The Friars are Not on Fire
- Isaiah Ochoa
- Aug 29, 2021
- 3 min read
With the addition of Blake Snell and Yu Darvish in the offseason. It seemed destined that the Padres would be in the 2021 MLB postseason.
The Padres did not get off to the hottest start at the beginning of the season, however they managed to get things under control and found themselves in a Postseason spot in the Wild Card.
Unfortunately with the Padres, even though they are 7 games above .500, they still find themselves to be in third place of the NL West.
Shockingly even though the Giants were out of the postseason last year, they find themselves leading the division with the Dodgers not too far behind them.
It's nice to see that the NL West is competitive again, but it is not good for the team down in San Diego.
Before the month of July it was clear that the team with the most "swag" and "hype" would be playing in the Wild Card game. However, that "hype" has died down when July started.
Since July 1st the Padres have a record of 20 wins and 29 loses. Making them 69-62 on the season so far.
The Padres did have some tough matchups, but that is no excuse when you're a postseason contention team. Especially when you get swept by the Dodgers, Rockies and lose 3 out of 4 to the D-Backs.
Throughout this span the Padres are averaging 4.53 runs per game but are allowing 4.71 runs per game.
Not only are the Padres not doing so well on the field, but they also struggled during the trade deadline as well.
There were reports that Slam Diego was close to acquiring World Series Champ and psychopath Max Scherzer, however the Dodgers snatched him up as well as Trea Turner for 4 of their prospects.
The Padres did not come out empty handed though when the trade deadline ended. They did receive All Star second basemen, Adam Frazier.
Adam Frazier though hasn't transitioned to San Diego well. With the Pirates Frazier slashed .324/.338/.448. With the Padres though he is only slashing a .227/.272./.268.
With production going down and not gaining the superstar pitcher that Ken Rosenthal hinted of acquiring, the Reds have taken full advantage.
Since July the Reds have been 32-21 with a team era of 4.13 and scoring 4.95 runs per game. Not only are they being productive but they also find themselves to be the 2nd Wild Card spot.
With Joey Votto catching on fire with his historic home run streak, Sonny Gray slicing and dicing on the mound, and Jonathan India becoming the favorable Rookie of the Year. The Reds are as hot as you can be right now.
This is the Reds spot to lose for that Wild Card spot. They are totally in control of their destiny and should continue to be in that driver seat.
With the MLB season close to the end. The Reds do have a favorable schedule compared to the Padres. The Reds will play 16 games where their opponents are below .500 out of the remaining 27. While the Padres just play 5 out of the remaining 26.
It's crazy to think that the team people predicted to go the World Series or even potentially win the division over the Dodgers, has now found themselves out of the 2nd Wild Card spot and fighting to make the postseason with a 20% probability.
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