Top Padres performers of the week (September 14-20)
Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
The San Diego Padres have clinched the playoffs for the first time since 2006.
The Padres are headed to the playoffs thanks in part to a solid week of baseball that saw them go 3-3 between series against the Dodgers and Mariners.
Several Padres players stood out in the clinching week; let’s take a look at a few.
Myers continues his redemption season and basically sealed it with a go-ahead, three-run home run in Sunday’s clinching game over the Mariners. The Mariners did eventually tie the game and send it to extra innings, but San Diego would have lost had it not been for Myers’ heroics. That was a fitting ending to the playoff drought as the player who had endured the most of the rebuilding years came through to bring playoff baseball back to San Diego.
WIL MYERS DOESN'T MISS! 💥💥💥@Padres take the lead!#FriarFaithful pic.twitter.com/hrM8t0xg51
— Bally Sports San Diego (@BallySportsSD) September 20, 2020
Myers finished the week batting .318 with a 1.082 OPS and two home runs. He need to be considered for Comeback Player of the Year with a .989 OPS with 14 home runs. He has reached safely in seven of his last eight games and looks to be finishing the regular season on a good note.
As one MVP has faltered (Tatis), another keeps on trucking. Machado is a huge reason why the Padres now have an “x” next to their names in the standings, meaning they have clinched a playoff spot. Machado enjoyed three straight multi-hit games in the middle of the week and hit .320 overall. He hit two home runs against the Mariners in the Friars’ 6-1 victory and smacked three total over the week.
🗣🗣🗣 MANNY MACHADO IS HAVING A REALLY GREAT SEASON & ALL OF BASEBALL SHOULD RECOGNIZE THIS 🗣🗣🗣#FriarFaithful | @Padres pic.twitter.com/TIMZ4SpEjG
— Bally Sports San Diego (@BallySportsSD) September 19, 2020
Machado really does have a legit MVP case. With a .314 average, 16 home runs, .980 OPS, and 2.7 fWAR, there are few, if any, players in the league who have been as consistent as Machado in the last 30-40 games.
If there was any doubt who the Padres’ ace was heading into the last few weeks of the season, but those debates to rest. Lamet took the ball twice and struck out a total of 21 batters with just two earned runs (1.38 ERA). He struck out 11 in the lone win against the Dodgers in that series, marking the third time this season Lamet reached 11 strikeouts.
Dinelson Lamet deserves Cy Young consideration.
NL rankings:
• 89 SO (1st)
• 2.07 ERA (5th)
• 0.87 WHIP (3rd)
• .166 BAA (3rd)
• 65 1/3 (5th) pic.twitter.com/jEfbYA4uGb— Danny Vietti (@DannyVietti) September 20, 2020
This season has been a coming-out party for Lamet. He is fourth in the National League in ERA (2.07), fourth in strikeouts-per-nine innings (12.3), and leads the NL in strikeouts with 89. He may be one of just a handful of hurlers to reach that milestone in this shortened season. He perhaps has just as strong of a case for the National League Cy Young Award as Machado does MVP.
Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.
While I’m happy with most of the trades, albeit we paid a lot, I wondered whether our chemistry would be affected negatively. While there seems to be a cohesion between old and new players, the energy and enthusiasm is lacking this last week. Is that a reflection of the last week, or a cause for this last week?
They added “veteran” leadership. Did they subtract youthful exuberance in the process?
The dancing in the dugout is not as it was. Only half the players join in. It looks like there is a divide in the dugout. A divide between youthful exuberance and veteran yawning. The one most affected appears to be Fernando. Yes, he has slumped. Why has he slumped? Have they knocked the edge off of him? Did he feel he needed to back off the fun a little?
They will be one and done with this energy level. Machado and Myers cannot carry a team by themselves. They’ve looked a bit like the old Padres where we made average pitchers seem spectacular. I hope this current dugout stops going through the motions and catches that excitement that was a catalyst for most of the season. They need that. We need that.