This story was excerpted from AJ Cassavell’s Padres Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Who knows? Maybe when all is said and done, we’ll look back on this week as the low point in the Padres’ 2023 season. Teams have rebounded from starts far worse than 20-24 to find October success. The season is barely a quarter, and this roster is still loaded.

Nonetheless, the results of the past week have been rough. The Padres were swept by the Dodgers in Los Angeles over the weekend -- that’s one thing. But the Padres dropped two of three to the last-place Royals this week at Petco Park -- and that’s another. After Wednesday’s loss -- a 5-4 defeat in which they stranded 12 baserunners and twice failed to score with the bases loaded and fewer than two outs -- the Padres clearly felt enough was enough.

The players shuttered the clubhouse doors and held a team meeting. After those doors opened to the media, the details of that meeting remained internal. But it was clear those players felt as though something needed to change.

What, exactly, does that look like? To a man, the Padres are adamant their work and game preparation are there. I’ve seen nothing to believe that’s not true. If anything, they’re searching too hard for those answers.

It seems likely that all of this was discussed among the players in the home clubhouse on Wednesday afternoon.

I thought Joe Musgrove gave an insightful answer on that front. The expectations around this Padres team were perhaps as high as they’ve ever been. But those expectations -- externally, at least -- were a bit too big-picture. Baseball cannot be played with the big-picture in mind.

Baseball -- and I’m going to use a cliché that I can’t stand, but it’s the only way to describe it -- must be played one game at a time.

“The expectations for the team, I think, have been in the wrong place, if that makes any sense,” Musgrove said. “The expectations need to be on the quality of work. The expectation of what you’re bringing to the team every day, making sure that you’re showing up and doing all these things right to be your best on the field.

“The expectation shouldn’t be that we’re going to kick everyone’s [butt] every night, that we’re going to win 115 games. The expectation is for us to show up, do the work that we need to do, and then let it all translate out on the field.”

Control what they can control. If this Padres team -- a contender on paper -- does all the little things right, eventually the big things should go their way.

But lately, the clutch hitting has been abysmal, the baserunning has been poor, and the margin for error has been too thin for their pitching staff to handle, because the offense hasn’t provided enough run support. Those are the telltale signs of a team that’s pressing.

“I wish there was a quick fix for that,” said Padres manager Bob Melvin. “We’ve talked about it many times in the hitters meetings that we’re the guys that are in charge. Let ‘em come to you and get your pitch. But in those kinds of situations, you’ve got to realize that the pressure should be on the pitcher, and I think we’re just putting a little too much pressure on ourselves.”

So how does a team that’s pressing … stop pressing?

“Believe it’s going to happen,” said Jake Cronenworth. “That’s easier said than done. It’s not easy to just go out there and do it. But you have to go out there and believe that you’re going to do it.”