On June 16, the San Diego Padres were, against all odds, in sole possession of first place in the NL West division.
Today, nearly one month later, the Padres are no longer “all by themselves”.
In fact, their collapse has been so sudden, and the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ play has been so good, that the latter are now up big in the division.
“The Dodgers now lead the NL West by 9.5 games,” Dodgers reporter Blake Harris tweeted, quoting the month-old tweet saying the Padres were in first place.
The Dodgers now lead the NL West by 9.5 games https://t.co/pnC4Kdrd1D
— Blake Harris (@BlakeHarrisTBLA) July 15, 2022
After June 16’s games, the Padres were 41-24 and the Dodgers were 39-23.
That 0.5-game advantage didn’t last long.
An Incredible Collapse
Since that date, the Padres are 9-17, and the Dodgers are 19-7.
If the season ended today, San Diego would still have a great chance of making the playoffs, but several other teams are knocking on their door.
They are one of just five National League teams with 50 victories, but they need to show something before they put their playoff chances in jeopardy.
Unfortunately, Fernando Tatis Jr.‘s rehab has taken much longer than anticipated.
Once expected to miss the first three months of the season in a worst-case scenario, Tatis is still not close to returning.
He still needs to hit off a tee, then face live batting practice, and lastly, go on a rehab assignment.
If all goes well, it could be two or three more weeks.
The Padres need to figure out how to win games without their best player for a while longer.
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