Quote from MrPadre19 on July 11, 2023, 1:46 pm

IMO we have to be at or above .500 by July 31st.

If we are under .500 after four months of baseball it will be difficult to expect the playoffs.

But,we all know all we have to do is make the playoffs and we can beat anyone.

With this lineup if the SP's are healthy and we're still playing in Oct I like our chances.

Just gotta get there.

 

 

Quote from 3fingersplit on July 11, 2023, 2:00 pm

This 10 game road trip is huge in my opinion...go 7-3 against the Phillies, Blue Jays and Tigers and they will be at 50-50. Is it a tall order...yes but they are due. Being at .500 starting a home stand would be just what the doctor ordered. The old adage of play .500 ball on the road and have a winning record at home would be awesome...when I was coaching I would just tell my players that baseball is a game of countdown depending on innings being played...21 outs for 7 inning and 27 outs for 9 inning games...just win the inning without giving the other team extra outs. This team is one of the very best defensive/pitching teams in MLB...throw zeros and even if you don't put up crooked numbers you only have to have one more run than the other team when the countdown gets to zero.

Go Padres !!!

Quote from fenn68 on July 11, 2023, 2:26 pm

Agree that 7-3 needs to be a minimum result on the road trip. As important they must go 4-0 or 3-1 vs PHIL who is ahead of them in the Wild Card race and the Padres need to close that gap when they have the chance. Just going 2-2 is effectively losing ground when chasing and fewer games to play.

If every team ahead of them just stay on form ... Padres have to win 2 out of every three to overtake and that assumes one of the teams ahead also does not perform better in the remaining games.

So, beat PHIL and end with a 13-4 run to July 31 and there should be a chance. Only 55 games after.

Quote from Stergios on July 12, 2023, 7:54 am

I Hope you guys are right about the team being capable of going 7-3 on this road trip, but I don’t think that that should be our expectation.

Given the holes in our roster and how things have unfolded thus far this season, and IF the team continues to play well like they did last week, a .500 record on this road trip would be a more realistic goal.  Suarez and Wilson will still be out, forcing us to rely on a weak bullpen.

I really hope that I’ll be pleasantly surprised.  A 6-4 road trip would make me super happy.

Quote from MrPadre19 on July 12, 2023, 9:26 am

I'm not sure anyone said we "can" go 7-3 just that we "need" to.

 

Quote from sportwarrior on July 12, 2023, 10:50 am

The goals should be to win every inning and go 1-0 every day. That's it. Take this one pitch, one at bat, one inning, one game at a time.

Quote from MrPadre19 on July 12, 2023, 10:52 am

I'm still a "win every series" guy going forward.

If we can win every 3 game series and at least split every 4 game series we should be OK.

 

Quote from sportwarrior on July 12, 2023, 11:23 am

Quote from MrPadre19 on July 12, 2023, 10:52 am

I'm still a "win every series" guy going forward.

If we can win every 3 game series and at least split every 4 game series we should be OK.

 

First of all, agreed. They need to win every series. But this team needs to rebuild its mental momentum. Xander said just a few short weeks ago that, once this team is down a run, it just kind of feels like they're fighting an uphill battle. It shouldn't feel that way. And you can bet if they feel that way about a single run early in a game, they feel the same about an early loss in a series.

I feel like it's evident with the number of uncharacteristic mental lapses at the plate they've had this season, but statements like Xander's confirm it... This team's problems this year boil down to mental toughness at the clubhouse level. Individually, these guys wouldn't be here without it. But this particular mix, with its vaunted offense and track record, has lead a lot of these guys to loosen the mental discipline that had carried them this far. They relied on the backs of their baseball cards instead of focusing and playing with the same tenacity and toughness that helped them compile those stats in the first place. Now they are too bogged down with the weight of expectations and 1st half failures to gather any kind of serious momentum.

Sure, they rolled into the break going 5-1, but now they have to come back after 4 days off and start a new streak. Given this clubhouse's failures so far this season, they cannot lean on such a meager string of successful outings. They cannot look back from, beyond, or farther ahead than any given game. This is goldfish memory time, where you get a clubhouse of guys to reset and stay within themselves. You take zero pitches and zero plays off, you absolutely forget what the back of your baseball card says, and you go out there and earn your next at bat every friggin time.

Quote from BoosterSD on July 12, 2023, 3:25 pm

On Facebook, the Padres have just announced that Opening Day for the 2024 season will be in Seoul, Korea.

Does this increase or decrease any chance of Kim being traded?