Padres News: Bob Melvin Sees Team in Different 'Mode' Late in the Season, But Is It Too Late?

The Padres somehow keep the playoff hopes alive.

The Padres are rolling right now. If you erase the last four or five months of baseball already played, this was the team fans were anticipating entering the highly anticipated season in the spring.

The club has won 8 in a row and 9 of its last 10 games as a glimmer of Wild Card hope remains. All in all, the 14-5 record in September is far and away the best month yet for the Friars. And the clubhouse is noticing how much better winning feels. ...Obviously.

“It’s just a different feeling now,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said. “You’re always trying to capture that, you’re always trying to (do) what’s it going to take to get in that type of mode. It just happened really late. … Maybe (previously) trying to press too much to get into that feeling that you have when you go out there and you just feel like no matter what you’re gonna win a game. It’s happening right now. It (wasn’t) earlier in the year.”

Via San Diego Union-Tribune

Despite the hot streak, a lot of things still need to go right for the Padres if they were to sneak into the playoffs. Entering play on Saturday, the club is 4 games behind the Cubs for the final Wild Card spot in the National League. Three other teams also sit between the Cubs and Pads, with the Miami Marlins, Cincinnati Reds, and San Francisco Giants all trying to lay claim to that last spot.

Via MLB.com

In other words, the Padres still need a miracle to make it. But they're holding up their end of the bargain. And, at the very least will enter the offseason feeling a lot better about the future than they would have if the season ended in August.

The club is currently two games under the .500 mark. At minimum, the goal should be to finally get back over .500 before the season ends.