A lot of San Diego Padres fans believe this year is World Series or bust so a 12-12 start is disappointing. There’s no doubt the team needs to play better as a whole if they want to get to the Fall Classic but consider what they had to overcome to get to .500.
- No Fernando Tatis Jr. for the first 20 games
- No Joe Musgrove three times through the rotation
- No Robert Suarez (elbow inflammation)
- Slow starts by Manny Machado (.536 OPS) and Juan Soto (.198 AVG)
- 24 games in 25 days and 18 straight since the April 5 off day
- 4/5 opponents had winning records (Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers)
That’s a lot of adversity in the first 24 games of the season.