Inside The Padres

Insider Believes NL Rival could Surpass Padres as Division Title Favorites

This quick into the season?

Noel Sanchez

Insider Believes NL Rival could Surpass Padres as Division Title Favorites
Insider Believes NL Rival could Surpass Padres as Division Title Favorites /
In this story:

Padres fans... it is time to be brutally honest with ourselves. The Friars have gotten off to nowhere near the start that we thought they would and the areas of the game in which we thought they would be dominant in haven't exactly panned out just yet.

Our stars are currently in the midst of a huge adjustment period to the pitch clock and all the other new rules in baseball. Xander Bogaerts has fit in seamlessly to San Diego's system but Juan Soto and Manny Machado have struggled to garner consistent hits in 2023.

We cannot fairly judge the likes of Fernando Tatis Jr. just yet considering that he has only partaken in four games thus far but let's just say that those who believed San Diego's offense would skyrocket immediately with him back from suspension were proven wrong. It would've been amazing to see him continue his productivity from the minor league but that was not sustainable here.

However, the Padres did recently win their series against the Arizona Diamondbacks and have a current record of 12-12. The NL West standings are super close and have the Friars neck-in-neck with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Two clubhouses on this list have clearly been better than the last one but CBS Sports' Matt Snyder thinks Arizona has a higher chance of winning the division than most people give them credit for.

"I said heading into the season that I believed the Diamondbacks were going to be a pest to contenders all season. Have they actually leveled up and become contenders themselves already? It's hard to make that leap after just 20 games, at least not in the division. The negative run differential will draw some eyeballs from detractors who believe the start is a smoke-and-mirrors. SportsLine only has them at at 1.7% chance to win the division."

(Via CBS Sports)

This is all the more reason why San Diego needs to pick things up and shut any of these hopes down.

Published
Noel Sanchez
NOEL SANCHEZ

Noel is currently in his third year at California Polytechnic University of Pomona and is pursuing a B.A. in Communications with an emphasis in Multi-Media Journalism. He has always had a deep passion for sports and writing.

Home/San Diego Padres News