The Padres walk into this series with the Dodgers carrying a simple number and a complicated scoreboard. San Diego’s magic number to reach the playoffs is two, but where the Padres land in the wild-card picture is still very much up in the air.
That makes this week in Los Angeles feel bigger than a normal divisional matchup, even with the Dodgers already having wrapped up the NL West. They’re still chasing something of their own, sitting two games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the best record in baseball and a half-game ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays.
For San Diego, the immediate task is more straightforward: keep moving toward October and avoid letting the standings get messy. The Padres open the series tied with the Chicago Cubs for the top wild-card spot, with the Phillies one game back and the Arizona Diamondbacks four games out and still lurking.
All of that math matters, but the first night comes down to the mound. The Padres pushed Michael King up in the rotation to face Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a move that says plenty about how they’re approaching this stretch run.
King last pitched six innings against the Colorado Rockies and allowed two runs last Thursday, and the timing gives San Diego a chance to clinch early this week. It also keeps King lined up for the season finale against Arizona if the Padres have to keep grinding.
The scheduling tweak makes sense against a team that has given San Diego trouble all season. The Padres have lost seven of 10 against the Dodgers, including three of four on their last trip to Los Angeles. That’s not the usual level of comfort for a club that’s generally been more competitive in this matchup.
Still, Yamamoto is a tough assignment for anybody. Over his last two starts against the Cincinnati Reds, he allowed one run in 14 innings and struck out 17 combined hitters. On the season, he owns a 2.51 ERA and has piled up 178 strikeouts in 179 innings.
In Other News...
Padres Face A Growing Joe Musgrove Concern At The Worst Time
With six games left and a magic number of two to lock up a postseason berth, the Padres are in the kind of late-season stretch where every piece matters. Jake Cronenworths National League Player of the Week honor gave the club a timely lift, but the bigger concern remains on the mound, where Joe Musgrove is still sidelined as San Diego tries to close the regular season without one of its most important arms.
Musgroves situation has become even more complicated because the issue is centered on ongoing pain management, and there is still no return in sight for this season. Manager Craig Stammen recently offered an update on the rehab process, which only underscores how little certainty there is as the Padres head into their most consequential games. For a team that has spent months building toward October, the timing could hardly be worse. [Read more 🡒]
Ethan Salas Is Giving Padres Fans A Reason To Believe Again
Ethan Salas rise has quickly become one of the more encouraging developments for Padres fans looking for a fresh reason to lean in. Promoted to the big league club earlier this month, the young catcher has already shown why he has become such a talked-about name in the organization, with two home runs and a walk-off giving a glimpse of the impact he can make when he gets his chance.
Baseball America recently named Salas the Padres Minor Leaguer Player of the Year after a strong season in the system, only adding to the sense that his future matters far beyond one hot stretch. And with the usual trade speculation hovering around top prospects, his place in San Diegos long-term plans is exactly the kind of question that now hangs over an already promising start. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Still Control One October Problem Fans Really Wont Like
The Padres have spent much of the season building toward October, but the path they take there may matter almost as much as the destination. Even if San Diego reaches 90 wins, it could still wind up stuck in the National League's sixth seed because of how the standings line up against the Cubs and Phillies, a frustrating reminder that the final shape of the bracket is not always about the total in the win column.
If the Padres, Cubs and Phillies all finish with the same record, Chicago would claim the fourth seed, Philadelphia the fifth and San Diego the sixth on tiebreakers. For a club that has leaned on the edge of playing at Petco Park this year, the difference is obvious: the Padres want a higher seed badly enough to host a Wild Card Series at home, and the bracket math leaves them with work still to do before that door opens. [Read more 🡒]