It’s been a rocky start to the 2018 season for the San Diego Padres. In their opening three game series against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Padres dropped all three of them.
An 0-3 start in a very difficult NL West division was not one the Padres were looking for, but it is only just the start of the season, so there is plenty of time to turn things around.
On Opening Day, the Padres lost a very close game 2-1, in a game that went twelve innings. Shortstop Freddy Galvis tied the game in the 9th inning with an RBI single to force extra innings, but Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia hit in the game-winning run in the 12th to give them the victory.
In game two, the Padres were battling back and forth with the Brewers, where the Padres were up on them 6-3 going into the 9th inning. But then suddenly, that is when things took a turn for the worse, and the Brewers came back.
The bases were loaded, with Brewers second baseman Jonathan Villar and center fielder Lorenzo Cain each hitting in a run to make it 6-5. To top it off, Brewers first baseman Ryan Braun smacked what would be the winning three-run home run with one strike left to give them an 8-6 victory over the Padres.
In game three, a 7-3 Brewers victory, the Padres weren’t as close as they had been in the first two games. After newly-acquired Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer hit an RBI double to tie the game at three in the third inning, it was all Brewers from then on. Left fielder Christian Yelich and Cain each had two RBIs each, giving the Brewers an early-season sweep of the Padres.
With the new acquisitions of Galvis from the Philadelphia Phillies and prized free agent acquisition Hosmer from the Kansas City Royals, who signed an eight-year, $144 million contract with the Padres in the offseason, the Padres have high expectations for themselves on starting to turn things around in the right direction as a franchise.
The Padres have a very young team, with an average age of 27.5, which is the fourth-youngest among the major league teams.
Signing Hosmer this offseason was the Padres number one priority, because not only is he a great player who earned a championship ring with the Royals in 2015, but he is widely respected among MLB players as being a great leader in the clubhouse, something the Padres need with all of the youth on the roster.
With the 2018 season just getting underway, the Padres aren’t off to the start they would have hoped for, but it is way too early to create any concerns after just three games. Adjustments will be needed throughout the season, but as a young and potentially upcoming team, the Padres have a lot to look forward to with their current roster and some exciting prospects in their minor league system, such as shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., who will likely be on the major league roster at some point in time this season.
The Padres had some close games to start the season, but they now get a chance to look for their first win of the year in their upcoming series at home against the Colorado Rockies.
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