The San Diego Padres have been quite the Cinderella story this season. The club spent the majority of the year wallowing around .500 (equal number of wins and losses), with many questioning if their contention window had expired. Their stars struggled to pull together, and their pitching staff unraveled multiple times.
However, since the All-Star break, the Padres have been one of the hottest teams in baseball. They’ve been on a historic run, with those same stars putting up incredible second halves.
Right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. has launched 20 home runs since the All-Star game (third in MLB). Jackson Merrill is right behind him with 16 during that same span. Even team captain Manny Machado has turned things around, with the veteran third baseman being on the precipice of a 30-homer campaign.
“Watching this run has been tremendous,” David Williams, an adjunct Christian studies professor at PLNU, said. “A few months ago, no one would have predicted … that the Padres would be this hot heading into October.”
The coaching staff has been a large factor in San Diego’s success. The Padres’ new manager Craig Stammen, alongside co-manager and pitching coach Ruben Niebla, has guided the Friars through plenty of highs and lows.
“Our process is very much looked at from a holistic view,” Niebla said. “We try to use our knowledge to help players grow within our culture.”
The Friars clinched their spot in the postseason on Sept. 27 with their win over the rival Los Angeles Dodgers. In doing so, San Diego will make their third consecutive postseason appearance. It’s the first time in franchise history that they have accomplished the feat.
“[It’s] been really entertaining to see how a lot of their guys are stepping up,” Joncee Lenker, an avid baseball fan and second-year psychology major at PLNU, said. “Especially where there isn’t much room for error in this stressful time of the season.”
Since 1969, the Padres have struggled to be anything other than a mediocre bottom-feeder in MLB. The club never amounted to much apart from two World Series appearances.
However, that all changed when General Manager A.J. Preller took over in 2014. He quickly rebuilt the team from the ground up. The Friars have made the playoffs in five of the last seven seasons, and they’ve been perennial contenders since 2020.
What that’s done for the city of San Diego cannot be overstated. The Padres are the only remaining major sports team in the county since the Chargers departed for Los Angeles in 2017. The city has incredibly rallied around the team.
When asked about his favorite thing about coaching in San Diego, Niebla responded with, “The city, the passion of the fans and the environment that has been created.”
Niebla hit the nail on the head. In 78 home games this season, the Padres have sold out 62 of them. The club is third in MLB in average attendance, with roughly 41,197 fans on hand each game. That intensity is felt in every single home game, with fans cheering on the team all along the way.
That atmosphere grows even more in the playoffs. San Diego didn’t have the chance to play postseason baseball at home in 2025. The club lost in the Wild Card to the Chicago Cubs. They’ll likely play a postseason rematch against the Cubs here in San Diego starting on Sept. 29.
“I do think this team can make a deep run and have a solid chance of making it to the World Series,” Lenker said. “This roster is well-rounded and is hot at the right time.”
It’s certainly possible. One of the biggest struggles with winning in the postseason is getting hot at the right time. San Diego has certainly done that. In the final month of the season, the Friars have won 16 of 22 games. They also went on a blistering stretch in mid-September in which they won 13 of 15 games.
The playoffs are a crucible where you need to win 13 games or go home. That shortened format has broken teams in the past. The true test for San Diego is whether their winning will continue when the lights are brightest in October. The only way to answer that question is to wait and see what the Padres can do.
“October baseball is unpredictable,” Williams said. “But if they keep playing like this, there is no reason the Padres cannot beat anyone in front of them.”
Interestingly, the Padres have never won a World Series in franchise history. They’re one of five teams (Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays) to have never done so. Could this finally be the year?
Grace Chaves