Padres News: Legendary Manager Doesn't Understand Friars' Struggles

The Padres won 11-2 over the Astros Friday night.

The Padres have been the most confusing team in baseball this season.

With one of the most expensive rosters in baseball, the Padres are likely going to miss the playoffs, as they currently sit seven games behind in the NL Wild Card race as the season approaches its end.

Behind a strong performance from Blake Snell, however, the Houston Astros could not put anything together offensively as the Padres cruised to an 11-2 victory on Friday night.

Like many of those following the Padres, Astros manager and future Hall of Famer Dusty Baker expressed his confusion at the Padres' seasonlong difficulties.

“I don’t know why they are where they are,” Baker said. “They’re leading their league in ERA, and they’ve got some thunder you’ve got to navigate through.”

(Via

The San Diego Union-Tribune

)

That thunderous offense is led by Juan Soto, who has 28 home runs, Manny Machado, who boasts 26, and Ha-Seong Kim, who has 34 stolen bases. Kim had three stolen bases in Friday night's win, becoming only the ninth Padres player to steal at least three bases in a game twice in the same season.

The Padres own the MLB's 10th-highest run differential yet face a likely insurmountable path to the playoffs.

“We have the ability to score some runs, and we’ve done it,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said. “You look at our run differential and all that, and sometimes it doesn’t make sense.”

(Via

The San Diego Union-Tribune

)

Bill James, a noted statistician, has the Padres' record as 78-64 according to his Pythagorean winning percentage formula. At 67-75, the Friars are far from James' calculation

The Padres will face off against the Astros Saturday at 4:10 p.m. PDT.