These Padres can sit stars and still win big

DENVER -- In so many ways, these are not last year's Padres. That much should be plain enough by now. But in terms of roster construction, there's no area in which the difference is more obvious than this one: The 2024 Padres are deep.

On Saturday night, San Diego played its second straight game at Coors Field’s altitude -- a night game before a day game, at the outset of a grueling stretch with 18 games in 18 days. Manager Mike Shildt opted to give Luis Arraez and Jackson Merrill a day off.

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Arraez and Merrill are All-Stars. They’re two of San Diego’s best hitters. Mind you, the Padres are still without another All-Star in Fernando Tatis Jr., who has been on the injured list since late June.

And yet, these Padres are still capable of nights like this one -- a comfortable 8-3 victory over the Rockies behind a complete offensive performance and a solid outing from starter Dylan Cease. Every position player either recorded a hit or scored a run. A key two-out rally in the fourth-inning was driven entirely by the bottom of the lineup.

“That’s what good teams have,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “They have that depth to be able to pick each other up.”

With losses by the Dodgers and Diamondbacks earlier in the day, San Diego gained a ground on each -- moving two games back of Los Angeles in the National League West race and a game ahead of Arizona for the league’s top Wild Card spot.

“It’s fun,” said Manny Machado, who followed his 0-for-5 night Friday with a 4-for-4 showing on Saturday. “This is what baseball’s made of. It’s a fun time to be in the clubhouse in the position that we’re in, to be able to do something special.”

The party line is that the Padres are focused only on themselves -- that the rest will take care of itself. They’ve backed that up with their play. San Diego has won 20 of 24 and can set a franchise record by winning a ninth straight series with a victory in the finale Sunday.

But make no mistake, the players are keenly aware of what’s going on around them. As they readied for batting practice on Saturday, the Diamondbacks’ game played on TVs around the clubhouse.

To be perfectly clear: It’s standard practice for the TVs in a big league clubhouse to be tuned to MLB Network, which happened to be airing the game. But, notably, no one made a move to change the channel. A handful even sat around tables watching.

“We all love baseball,” Machado said. “So we’re all looking at the scoreboard. But at the end of the day, this team is doing everything before we start watching those games to prepare.”

After watching the D-backs’ loss, the Padres took the field in Denver and took care of business. Cease was solid, holding the Rockies scoreless through five innings before he allowed three runs in the sixth. The lockdown San Diego bullpen did the rest.

“I think we’re all feeling confident,” Cease said. “We’re playing really good baseball, and we want to just keep it rolling.”

Offensively, the Padres got contributions from throughout their lineup. Luis Campusano has settled nicely into playing the shorter end of a 60-40 playing time split behind the plate. He went 2-for-3 with a walk and a moonshot home run. Bryce Johnson started in center for Merrill, who was out of the lineup for the first time since June 2. Johnson went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs.

“Continue to put the work in,” Johnson said. “Because I know at some point I’m going to get in there. So I know I’m going in. It’s just preparation, putting in the work, staying ready.”

Tatis is due to return, presumably sometime in September. If all goes according to plan, the Padres seem likely to roll with a five-player bench of Campusano, Johnson, David Peralta, Donovan Solano and Tyler Wade for the stretch run.

Solano and Peralta give them two excellent options for a key pinch-hit at-bat -- one from each side. The Kyle Higashioka/Campusano split behind the plate has worked flawlessly. Wade and Johnson have settled into their roles -- both pinch-running threats, Wade a versatile utility piece who can play anywhere, Johnson a defensive specialist and late-game replacement in the outfield.

“Guys are stepping up, man,” Machado said. “It’s huge. … Everyone here wants to pick everyone up. And everyone knows their role: Go out there and compete every single day.”