After reaching the postseason in 2022, hopes had been excessive for the San Diego Padres this season. Nonetheless, getting into the house stretch of the 2023 marketing campaign, the Padres are on the skin wanting in on the playoff image and one unimaginable stat explains why.
A season in the past, the Padres had been the most effective group within the majors in one-run video games (30-17), a stark distinction to 2023, the place they are a league-worst 6-22.
Unsurprisingly, the Padres’ struggles in one-run video games have bled into shut contests. To this point this season, the Padres are 0-11 in extra-inning video games. Based on Baseball Reference, San Diego is just one loss away from tying the report set by the Montreal Expos (0-12) in 1969.
Arising small in tight video games goes a good distance in clarifying why the Padres have fallen thus far so shortly, as on each side of the ball, numbers point out a a lot better group.
Three Padres rank within the prime 25 in WAR amongst Nationwide League pitchers, together with Cy Younger candidate Blake Snell (4.6), Joe Musgrave (2.4) and Michael Wacha (2.4), per FanGraphs. In the meantime, Ha-Seong Kim (4.5), Juan Soto (4.5) and Fernando Tatis (4.3) all rank within the prime 25 in WAR amongst batters league-wide. Solely the Atlanta Braves, who personal the most effective report within the majors (95-50), have extra, with 4.
With a star-studded lineup consisting of Soto, Tatis, Xander Bogaerts and Manny Machado, backed by a pitching workers together with Snell, Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove, many anticipated larger issues from the Padres this season. Nonetheless, whether or not or not the combo of expertise is not proper or they have been the victims of dangerous luck, this season has been one to overlook in San Diego.
Heading into play Wednesday, the Padres had been 10 video games under .500 (68-78) and a full 21 video games again of the Los Angeles Dodgers (88-56) for first within the NL West. In the meantime, eight video games and three groups separate the Padres from the third and remaining wild-card spot within the NL, occupied by the Arizona Diamondbacks (76-70).
