Inside The Padres

Padres News: Bob Melvin Has Struggled to Give Stars Games Off in 2023

The skipper is feeling it necessary to play everyone amid rough stretch.

Matt Wagner

Padres News: Bob Melvin Has Struggled to Give Stars Games Off in 2023
Padres News: Bob Melvin Has Struggled to Give Stars Games Off in 2023 /
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It seemed as if everything was finally stabilizing for the San Diego Padres.

Key players were starting to get healthy, the starting rotation was putting up better performances, and it looked like San Diego could potentially go on a run.

Well, they've gone on a run. It just hasn't been the good kind.

The Friars have gone 3-5 since the middle of June, including losing three out of four against the San Francisco Giants.

The damage was rough and swift, as the Friars found themselves in fourth place in the NL West and slowly creeping out of contention for the third NL Wild Card spot with the trade deadline approaching in a few short weeks.

And for Padres manager Bob Melvin, he's felt an urgency to play all of his stars -- which isn't something he necessarily wanted to do as the midway point of the season comes up.

“I’m uncomfortable with the games played with a lot of our guys,” Melvin said. “It’s much easier to give a guy a day off when things are going well. We have a lot of guys that need a day off. But when you’re not (winning) — and we rely on several guys — it’s tough to give days off.”

(via Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune)

As things stand, though, Melvin doesn't really have another option if San Diego wants to climb out of their hole.

The schedule is in the Friars' favor, though, as they play six total games against the Washington Nationals and Pittsburgh Pirates in a stretch that begins Friday at Petco Park.

The Padres would have to get hot quickly, but a 5-1 stretch, for instance, isn't an impossible ask against two teams at the bottom of the pack in the National League. If they pull that off, they could be right back in the thick of things as far as a Wild Card spot is concerning.

And as for Friday, San Diego's star trio will be back at it again as Fernando Tatis Jr., Juan Soto, and Manny Machado anchor the Padres lineup.

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Matt Wagner
MATT WAGNER

Matt Wagner was born and raised in southern California, and he lived there before moving to Colorado and getting his B.A. in Communications from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in 2022. He relocated back to southern California in 2023 and is looking forward to covering the teams that mean so much to his home area. Some of his past work is in Bleacher Report, Dodgers Tailgate, and, most recently, Colorado Buffaloes Wire. Aside from writing, you can probably catch him petting the nearest dog or eating some good Mexican food.

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