The Padres carried the same 26-man group into the NLDS that they used to sweep the Cubs in the wild-card round, keeping their roster intact as they head into Milwaukee for a best-of-five showdown with the 103-win Brewers.
That means San Diego is rolling with 15 position players and 11 pitchers, even with the series lengthening from three games to five. The club didn’t add an extra arm, and it again left off right-handers Randy Vasquez and Wandy Peralta.
The decision to stay put wasn’t a surprise in one key area: the Padres are still leaning into their three-catcher setup. The group gives the team options, and Craig Stammen said that flexibility is a big reason they’re comfortable keeping all three.
“We could start all three of them at any point,” manager Craig Stammen said this past week. “We feel really good about our three catchers. I feel like those three are as strong as any group of three in the big leagues, and they’ll bring different skill sets to the table.”
One of the more notable roster calls involves Walker Buehler. He was not named the starter for Game 1 or Game 2, but he’s on the roster, which signals the Padres see a lane for him somewhere in the series.
“Walker will play a big role in this series at some point,” Stammen said on Friday. “I don't know when that is. But he's got such a playoff pedigree that it will be hard for us to leave him out and not give him a chance to put his mark on the series.”
Buehler looks like a possible Game 4 option, though the Padres could also turn to him earlier if the series demands it.
San Diego arrives in this round riding the momentum of its wild-card sweep, and Manny Machado made it clear the club understands the challenge ahead.
“We definitely know they’re a good team," Manny Machado said while celebrating the wild-card sweep. "Best team in baseball right now."
In Other News...
Padres Have Every Right To Be Furious About This Game 1 Twist
A strange break in Game 1 of the NLDS put the Padres in an early hole before the baseball really had a chance to breathe. Ty France sent a ball skyward at American Family Field, it struck a cable supporting the roof, and Jackson Chourio came down with it for an out. It was the kind of play that makes everyone in the ballpark stop and check the rule book, even if the answer winds up being more mundane than the reaction.
Under the parks ground rules, the ball stays live if it hits the cable above fair territory, so the ruling was correct. Still, the setting only added to the frustration for San Diego, with MLB controlling whether the roof is opened or closed in the postseason and the roof closed for this game. For a team trying to seize an early edge in October, it was the sort of twist that leaves plenty of room for argument, even if not much room for protest. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Open NLDS With Brutal Ending Fans Wont Stop Debating
The Padres NLDS opener in Milwaukee came down to one of those October moments that can linger long after the final pitch. San Diego dropped Game 1, 3-2, but the conversation afterward centered on Ty Frances drive in the top of the ninth, a ball that looked for a moment like it might flip the game and the series with one swing.
Instead, it hit the closed roof at American Family Field and was caught by Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio for an out, a ruling the Padres challenged before it was upheld under the stadiums ground rules. Milwaukee then finished off the final out, leaving San Diego to regroup and leaving fans to keep arguing about a play that felt one step away from changing everything. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Got A Massive Playoff Break Thanks To One Bizarre Bounce
A strange break in Milwaukee helped turn one of Game 1s biggest swings into a routine out, and the Padres were left to shake their heads. Ty France sent a deep fly toward the roof at American Family Field, where the ball took an odd bounce and was ultimately caught by Jackson Chourio, erasing what looked like a possible go-ahead homer for San Diego.
Craig Stammen challenged the call, but the umpires let it stand under the parks ground rule, which treated the ball as fair after it hit the roof. It was the kind of play that can feel unique to one stadium, one postseason game, and one unlucky sequence, especially since the balls path probably would have played differently in most major league parks. [Read more 🡒]