The San Diego Padres are now 20-12, even after a disappointing series loss to the Chicago Cubs.
The Padres only won one out of the three games in the series. However, Luke Voit went 3-for-5 with two home runs in the final game of the series. Those home runs were his first two of the season.
Voit had been struggling during his rehab stint with Triple-A El Paso, going 0-for-18 with 12 strikeouts. The Padres decided to activate him anyway because of his potential to provide some power in the Padres lineup.
The Padres have struggled to find much offensive production outside of Eric Hosmer and Manny Machado. Both have been playing at an elite level so far this season. However, Voit’s production from the final game of the series looked promising for the Padres. They are hoping he can keep it up and potentially perform at the level of Hosmer and Machado.
Even after the Padres disappointing series against the Cubs, Machado leads the National League in runs, average, OBP, slugging, OPS+ and total bases. He also happens to be leading the MLB in hits, with 46 total on the season, and had a perfect 1.000 in 73 fielding opportunities. With these stats, Machado is currently the favorite to win the NL MVP award.
Machado’s production makes up for the absence of Fernando Tatis Jr., who will return at some point in June.
Tatis Jr. has been injured since his motorcycle accident in December. He could certainly be a missing piece for the Padres lineup if most of the offense continues to underperform until then.
Despite a rather middle-of-the-pack +8 run differential, the Padres are only 1.5 games behind the NL West leading Los Angeles Dodgers. This is because the Padres have been able to close out plenty of close-scoring games. Part of this is because of the help of closer Taylor Rogers. Rogers is tied for the league lead in saves with 12, while also having a 0.71 ERA, a 0.55 WHIP and a .140 batting average against.
If the Padres want to make a real run for the World Series, they will have to get more production from their offense. They will need more of a spark from the outfielders. Entering Wednesday’s game against the Cubs, the Padres outfield ranked last in batting average (.166), slugging percentage (.270) and total bases (88).
The Padres also need to figure out their starting rotation situation.
Former Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell expects to make his return to the rotation next week. The Padres are currently using a six-man rotation, although they would like to have the normal five-man rotation.
Nick Martinez could be a pitcher that gets removed from the rotation if the Padres decide to go with the five-man rotation. Although Martinez had eight strikeouts in four innings in Wednesday’s game, he also gave up five runs. Martinez would likely be moved to the bullpen to pitch as a reliever if the Padres adjust their rotation.
MacKenzie Gore is another pitcher that could be removed from the rotation. He could possibly be sent back down to Triple-A El Paso. Although Gore has a 2.42 ERA, he could still be demoted with a smaller rotation. It would be unfortunate to see Gore gone from the starting rotation. Fortunately, he probably won’t be in Triple-A for too long if he is able to perform well.
The Padres have a few problems that must be addressed. However, they can certainly be postseason contenders with the right fixes and adjustments.