PROGNOSIS POSITIVE TURNAROUND HAS BOTH GOOD, BAD

The Padres of 2020 offer up a litmus test, gauging whether someone views the unprecedented circumstances of a season turned on its top with a glass half full or half empty approach.

The franchise that snapped a 14-year playoff drought improved dramatically in almost every measurable way. They smashed records and grabbed the nation by the remote while becoming Slam Diego, despite bobbing through a sea of asterisks in an abbreviated season.

Do you allow yourself to celebrate how high the Padres rose, or lament that once they raised the ceilings, collective hopes and shortseason dreams, the Dodgers showed they again remain the frustrating gold standard?

(You read “lament” as Lamet, right? The what-if pain understandably runs deep.) Are you an optimist or pessimist? Optimist: The Padres became an offensive

powerhouse with an Mlbbest 22 regular-season comebacks. The big hit always seemed one batter away.

Pessimist: Lineup regulars against the Dodgers: Jake Cronenworth (.200), Fernando Tatis Jr. (.182), Manny Machado (.167), Eric Hosmer (.154) and Wil Myers (.100).

Optimist: Ownership made unrivaled moves to improve the franchise in the now, but also well into the future. The aggressive, all-in efforts in recent years — in the international market, with star contracts, at the most recent trade deadline — was something a patient fan base had bellowed about for years.

Optimist: The addition of pitcher Mike Clevinger and emergence of starter Dinelson Lamet.

Pessimist: Losing Clevinger and Lamet in the final week of the season.

Pessimist: All those

moves failed to earn the Padres a win past the wildcard round, in no small part because the offense could not generate heat when it mattered most, despite the pitching woes. The organization’s big swing this season could mean the wallet is too stretched to chase frontline pitching they still need to bolster depth at the top.

Optimist: The pop in Hosmer’s bat.

Pessimist: The hole in Hosmer’s glove.

Optimist: They lost Allstar closer Kirby Yates, so they chased down Trevor Rosenthal. They finally moved Austin Hedges, reinventing the position with Austin Nola and Jason Castro. They operated boldly and broadly. The entire roster improved. The commitment to improve has been unmatched.

Pessimist: Damn Dodgers.

Optimist: Big-time free agent starter Trevor Bauer courted the Padres and gushed about their future in a (wink-wink) sales pitch on

Twitter.

Pessimist: Bauer has been a master troller, dangling that carrot to almost everyone not named the Orioles, Tigers, Rangers, Pirates, Mets and Diamondbacks. Plus, how can the Padres afford him?

Optimist: The short, effective appearance of Ryan Weathers thrilled.

Pessimist: What does it say about your playoff pitching situation when you trot out a 20-year-old who never pitched above Single-a Fort Wayne with an NLCS berth on the line against the best team in baseball?

Optimist: Rookie manager Jayce Tingler juggled a reinvented roster, an abbreviated season that raised the stakes of each win and loss, along with COVID-19. He rightly entered the conversation for NL Manager of the Year.

Pessimist: It’s only one season — one 60-game season.

Optimist: Fernando! Fernando! Fernando!

Pessimist: There is no

such thing as pessimism when it comes to Tatis.

Optimist: Moving boppers Hunter Renfroe and Franchy Cordero seemed risky, but they eventually found an everyday outfield anchor in Trent Grisham. Cordero hit .211 with a .733 OPS (on base, plus slugging), Renfroe hit .156 (.645 OPS). Grisham, who covers a ton of ground, hit .251 with an .808 OPS and led the trio with 10 home runs.

Pessimist: Hitter Mitch Moreland hit .328 with a robust 1.177 OPS and eight homers with the Red Sox, but finished at .203, nearly half the OPS total and just two long balls in San Diego.

Optimist: The $300 million man Machado became an MVP candidate by the time the season was over.

Pessimist: Will all that money cause him to play a full offensive season for the Padres?

Optimist: The sleepy Padres captured the nation’s attention, particularly because of the energy, smile and dreadlocks of generational

superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. They’re noticed. They matter.

Pessimist: ESPN and Fox still refuse to show them in prime slots.

Optimist: The Mlbrecord run of four consecutive days with grand slams — Tatis, Myers, Machado, Hosmer — was a key piece in making the Padres relevant.

Pessimist: Padres loaded the bases in all three games against the Dodgers. The results: strikeout, strikeout, groundout, RBI walk, fielder’s choice with runner thrown out at home, RBI single, strikeout. The big, game-changing hit never came.

Optimist: The pitching staff started the season with some legitimate top-of-therotation options, anchored by blossoming and determined ace Chris Paddack.

Pessimist: (In your best late-season voice) “Check that.”

Optimist: The remarkable resurgence of Myers.

Pessimist: Myers’ vanishing act in the NLDS.

Optimist: The Padres got the Dodgers’ attention.

Pessimist: Maybe too much.

Optimist: When the season hit the stretch run, the bullpen was phenomenal.

Pessimist: The Padres beat the confidence out of them in the playoffs by using them historically — and not in a good way. The 11 pitchers in the NLDS clincher set an MLB record. Did injuries force that? Of course. Was the result pretty? Take a peek at Thursday’s Game 3. Optimist: 2020. Pessimist: What happens if 2021 is 162 games?

Optimist: The Wild Card Series win over the Cardinals, the first in the postseason in 22 years, sparked a big celebration on downtown streets.

Pessimist: It didn’t lead to The Big Cake.

The reality: The optimist won out nearly all season long as San Diego navigated a troubled summer far better because of it.

K.C. ALFRED U-T PHOTOS Eight Padres in this photo are most likely to return. The only question marks are free agents Jurickson Profar (fourth from left) and Trevor Rosenthal (far left).

The Padres have been mum on the health of starting pitcher Dinelson Lamet, who did not get to pitch in the postseason because of an arm ailment.