ATLANTA — The Trade Deadline looms less than two weeks away, and the Padres remain squarely on the fence. They might buy. They might sell. They might engage in some combination of both. Or neither.
On Tuesday night at least, the Padres made their case to add. They made their case as a contending team that, with a few tweaks here and there, just might be able to make a move in the National League Wild Card race.
Here’s some instant reaction from Truist Park, where the Padres walloped the Braves, 8-3:
1. The superstars are beginning to look like superstars
Manny Machado homered twice. Fernando Tatis Jr. only homered once — but, at a Statcast-projected 474 feet, it was the longest home run in the Majors this season and the second longest of his career. Jackson Merrill also homered and had two hits. It was the first time all season that all three went deep in the same game.
In other words: The Padres’ biggest stars looked the part.
“That’s why we got paid,” Tatis said. “That’s what we’re here for. That’s what everybody expects from us. That’s what we should be doing. That’s what we’re here for — as simple as that.”
Tatis, Machado and Merrill all started the season slowly — the biggest reason San Diego sported one of the worst offenses in the Majors through the first 2 1/2 months of the season.
But lately? Tatis has looked like himself at the plate for a couple of months now (albeit without his usual power until recently). Machado has come around as well, with an OPS of 1.069 since June 20.
Now, Merrill is joining the party. He homered twice on Sunday, then again on Tuesday. But it goes beyond that. Merrill swatted an opposite-field single in the first and he worked a tough walk in the fifth. Those are the types of things he does when things are going good at the plate.
“You get some of your best hitters going at the same time, it’s pretty hard to beat you,” Merrill said. “That’s a pretty obvious key recipe.”
2. This felt like a statement
Half an hour after the Padres’ victory, Preller roamed the Truist Park outfield on his cell phone. It’s that time of year.
Of course, one game is not going to change Preller’s Deadline direction. But if the Padres can win a few more like this one? That certainly could change things.
Despite their recent struggles, the Padres have actually made up ground in the Wild Card race lately. Most of the other fringe playoff contenders have also struggled. San Diego (50-51) is now only two games back of the Diamondbacks (52-49) and Pirates (52-49) for the final spot.
“I believe in this team,” manager Craig Stammen said before the game. “I know what we’re capable of. We’re so close right now. It seems like every loss makes us feel far away. But we’re really not that far away.”
Stammen was speaking in the context of the Deadline. There are convincing arguments for Preller to go in just about any conceivable direction. But Stammen views this as a contending roster already.
If the Padres can get more from their offense, it will go a long way toward convincing Preller to buy at the Deadline. Right now, the clearest need is in the rotation. But why add to that rotation, if the offense wasn’t going to do its part?
3. At last, complementary baseball
The Padres haven’t played many games like this one. Beyond their shaky rotation, their inconsistent offense and their taxed bullpen … they just haven’t played much complementary baseball.
This was how it’s supposed to look. Their offense got them a lead, then tacked on. That support meant that Walker Buehler was given some extra leash, and he worked into the sixth, further preserving the ‘pen. When Buehler ran into trouble, Yuki Matsui escaped his jam.
The Padres’ bullpen has already been overburdened this year — and it’s not solely because of the struggles in the rotation. The offense has too often put them in situations where they need to call on that bullpen in tight games.
If the Padres are going to make things work — at least until they get a few arms back from injury — they’re going to need more nights like this one.
“There’s never been a question of how talented this team is,” Buehler said. “As cold as we’ve been on both sides of the ball … the talent means you can get equally as hot.”
