believe they now have the deepest and most talented rotation. Musgrove is their Cy Young candidate, but there’s little dropoff with Yu Darvish, Sean Manaea, to go along with Clevinger, Snell, MacKenzie Gore and Nick Martinez.
They’ve needed their starters to carry the team with an offense that’s missing a whole lot of horsepower. Tatis has missed every game. Machado has been out the past 10 games without going on the injured list, leaving the Padres playing a man short. Outfielder Wil Myers has been out a month and has just one homer in the 32 games he has played. First baseman/DH Luke Voit has missed 20 games with a career-low .425 slugging percentage. And first baseman Eric Hosmer is struggling with a .207 batting average with a .589 OPS in June after his sizzling April (.389 with a 1.059 OPS).
“What we’re doing with what we have available to us right now is better than what most people expected,” Musgrove says. “We have a lot of guys out of the lineup that make us a high-powered team.
“Once we get our team fully back and healthy, I think you’ll see a different caliber of offense, a different caliber team all around.”
Who knows, perhaps a legitimate World Series contender with Melvin, who missed 20 games after contracting the novel coronavirus and having prostate surgery, reminding them every day there is no limit to their success.
“I remember my first day on the team,” says Rogers, who was traded on the eve of opening day from the Minnesota Twins. “I had thrown a longer bullpen the day before because the Twins were starting a day late. Well, Bob comes over and says, ‘We’re going to have you down (unavailable) today.’ I said, ‘Well, I guess I’m the only guy on opening day to be down.’
“But his words were, and I’ll never forget them, ‘We need you in October! Not April!’
“He was already looking ahead to the postseason.”
It has been 16 years since the Padres won the NL West, and 431 days since the Padres have won a game at Dodger Stadium, but the Padres believe times are changin’.
This could finally be the year they kick sand in the bully’s face up north.
“I certainly think that rivalries are created in October,” says Hosmer, “but we feel like we can compete with those guys. We have the group, we have the talent, we have the camaraderie that we can compete with those guys. It’s on us to punch our ticket in October and hopefully get a crack at those guys.”
It’s hard to believe, says injured Padres reliever Drew Pomeranz, how times have changed since he left in 2016 only to return and find himself in a rivalry that’s about to be A-list.
“It’s crazy what has happened,” Pomeranz says. “The atmosphere is unbelievable now.”
The Padres, just like the Dodgers, realize they have flaws. They may need to part with one of their starters to get offensive help at the trade deadline.
This is a team that not only is built for the future, but to win right now, believing this is finally their time.
“Last year when we won the first seven of 10 games against them,” Padres veteran reliever Craig Stammen says, “we thought we kind of had their number. That obviously changed.
“What we have to do now is beat them in September. If we don’t beat them in September, or at the end of the year, or in the playoffs, it really doesn’t matter.”
Maye this weekend is just the appetizer, but it’s a chance for the Padres to make a statement, showing the Dodgers they’re ready for prime time, and making sure that this September is a pennant race to remember.
“It’s going to get real,” Snell says. “I can’t wait. Going to LA, I know those fans will bring it. I love it.
“Come on, bring it on!”