The San Diego Padres are having a bizarre 2021 season.
After looking like a lock to make the playoffs for much of the year, the club could very well find itself watching the postseason from home next month.
San Diego went from one of the best teams in the league to a team that’s flirting with a .500 finish.
The club is 75-70 at the moment.
No one could have seen this coming a month ago.
And while it’s certainly still possible for the Padres to steal a Wild Card bid in the NL, it almost seems equally likely that the team will finish around .500.
Here’s why things might not get much better for San Diego in 2021.
The Team Is Having An Extremely Hard Time Ending Its Miserable Skid
The Padres have been playing some miserable baseball for almost a month now.
The team is 9-21 over its last 30 games.
The poor stretch has changed everything.
Before it started, San Diego was in great shape to cruise to a playoff bid.
Now, that’s obviously not the case.
On the bright side, the Padres were able to snap a five-game losing streak last night by defeating the San Francisco Giants on the road.
Let's see the smiles 😌 #PadresWin #HungryForMore pic.twitter.com/5ynRm56lPG
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 16, 2021
San Diego desperately needed a win, and it got one.
But one game isn’t enough to erase a horrible month.
The team needs to find a way to turn things around in a hurry.
And unfortunately, that might be very difficult given the nature of the Padres’ remaining schedule.
The Padres Have The Toughest Remaining Schedule In All Of Baseball
Things aren’t going to get much easier for the Padres from here on out.
Statistically, the team has the toughest remaining schedule in all of baseball.
The Padres will wrap up a four-game series with the Giants tonight.
Then, they’ll travel to Missouri for a meeting with the St. Louis Cardinals.
That’ll be a three-game set with massive Wild Card implications.
Once it’s over, the Padres will see the Giants again for three games.
After that series finishes, San Diego will meet the Atlanta Braves for three games, the Los Angeles Dodgers for three games, and the Giants yet again for three games to finish the regular season.
Every single team we just listed has playoff aspirations.
didn't realize how brutal the padres' remaining schedule is
— VHS (@VanHicklestein) September 15, 2021
It’s going to be exceptionally hard for the Padres to make up substantial ground in the standings when this is the type of schedule they’re dealing with.
The club would do well just to go 8-8 over its final 16 games.
Realistically, San Diego will probably need to manage a record in the ballpark of 10-6 or 11-5 over the 16-game stretch if it wants to have a chance at nabbing a Wild Card bid.
That’s a very tall task.
Truthfully, an outcome of 6-10 or 5-11 is probably equally likely.
And if that were to happen, San Diego would indeed end up around .500.
Padres fans are certainly hoping for a different outcome.
Perhaps the team’s win over the Giants last night will get things moving in the right direction.
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