Padres Editorial: The Season is Over, But the Dream Isn’t
The San Diego Padres are 67-77, and have been our of the postseason race since mid-August. The team that was supposed to challenge the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants for the National League West crown only crashed into a pile of broken promises and false hopes.
General manager A.J. Preller‘s experiment to put an exciting product on the field didn’t exactly work out the way he, along with the Padres fan base, had thought it would. The team didn’t win. At times, it was difficult to tell if the players were under-performing or overachieving. At times they looked dominant. Other times, they looked like the 2014 San Diego Padres.
The Preller experiment didn’t work. However, that isn’t reason for Padres fans to jump ship and give up now. The players didn’t always mesh well. Injuries happened. Preller tried to shake up the team by relieving Bud Black of his managerial duties, something that managed to anger a portion of the fan base (even though Black wasn’t going to be retained after this season anyway).
The players acquired just didn’t seem to live up to expectations. James Shields only has 11 wins despite being projected to win 18-20 games. Matt Kemp didn’t put up his usual numbers until late-July. Before that, he was one of the worst hitters on the team, with his batting average falling below .220.
Wil Myers suffered another wrist injury and missed significant time. Before his injury, the team looked like it would contend. After his injury, the offense fell flat. Could he have been the catalyst?
The off-season is fast approaching, and it will open with several questions needing answers. Will the team re–sign Justin Upton? Will James Shields be traded? And what about shortstop? Will Preller address that problem before next season? Both Black and interim manager Pat Murphy tried playing musical shortstops to address the lack of a true, everyday player at the position.
Stick around Padres fans. From what we saw last season, Preller has plenty of tricks up his sleeve. No one can predict exactly what he will do.
So sit back, relax and watch to see if this team can get over .500 before the end of the season. With 18 games remaining, they need to go 15-3 to make that happen.
Mike is the sports editor for the Fayette Advertiser, and has been with East Village Times since 2015. His work has appeared on Bleacher Report. He is an avid Padres fan who is keeping the faith and trusting the process.