SAN DIEGO -- Might be time to stop asking if the Padres will be buyers ahead of Monday’s Trade Deadline -- and time to start asking what, exactly, they’ll be buying. And when.
San Diego won its sixth game out of seven on Friday night -- a 7-0 demolition of the Giants. Here’s some instant reaction from Petco Park, as the Padres’ offense continued to mash and their bullpen combined on a shutout:
Contender status confirmed
Three weeks ago, the Padres lost their series opener against the Blue Jays and dropped 5 1/2 games back of the final Wild Card spot. They sat in 11th place in the National League, with five teams they would need to jump to put themselves into the playoff picture.
Buying at the Deadline seemed an unlikely outcome -- even if that’s clearly the preference of general manager A.J. Preller. For the Padres to be buyers, they were going to need to play a whole lot better.
Lately, they have. With Friday’s victory, the Padres now trail the Phillies by one game for the final Wild Card spot. They’ve already jumped every other team on the outside of the playoff picture.
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If Preller was looking to his team to tell him which direction he should take at the Deadline … he has an answer by now.
“How we’re playing right now, I think, is the true identity of this club,” Jake Cronenworth said recently. “A.J., I’m sure he’s doing what A.J. usually does, on the phone 24/7. But we’ve just got to keep continuing to play really good baseball.”
A complete offensive showing
The Padres have turned things around offensively in a major way, and that’s largely because their biggest stars have been hitting like stars -- namely Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill.
But the offensive contributions don’t end there. Not even close. Ty France has mashed for the better part of two months and now has an .879 OPS after reaching three times on Friday. Luis Campusano, when healthy, has been one of the most productive offensive catchers in the sport. He had three hits on Friday.
Beyond that, Luis Rengifo has been an outstanding addition, batting .390 with a 1.064 OPS in 13 games since joining the Padres.
And Jase Bowen got in on the fun on Friday. Bowen has served mostly as a speed-and-defense bench option since his arrival. But he was mashing at Triple-A El Paso when the Padres called him up. And Bowen launched his first career home run on Friday night, a no-doubter off the second level of the Western Metal Building.
The Padres are getting offensive contributions from everywhere these days.
A huge effort from Yuki Matsui
The Padres aren’t going to roll with this “pitching chaos” plan for the remainder of the season. They’re not going to spend three out of every five spots in their rotation on a bullpen game. That’s what the Trade Deadline is for; their rotation will almost certainly get an upgrade.
Until then, the Padres are just trying to get by. They’re just trying to stack as many wins as they can to put them in the best shape for when the reinforcements inevitably arrive.
So it’s probably time to stop asking whether this is sustainable. It doesn’t need to be sustainable. It just needs to work right now. For instance: No, the Padres aren’t going to ask Yuki Matsui for three innings and 49 pitches very often.
But they needed it on Friday night. And Matsui delivered in a major way. He kept the Giants off the board in the second, third and fourth innings, setting career highs in pitches and innings in the process.
On the Padres’ third straight night with a bullpen game, it was a much-needed effort. He exited with a six-run lead, and the Padres were well on their way to another victory.