National League West: What Needs to Go Right for Each Team

San Diego Padres

The San Diego Padres made one of the biggest splashes of the off-season by signing Manny Machado to a 10 year, $300 million free agent contract. Machado joins a tremendous crop of young players that look ready to make some noise in the National League West. It may be another year before the Padres actually make a legitimate run at the playoffs, but they will give it everything they have to push the Dodgers in the division and attempt to make the playoffs for the first time since 2006.

In order to shock the world the Padres are going to need some of their young, talented hitters to take a step in the right direction starting with shortstop wunderkind, Fernando Tatis Jr. If the Padres are serious about competing in 2019, Tatis will need to have a remarkable season similar to that of Ronald Acuña Jr and Juan Soto from a year ago. This is not out of his reach as he is one of the most talented prospects in years.

The Padres will also need some productive seasons from unsuspected rotation members. Joey Lucchesi had a promising rookie season a year ago that many are expecting him to build on, and Chris Paddack is expected to have a strong rookie season based on his minor league track record. While there aren’t many promising options behind them, it’ll be up to this next group of pitchers to keep the team competitive throughout the season. This team will likely go as far as its pitching staff can take them.