Padres News: Juan Soto Keeps Things in Painfully Simple Perspective
The San Diego Padres narrowly missed sweeping the Tigers in Detroit but did come away with a much needed series win in the Motor City.
Even though the Padres got some positive momentum out of the series, they still have quite the hole to climb out of as they try to make the playoffs -- with the August 1 trade deadline just over one week away.
The Padres are six games out of a playoff spot, and, as Juan Soto put it to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, him and his team need to keep racking up the wins, above all else, if they hope to engineer a dramatic turnaround.
“Just win games,” Soto said afterward. “We all try to put the stats up there and try to do our best. But at the end of the day, if you don’t get the win, you just feel like you’re just working for nothing. And that’s that’s what I’m thinking — just try to win games. It just helps myself and helps everybody out. To win a championship, that’s all that matters. You can put up Triple Crown numbers. If you don’t win it, you’re not a winner.” (via Kevin Acee)
It's a simple yet difficult approach for the 2023 Padres, and consistency in the win column has been tough to come by for the star-laden Friars.
They went through a stretch in late June where they lost six straight games to the basement-dwelling Nationals and Pirates, followed that up by winning five of six heading into mid-July's All-Star break, and started the second half on unsteady footing, going 3-4 to start the back end of the schedule before Friday's close win.
For the Padres to pull off a now-unlikely run to October, they're going to need to completely flip the script on what's been a rollercoaster season.
Their superstar said the same in no uncertain terms.
Now it's time for the rest of his teammates to follow his lead.
