Overcoming early injuries and superstar slumps, San Diego surged from a losing record to the postseason hunt, fueled by Mason Miller’s dominance and Ty France’s unexpected resurgence.
The San Diego Padres are entering the final few days of the regular season fighting for a National League Wild Card spot.
At the start of the 2026 MLB campaign, this seemed very unlikely.
The Big 3 of Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill all got off to incredibly slow starts.
Both Nick Pivetta and Joe Musgrove suffered injuries early on in a crucial blow to the starting rotation. And, first-year manager Craig Stammen had many scratching their heads wondering why San Diego picked Stammen instead of Albert Pujols.
Yet, here we are. The Padres enter Wednesday with an 87-70 record and in a three-way tie for the top spot in the NL Wild Card race.
Sure, the Padres are coming off an ugly 7-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first of a three-game series in LA, but still, San Diego has turned it around big time.
ESPN's David Schoenfield had grades for every MLB team based on the way this season went, and the Padres earned a B+.
Here's what happened. The Padres were once in first place in the Nl West after beating the Dodgers and improving to 29-18 on May 18. Yet, by July 23, the Padres were 50-53, and thoughts of making the postseason was minimal.
Tatis didn't hit his first home run until his 56th game of the season, and Machado was below the .200 line for quite some time.
However, superstar closer Mason Miller has been one of the best players in all of baseball, and there is an argument that Ty France is a Comeback Player of the Year award nominee as well as the biggest steal of free agency.
"With Tatis and Merrill on fire, Ty France having a huge season and Mason Miller ready to lock things down in the ninth inning, maybe this is the Padres team that gets to the World Series," Schoenfield wrote.
Right now, the Padres' Big 3 is hitting the ball well, and here are there totals as of Wednesday afternoon:
- Manny Machado: .218 average, 28 home runs, 84 RBI
- Jackson Merrill: .254 average, 26 home runs, 86 RBI
- Fernando Tatis Jr.: .285 average, 25 home runs, 81 RBI
If those three can hit well in the postseason, France can play well, and the duo of Ethan Salas and Luis Campusano can continue to be productive, this offense will go a long way.
At the end of the day, there was a time in July where it looked like the Padres wouldn't make the postseason, yet, here we are.
