San Diego Padres: The most dangerous team in baseball?

The San Diego Padres have shocked much of the baseball world in 2020.

The San Diego Padres are a really good baseball team. Currently sitting in second place in the NL West, they’re primed for a deep postseason run for the first time in over a decade.

So how did things change so quickly?

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The offense coming together

The Padres offense took a huge step from 2019 to 2020. After adding Trent Grisham and Tommy Pham in the offseason, fans expected the offense to be more productive. But nobody could have predicted the birth of the “Slam Diego Padres”.

Following a five-game losing streak early in the season, the offense exploded for four grand slams in four games. For good measure, NL Rookie of the Year front runner Jake Cronenworth hit a fifth grand slam in the sixth game of a seven-game winning streak.

But that was just a season-defining hot streak. On a day to day basis, the Padres offense is a threat to hang a crooked number on the board at any given moment. Led by NL MVP candidate Fernando Tatis Jr., the Padres are scoring well over 5.5 runs per game.

The huge contracts handed out to Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer are finally starting to become worth it. Grisham and Cronenworth are providing timely hits and great at-bats every time they step up to the dish.

And with the trade deadline additions of Mitch Moreland, Jason Castro, and Austin Nola, that offensive production isn’t going anywhere.

The San Diego Padres unexpectedly have a dominant pitching staff.

Starting pitching was the number one thing a Padres fan could have pointed to this offseason to say “yep, that might be a problem”. Sure, Chris Paddack was fantastic in his rookie campaign in 2019. But who knew what you would get out of Dinelson Lamet, Garrett Richards, and Zach Davies.

We all know it appears Paddack was the only pitcher in that group that fans should have been worried about. Richards and Davies have shown up consistently to give the Padres offense a chance to win.

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Additionally, Lamet has thrust himself in the NL Cy Young conversation, currently pitching to the tune of a 2.24 ERA with 68 strikeouts in 52.1 innings. He’s been nothing short of dominant and will undoubtedly receive the ball in game one of a playoff series.

Oh, and the Padres also added Mike Clevinger to the mix at the trade deadline. After a rocky departure from Cleveland, Clevinger can just get back to pitching and rounds out a rotation that strikes fear into opposing lineups. If Paddack returns to 2019 form in the last couple weeks of the season, the Padres could be rolling out three ace-level pitchers in the postseason.

The lightning in a bottle effect

Before the 2020 season, I chose the San Diego Padres as the team I thought was most likely to catch lightning in a bottle and surprise the rest of the league.

But they’ve exceeded even my wildest expectations for them.

With the rise of Tatis Jr. to superstar form, the resurgence of Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer, and one of the best rotations in Major League Baseball, the Padres quickly transformed.

I saw them as a team that could get hot and make some noise. Now, I see them as a team that can compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers for years to come.

General Manager AJ Preller leveraged their great start and incredible farm system into the supporting cast that the exciting young core needed. They have multiple years of control over most of their big weapons and a highly ranked farm system with more young talent just waiting for their chance.

2020 could be the start of a truly special five year run for the San Diego Padres. But as for this season, I wouldn’t put it past them to take the big cake.