Bob Melvin Feels Padres' Hitting Struggles Are Amplified Due to Their Star-Power

There is definitely truth to this.

Ever since the San Diego Padres made the blockbuster trade for Juan Soto last season, all eyes have been on them. They were able to sneak in as the wild card to the playoffs and knock out a historic Dodgers team.

Fans only expected improvement this year as they double-dipped and welcomed in an esteemed shortstop in Xander Bogaerts, who's had an excellent start to his 2023 campaign. However, it seems like all of the strides the Friars made last season are gone.

The bullpen has struggled to hold on to numerous leads, fingers are being pointed in certain directions, and worst of all, the offense is nowhere to he found. San Diego currently ranks 27th in the league right now when it comes to batting average and it's been that way for a couple of games now.

Watching this Padres offense the past 14 innings pic.twitter.com/jAf2RpYvl3

— Devine Sports Gospel (@DevineGospel) April 18, 2023

Team manager Bob Melvin has quite the road ahead of him to get this clubhouse back on track but he is also making it clear that he feels the media is paying extra attention to their struggles this early into the year due to the names they have on their roster.

"It stands out more because of the guys we have in our lineup," said Melvin. "Everybody is frustrated at this point. After two shutouts and I can't remember the last time I've been with them and stared down the barrel of another one. We have to go out there and stop it tomorrow and have a much better offensive game."

(Via Marty Caswell)

These words definitely need to be put to action because they've been relayed over the past couple of games and the Padres' record will get away from them if they are not careful.