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Sure, it’s April 12th and the San Diego Padres have played less than 10% of the games they’re scheduled for this season, but Padres fans haven’t had a lot of opportunities to celebrate the team being in 1st place.
IT HAS BEEN EIGHT. GODDAMNED. YEARS.
— Your pal, David (@EgosAndDespair) April 12, 2019
EIGHT. pic.twitter.com/lCbQZ16PNO
The Padres are leading the NL West.
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 12, 2019
It’s been 1,450 days since the last time the Padres were first in their division. pic.twitter.com/oABIflDnfa
Depending on which tweets you were reading last night, it’s been 3 years or 8 years or 150 years since the Padres were good enough to be (at least temporary) kings of their division.
However, none of that matters right now. What matters right now is that we take the time to brag like crazy about the red hot Padres!
San Diego has won 6 of their last 8 games (7 of those being on the road) and are 10th or close to 10th in the NL in just about every offensive category.
Where they have really shined has been with their pitching and defense:
- 4th in the NL in ERA
- 6th in batting average against
- 3rd in WHIP
- 4th in K/BB
- 8th in K/9
- 2nd in pitches per plate appearance
The good news is that the infield defense will probably remain great as long as Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. and Austin Hedges remain healthy. Whether or not they can count on this very young and unproven starting rotation to continue keeping the ball in the ballpark (Padres have given up the 3rd least HRs in the NL) will probably determine how long the team can fight for the division crown.