'The sky is not falling': Padres moving forward after rough series

SAN DIEGO -- By the time the Rockies had completed their first three-game sweep in San Diego since 2013, all the goodwill the Padres had amassed from their victorious weekend series against the Dodgers had clearly dissipated at Petco Park.

The plainly audible boos -- rare around these parts -- told the story. And, at least according to a couple Padres, those boos weren’t unearned.

“We’re fully deserving of it, if we’re playing that poorly,” said starter Michael King, who was roughed up for six runs over 5 1/3 innings.

“You don’t like the boos, play better,” added slumping second baseman Xander Bogaerts.

The Padres dropped Wednesday’s finale against Colorado, 8-0, as they finished their six-game homestand nearer to the Rockies at the bottom of the National League West than the Dodgers at the top. San Diego never led in the series and found itself facing a major deficit in all three games.

“We didn’t play the way we wanted to, the way we hoped to,” said Bogaerts. “These guys came out these last games, and they kicked us in the butt. It was a rough couple days.”

Manager Mike Shildt did his best to take a positive view of the big picture. Sure, the frustration with the result was warranted. But the Padres played relatively clean baseball. The Rockies may be a last place team, but they’re riding a seven-game winning streak, fresh off a sweep of the reigning champion Rangers.

The Padres, Shildt contended, did not beat themselves, and as a result, his team couldn’t be too harsh on itself.

“Listen, the sky is not falling in our clubhouse, I can tell you that,” Shildt said. “All I know is our clubhouse is in a good spot. The sky is not falling. … All the frustration, that is real with losing because it’s an in-game result, I get it. But I also appreciate the fact that our team is going in a good direction in a lot of areas. We’ve just got to be able to put it together with our pitching and our hitting to be able to put together some more wins.”

Shildt has been staunch in his belief that his team is trending upward. Prior results backed that assertion. The Padres entered the week winners of four straight series, all against perceived playoff contenders.

But this week’s sweep was a setback, unquestionably. The Padres now sit two games below .500, outside the early NL playoff picture.

“Sometimes it just doesn’t go your way, and you’ve got to tip your cap,” said Padres third baseman Manny Machado. “They hit and pitched well, and they swept us. … I feel like we’re playing good baseball, we just didn’t play good baseball this [series]. We’ve got to turn the page.”

A year ago, of course, the Padres also found themselves scuffling in mid-May. They preached patience, and pointed to the nature of a long baseball season. There was plenty of time left. Until suddenly, there wasn’t.

That Padres team would mount a September charge, but it was far too late. Asked directly whether this 2024 team would be viewing things the same way, Bogaerts responded with an emphatic “No.”

So, the urgency is heightened with the lessons the Padres learned from their 2023 disappointment. They still need to find a way to make certain that urgency translates into results. The quickest fix is the most obvious one.

"Our big guys, we're not swinging it too well, let's be honest," Machado said Tuesday.

Added Fernando Tatis Jr.: “We haven't played at a superstar level. It's just as simple as that.”

Indeed, the superstars haven’t performed like superstars. Bogaerts, Machado and, to a lesser extent, Tatis are all underperforming their All-MLB-level ceilings. How else to explain the team’s struggles?

On the fringes, the Padres are getting more than they ever could’ve hoped for. Jurickson Profar has been the best outfielder in the NL. Jake Cronenworth looks like an All-Star again. Rookie Jackson Merrill is holding his own. So have the Padres, at 22-24, wasted that production?

“I don’t feel like we’ve wasted it,” Shildt said. “Without it, we’d be in trouble. We do expect the back of the bubblegum card to show up for those guys, and there will be a stretch … where we can talk about how Bogey, Tati and Manny are carrying us.”

The sooner the better. Awaiting the Padres after Thursday’s off-day is a four-game series against a perennial World Series contender in Atlanta.