SAN DIEGO — The playoffs start in 4 weeks. There’s nonetheless time for the Padres to make a severe run on the Nationwide League West. There’s time for them to make a push for a first-round bye. There’s time to make sure that, on the very least, dwelling video games shall be performed at Petco Park this postseason.
However that point isn’t infinite. And there’s much less of it with each missed alternative.
The Padres misplaced, 6-2, to the Orioles on Tuesday evening — the fourth time in 5 days they’ve misplaced a sport to an opponent exterior the playoff image. 9 days in the past, they completed their sequence in opposition to the rival Dodgers tied atop the division. Since then, San Diego has misplaced three straight sequence and has fallen 2 1/2 video games behind L.A. within the NL West.
“It is a stretch,” stated supervisor Mike Shildt, “that could be very uncharacteristic of this staff.”
Shildt wasn’t merely referencing the outcomes. The Padres performed crisp, clear baseball for many of the season’s first 5 months. They haven’t currently. On Tuesday, starter Yu Darvish walked two batters and hit two extra. A Jake Cronenworth error later proved expensive. That’s the way it’s gone currently.
“I’ve felt by means of the yr like we have had some unhealthy stretches of baseball the place we have managed to win video games,” stated heart fielder Jackson Merrill, who returned to the beginning lineup after lacking two weeks with a left ankle sprain. “We would undergo stretches after we’re not raking, we’re not the prettiest, however we might simply win video games, grind it out. We will discover it once more.”
It might be an overstatement to name this an inflection level. The Padres stay squarely within the playoff image with a roster that figures to adapt very effectively to the trials of postseason baseball. However there’s a measure of adversity that San Diego is dealing with at current — particularly contemplating the occasions of the previous few days.
On Friday, Xander Bogaerts landed on the injured record with a fracture in his left foot, and based mostly on his four- to six-week timeline, it’s unclear whether or not he’ll be again in time for the playoffs. Then, on Monday, All-Star setup reliever Jason Adam ruptured the tendon in his left quadriceps. A day later, the worst was confirmed: Adam is scheduled to endure surgical procedure on Wednesday and miss the rest of the season.
“We have to attempt to win video games with out them,” Merrill stated. “It hurts. However each staff has injured gamers. Each staff. There’s not a single staff that is totally wholesome. We have simply acquired to maintain grinding.”
The fact is, these two explicit accidents aren’t debilitating. Adam has been wonderful this season, however the Padres’ bullpen is the deepest in baseball — and may now name on that depth.
Bogaerts, in the meantime, is an enormous loss, contemplating the shortage of different choices at quick. But when he’s again for the postseason, the Padres can get by for a number of weeks with makeshift options on the place.
“We’ve acquired good gamers on this clubhouse, even with the accidents,” Darvish stated by means of interpreter Shingo Horie. “Flip the web page, are available in tomorrow, compete, after which we must be superb.”
Darvish struggled on Tuesday, working four-plus laborious innings wherein he allowed 4 runs (three earned) whereas putting out six. He has made 11 begins since his season acquired underway late because of proper elbow irritation. His ERA sits at 5.75 — elevating severe questions on his viability for begins in October.
In fact, there’s a lot using on these September begins, too. After Tuesday’s loss, the Padres are actually:
Not a kind of deficits is insurmountable. The Padres have the Majors’ best remaining energy of schedule. Their remaining opponents have a mixed .433 successful proportion this season. Then once more, the previous week has confirmed {that a} theoretically delicate schedule doesn’t assure something.
“We have to get higher,” stated Luis Arraez, whose two-run homer offered the whole lot of the Padres’ offense on Tuesday. “We have to proceed to play laborious, and we have to take pleasure in it. We’ve got a terrific staff. We’ve got a number of video games to come back. Tomorrow’s one other day.”