Padres look to hit the gas after the break

SAN DIEGO -- Time for a break. Frankly, the Padres could use one.

San Diego reached the All-Star break with a 6-3 loss to the Braves on Sunday afternoon, capping a disappointing 2-6 homestand at Petco Park. Ten days ago, the Padres returned home, looking to gain separation from the chasing pack in the playoff picture. Instead, they hit the unofficial halfway point with a 50-49 record, on the outside of that playoff picture looking in.

• Arraez to sit out All-Star Game with thumb injury

“We just played bad,” All-Star left fielder Jurickson Profar said. “Yeah, we faced some good pitching. But that’s not an excuse for a team that wants to go to the playoffs and win it all. In the playoffs, you’re going to face good pitching. We need to find a way to be better.”

Of course, the National League Wild Card race remains a jumbled mess, and the Padres are very much alive. They’ve proven before that it only takes a strong week or two to change the landscape of that race. (They’ve proven the reverse, as well.)

“A lot of ups and downs,” Profar said of the Padres’ first half. “We’ve dealt with some injuries, but every team deals with those. We just need to find a way to come in the second half and play consistently good baseball.”

Ultimately, the Padres’ 2024 regular season will be defined by their second half -- mostly because their first half did almost nothing to answer any of the glaring questions surrounding the 2024 Padres.

At the outset, this was a team that figured to fight for a Wild Card spot. Here they are, fighting for a Wild Card spot. It was a team with serious star power, but question marks surrounding its pitching depth. Here they are, with five All-Stars -- and serious questions about the back end of the rotation and the middle innings in relief.

“A lot of positives,” manager Mike Shildt said in his assessment of the team’s first half. “We’ve shown the ability to play some really good baseball. … Overall, this team’s still in a good spot. It’s only going in a good direction. We’re going to get healthier in the second half, and we’re going to continue to improve in the second half. I like where we’re at, and we’re poised to make a nice run.”

The sooner the better. The Padres packed their things in Petco Park’s home clubhouse on Sunday afternoon, headed for various destinations across North America. When they reconvene for their next home game on July 30, it’s worth wondering if that room might look different.

Following the All-Star Break, the Padres embark on a nine-game road trip through Cleveland, Washington and Baltimore. Then comes the Trade Deadline.

Right now, their roster features a number of glaring holes, particularly in the rotation and bullpen. But the Padres have already sacrificed a significant chunk of their prospect capital in deals to acquire Dylan Cease and Luis Arraez earlier this year. How much more is there left to trade?

The answer: enough. The Padres have enough trade chips in their farm system to address all of those needs. The question they need to answer, between now and the July 30 Trade Deadline: whether it’s worth it.

San Diego isn’t the only team searching for pitching. In a seller’s market, prices will be steep. If the Padres don’t post a winning record on their upcoming road trip -- a trip that features series against the American League’s two best teams -- they’ll be a .500 ballclub at the Deadline. Or worse.

At which point, it’ll be time to weigh the risks and the rewards.

For now, Shildt and the Padres aren’t getting ahead of themselves.

“It’s a trap to look up and go, ‘We have to do this in this series; we have to do that on the road trip,’” Shildt said. “No. We’re going to have 63 games to get after 63 games.”

Sixty-three games to define their season. Because the first half provided more questions than answers.

“We’re going to enjoy this break, take that break off,” third baseman Manny Machado said. “Then come back in that second half ready to play baseball and win some games. … We have a goal -- to make it to the postseason, make it deep into the postseason and bring a championship to this city.

“That’s our goal. Our focus in the second half is going to be that.”