The San Diego Padres had been slumping for quite some time after they made some blockbuster moves to strengthen their ballclub at the trade deadline.
They had acquired Juan Soto and Josh Bell from the Washington Nationals, Josh Hader from the Milwaukee Brewers, and Brandon Drury from the Cincinnati Reds.
However, things hadn’t gone according to plan.
This prompted manager Bob Melvin to call out his team and talk about how he didn’t like what he was seeing in terms of the way they were going about their business.
Since then, the Padres have won four straight ballgames and have outscored their opponents, 25-4.
Since Bob Melvin called them out, the Padres have gone 4-0 while outscoring the opposition 25-4.
— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) September 21, 2022
How Melvin Fixed The Padres
Sometimes, all a team needs is for their manager to call them out on specific things to light a fire under them.
That can allow the team to wake up a little bit and realize that they need to make some adjustments if they want to start winning again.
It appears that Melvin’s comments lit enough of a fire under the Padres to get them back on the right track.
Now, they’ve overtaken the Philadelphia Phillies for the second National League Wild Card spot.
Melvin saying what he said appears to have worked some magic with his team.
Last night, they beat the St. Louis Cardinals by a final of 5-0 for their fourth straight win, and this is a team that they could potentially see in the postseason, whether it be in the Wild Card round or a possible NLCS matchup.
Winning against good teams can help build confidence back as well.
It appears now that the Padres have their swagger back and took what Melvin had to say very seriously. understanding they needed to make some adjustments.
NEXT: The Padres Are Held Back By A Longstanding Problem