The San Diego Padres are holding the final National League wild card spot by their fingernails. The Arizona Diamondbacks sit half a game back, the Miami Marlins and Cardinals are within four, and the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds are both within six games of the final playoff slot.
September baseball in San Diego is always dramatic, and this year is no exception. The Padres traded aggressively at the July 31 deadline, adding starting pitcher Zack Wheeler from the Phillies in a stunning move and picking up left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin. The rotation was supposed to be the strength for the stretch run.
It has mostly worked. Wheeler has a 2.87 ERA in nine Padres starts. Dylan Cease has settled in after a rough June. Yu Darvish has been vintage Yu Darvish, meaning he is either shutting out lineups for six innings or getting shelled. The bullpen has been shaky, and manager Mike Shildt has burned through relievers trying to protect one-run leads.
The lineup has been streakier than the front office would like. Fernando Tatis Jr. is having a solid year but not a superstar year. Manny Machado is quietly leading the team in most offensive categories. Jackson Merrill continues to be one of the most exciting young center fielders in baseball.
The bottom of the lineup has struggled. Xander Bogaerts has been an average hitter for the third straight year at a salary that says otherwise. Ha-Seong Kim has been better with the glove than the bat since his return from injury. San Diego needs somebody in the six-through-nine spots to catch fire in the final three weeks.
Arizona is coming. The Diamondbacks have won 12 of their last 15 and just took two of three from the Dodgers at Chase Field. Corbin Carroll is having an MVP-caliber September. Zac Gallen has been a Cy Young contender for the second half. Torey Lovullo’s team knows how to close out a wild card race, having done it in 2023 and 2024.
The schedule favors nobody in particular. San Diego has 12 games against non-contenders and 11 against teams still in the hunt. Arizona plays 14 against contenders. The Padres cannot afford to lose ground in the easy stretch of the schedule.
Miami has quietly become the most dangerous outsider. The Marlins are five games back but have won eight of their last ten, and rookie right-hander Eury Perez has looked unhittable since being called up. Manager Skip Schumaker refuses to let his team quit.
Twenty-three games remain. The Padres control their own destiny, which is all a team can ask for. If they take care of the schedule in front of them, they play into October. If they slip even a little, Arizona or Miami will be right there to take the spot.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
