Slam Diego ends playoff drought
How about it Padres fans? Your San Diego Padres have made the playoffs. Yes, you read that right, the playoff drought is over. For the past fourteen years, the Padres have been a bottom-feeder in the National League West. Now, they’re in position to earn the fourth seed in the National League playoff picture.
How’d they do it? Two words, Slam Diego.
Yes, that’s the Padres’ M.O. nowadays. They break unwritten rules. They bat flip. They celebrate extensively. But most importantly, they win.
At 34-20, the Padres currently possess the second-best record in the National League, trailing only their once arch nemesis, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Led by young phenom Fernando “El Niño” Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer, the Padres have created arguably the most explosive offense in the MLB. How explosive you might ask? How does 5 grand slams in 6 games sound? Unprecedented. Oh by the way, both Machado (16) and Tatis Jr. (15) are within the top five positions on the NL home run leaderboard.
Let’s not forget about Rookie of the Year Candidate, Jake Cronenworth. In 48 games, the versatile infielder has accumulated a .303 average, 4 home runs and 20 runs batted in.
Yes, grand slams are flashy but let’s also give some love to their pitching staff. With a cumulative 3.80 Earned Run Average, 504 strikeouts and a mere .233 batting average against, this staff is legit. Their starting rotation led by ace Dinelson Lamet, includes Chris Paddack, Zach Davies and of course, newly acquired right-hander Mike “Sunshine” Clevinger. Their bullpen? Re-energized with the trade deadline acquisitions of right-handers Austin Adams and Trevor Rosenthal.
We know the Padres can hit, we know they bring the energy and we know they don’t care about rubbing opposing teams the wrong way. The only thing that I can see preventing them from going deep into the playoffs would be their bullpen staff management by first-year manager Jayce Tingler. With no days off between playoff games, it will be up to the starting rotation to save their bullpen by pitching deep into games. Regardless, this team is special; arguably the best Padre team ever.
Slam Diego is here and it’s here to stay. As long-time Padres color analyst Mark Grant said in an emotional post-game interview, “It’s about to change, not just this year, but hopefully for many years to come.”