SAN DIEGO -- The Padres earned the right to a stress-free afternoon on Sunday.
In late July, they sat in 11th place in the National League, three games below .500. The playoffs seemed a distant goal. Then, they reeled off a 41-18 finish -- a stretch so emphatic that they wrapped up home-field advantage in the Wild Card Series with a game to spare.
So they gave their regulars some rest and lined up their rotation for the Wild Card Series -- and still beat the Diamondbacks, 9-4, on Sunday afternoon at Petco Park.
Here are some takeaways from Sunday’s regular-season finale, as the Padres capped a 91-71 season -- which, by wins, is tied for the fourth-best season in franchise history.
1. Wrapping up the regular season
In the first 55 seasons of their existence, the Padres won 90 games only four times. In the last three? They’ve won 90-plus each year.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Craig Stammen said of his first year as Padres manager. “And you win 91 games, it makes it a lot more fun. I think the best part about it is we battled some tough times, we battled through some adversity or low points. We were able to come out of it stronger or better than ever.”
It’s the golden age of Padres baseball. And, yes, they’ve benefitted in some years from the expanded playoff format. But there’s no way you can look at the franchise record books and come to any other conclusion.
These Padres of the past three years are averaging more than 91 wins and have been perennial contenders. That’s never been true of any other stretch in their history.
Of course, this era of Padres baseball is still lacking its crowning achievement -- a World Series or even a National League pennant.
That’s next up on the agenda.
“We finished the season playing great baseball, probably our best of the season,” Stammen said. “Hopefully that carries on in the postseason.”
2. Sheets’ big swing
If the Padres needed a sign that the real Gavin Sheets was back at the plate, they got one on Sunday.
Sheets, who was activated from the IL on Saturday, led off the fourth inning with a titanic 423-foot homer to the beach area in right-center field. It was precisely the type of swing the Padres were looking for -- and the type of swing they could use in October.
If Sheets is healthy, he’s a lock for the playoff roster -- even if he’s limited to DH and pinch-hitting duties. He mashes right-handed pitching and would presumably start at DH against righties. When an opposing lefty starts, he can be an incredibly impactful bat off the bench.
Sheets’ numbers dipped in July and August as he played through a plantar plate tear in his left foot. That injury could still require surgery during the offseason. But after four weeks on the IL, the injury has subsided enough for Sheets to be looking like himself at the plate.
“This is the best I’ve felt, the best my swing’s felt in a while,” Sheets said. “I feel like I can get my ‘A’ swing off consistently. It was good to square one up today.”
That’s a very good sign for the Padres and their postseason roster planning.
3. Vásquez’s Wild Card role?
Randy Vásquez capped another under-the-radar excellent season with six innings of one-run ball on Sunday afternoon. He allowed only three hits and threw 68 pitches, 54 of them for strikes.
He pitched like someone you’d probably want on your playoff roster.
Vásquez remains a favorite for a spot in the Padres’ bullpen as a long man. But it’s worth wondering if his covering six innings on Sunday might be an indication in the other direction. If Vásquez was going to be an integral part of the playoff roster … would he have gotten a quicker hook?
“You’re trying to figure out a way to keep everybody fresh as much as possible, but you’ve got to get through the game,” Stammen said. “You’ve got to find nine innings in the game. Randy did a great job. … As far as Randy being available for the Wild Card Series, we’ll talk about that after today’s game.”
In any case, Vásquez finished his season with a 3.90 ERA across 32 outings, 23 of them starts. Whatever role the Padres have lined up for him next (who knows -- maybe it’s Game 1 of a potential NL Division Series), Vásquez has been immensely valuable on a pitching staff that spent much of the season in flux.