The San Diego Padres have a +53 run differential, the second best in the NL West division behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Friars, however, have the second-worst record in the division at 61-70.
How can we explain that the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Francisco Giants both have positive records, yet negative run differentials? (-3 and -2, respectively).
Well, that’s baseball.
It’s not always easy to explain.
Sometimes, the explanation can be found if we think outside the box.
Why are the Padres dropping so many games if they score more runs than they allow?
Here is why.
“The San Diego Padres are 6-20 in 1-run games this year and 0-10 in extra innings games. It’s crazy,” Codify Baseball tweeted.
The San Diego Padres are 6-20 in 1-run games this year and 0-10 in extra innings games. It's crazy.
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) August 28, 2023
That’s incredibly awful.
A team with such a potent offense, headlined by several All-Stars and MVP candidates in the past, has such a bad record in close games that it’s almost unthinkable.
A 6-20 record in one-run games and a 0-10 one in extras (!) speaks very poorly about the Padres’ situational hitting and relief pitching.
It’s not always that simple, but here it is: San Diego is not a clutch team, or at least hasn’t been one in 2023.
Luck has played a factor, sure, but the hitters haven’t had the calmness of mind to properly execute in the later innings, and relievers haven’t always done their job.
The Padres have been missing that factor that helped them overcome lots of obstacles (even the Dodgers themselves in the Division Series) last year.
They still have a shot, but at eight games back for the last postseason spot, things aren’t looking particularly promising for them.
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