The San Diego Padres currently lead the National League West by one game. This is the first time anyone has managed to dethrone the Los Angeles Dodgers from first place since April 27.
In the next week and a half, the Padres and Dodgers will face each other six times, three games apiece at either team’s home ballpark. These games may decide the entire division.
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The question is, how did this even happen?
How It All Started
The Dodgers built a ridiculous team during the offseason, ending third in payroll. The superteam they built was believed to be unbeatable, and for the first half of the season, it certainly felt that way.
The reigning World Series champions have been dominant since the start of the season. Even now, the Dodgers rank first in runs scored, second in homers and are in the top five in the league in average. However, those numbers don’t describe the full scope of their season so far. Their midseason collapse all started on America’s birthday.
On July 4, the Dodgers held a nine-game lead over the Padres in the division. However, during the 33-game timespan between then and now, the Los Angeles Dodgers have gone 12–21. The straw that broke the camel’s back? Aside from being swept by the Milwaukee Brewers twice during this timespan, a sweep by the Los Angeles Angels put the Dodgers under. It also helps that the Friars have gone 23–12 as a team since then.
Offensively, their numbers since July 4 aren’t so different. The Padres collectively slash .270/.343/.406 while the Dodgers slashed .236/.317/.393 as a team. The biggest thing that sets them apart is pitching.
How It’s Going
The Padres’ pitching staff, particularly their bullpen, is the best in baseball and has consistently been since the start of the season. They lead the league in lowest ERA and WHIP and have the most saves. The Dodgers’ bullpen, while not the worst in the majors, is not anywhere near the top, with a combined ERA of 4.22 and a WHIP of 1.35, and is the second-worst in hits allowed. This could be attributed to many things. Many offseason acquisitions like Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki were projected to be lights out this season, but both players have spent a majority of it on the IL.
Players not panning out is a common thing in baseball, but throughout the long 162-game season, it can have lingering effects on a team’s composition. The Dodgers can hardly rely on offense to win games; the last stretch of games they’ve played has proved that. The Padres, throughout most of the season, have ranked low offensively and are second-worst in homers. However, with a pitching staff that essentially locks down the game for them, the number of runs they’ve needed to win becomes almost arbitrary. The Padres have the most shutouts of any team in the league this season, with 15. That means out of their 69 wins, only 22 percent of them needed a single run to win.
How It Could End
It’s been almost 20 years since the Padres won the NL West. They are currently on a hot streak, winning 14 of their last 17 games. However, the Dodgers have the lead in wins over them this season, going 5–2 against the Padres.
The last time they saw each other, tensions ran extremely high with a bench-clearing incident that led to multiple ejections and one-game suspension for both teams’ managers.
This is the last time these rivals will face each other in the postseason, and in a rather poetic turn of events, it may decide the postseason fate of both teams.
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