Padres News: Friars Stars Appear to Run Out of Excuses for Nonexistent Offense
After winning the MLB offseason, the San Diego Padres were favored by many around the sport to take that next step. This was a team that had reached the NLCS a season ago and then proceeded to add in even more talent to their already stacked roster. However, fate has had other plans for the Friars to start 2023.
San Diego fell last night by a score of 2-1 to the Chicago Cubs despite All-Star Manny Machado returning to the lineup. Much like how most of this season has gone, the offense failed to show up again.
“We want to win,” he said. “You think we want to lose? We have a bunch of winners in here. The urgency is there. It’s just (things) are not going our way. … The urgency is there. I don’t want to (expletive) lose.”
Manny Machado via The San Diego Union-Tribune
Other than a few games down in Mexico, the Padres offense has been inconsistent. For a lineup that boasts some of the best talent across the major leagues, it is seemingly becoming a part of their identity.
Fernando Tatis Jr. also touched on some of his own thoughts as to how the clubhouse is playing right now.
“I don’t know,” Fernando Tatis Jr. said. “It’s (expletive) weird baseball right now. It’s just weird. We’re working. We’re putting in the good work. We’re having good at-bats. I don’t know … There’s no right answers out there. One day we play one of the greatest baseball (games). The (next) day it just doesn’t happen. I don’t know if the baseball gods are punishing us right now, but damn.”
(Via The San Diego-Union Tribune)
The Padres have gone 5-5 over their last 10 games overall and now sit 8.5 games back of first place. While there is still plenty of time left in the season for a turnaround, the team knows that putting themselves in an even deeper hole isn't a smart idea. They need to start winning games and quickly.