Tomorrow, the San Diego Padres will play host to the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of the NLCS.
It will be the first NLCS for the Padres since 1998.
That year, they won the NL pennant and lost to the New York Yankees in the World Series.
But now, they have a chance to shock the world and reach their first World Series since then.
They’ll send Yu Darvish to the hill for Game 1.
But before the postseason started, MLB released a list of power rankings for all 12 remaining teams.
The Padres were not in the top five, nor the top 10.
In fact, they were listed at the bottom, and Padres fans certainly haven’t forgotten about that.
Nice rankings @MLB pic.twitter.com/cqfXa55g9W
— Padres Nation (@NationPadres) October 16, 2022
Padres Silence Doubters
Ironically, five of the top 10 teams listed have already been eliminated.
But the Padres, who were ranked at the bottom, still remain.
They had to face the New York Mets in the Wild Card Series, a team that had Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom, and Chris Bassitt lined up for all three games.
The Padres took care of the Mets, but then had the Los Angeles Dodgers to deal with.
Thanks in large part to the “rally goose,” the Padres overcame their NL West rivals.
After dropping Game 1 of the NLDS in Los Angeles, San Diego rebounded with a win in Game 2 and proceeded to win both games at home to advance to the NLCS.
After being listed as the worst playoff team, the Padres have found their way into the top four.
They’ll have a tough assignment with the Phillies coming into town, but it should be an exciting series between two underdog teams that were expected to go down in the Wild Card round.
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