The San Diego Padres Aren’t Just Bad, They’re Making History In The Worst Way

By now it’s no secret that the San Diego Padres have been one of baseball’s biggest disappointments.

The Padres have struggled offensively, even with a lineup featuring Fernando Tatis Jr, Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts and Juan Soto.

They’ve struggled with bullpen issues, even after setup man Robert Suarez returned from the injured list. Key starters like Yu Darvish have also underperformed; a disconcerting start to a lengthy contract extension.

Even with a myriad of problems, the Padres have still outscored their opponents on the season. And yet with over a month left in the season, they’ve essentially been eliminated from postseason contention already.

Per Fangraphs, the Padres started the season with around 85% probability of making the playoffs. As of late Wednesday afternoon, that number dropped to quite literally 1%.

So how did this happen exactly?

Beyond other explanations, it comes down to poor performance in close games, with runners in scoring position or in extra innings. And the Padres aren’t just bad in those situations — they’re historically bad.

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 05: Juan Soto #22 of the San Diego Padres reacts to flying out during the sixth inning of a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at PETCO Park on September 05, 2022 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

Padres Have Been Unbelievably Bad In Key Moments

Fangraphs tracks a stat that they label as “clutch;” essentially a team’s performance in high-leverage situations.

Sure enough, the Padres rank dead last in Major League Baseball this season, with a -7.80. Essentially that means the Padres have cost themselves nearly eight wins, just with poor performance in close, tight situations.

With more than a month remaining to fail, that would make this year’s San Diego Padres one of the two or three least clutch teams in the past decade. And that’s just where their problems start.

San Diego lost to the woeful St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday afternoon, an unremarkable result between two bad teams. But the way it happened was a microcosm of this year’s group.

Closer Josh Hader, who’d allowed just four runs all season, entered in a 4-3 game, pitching for the third day in a row. After two quick outs, he gave up a double and two-run walk-off homer, to cement a 5-4 loss.

That moved the Padres to 6-22 in one-run games this season. If that .214 winning percentage holds, it’d be the worst over 162 games in baseball history. For a team with one of the best closers in baseball and multiple offensive superstars.

Hard to believe.

Extra Innings Costing San Diego

6-22 is atrocious enough, but at least represents some amount of winning.

In extra innings though, the Padres have yet to win a game all season. Literally.

Tuesday night, another late Cardinals comeback took the game into extras, where, sure enough, they failed to score in the top of the 10th before giving up a run in the bottom of the tenth.

That loss moved the Padres to 0-11 in extra inning games this year. And once again, it’s among the worst marks in baseball history.

Only the 1969 Expos, a team that finished 52-110, started a season 0-12 in extras.

You almost have to try to be this bad.

It defies belief that a team could be this bad in clutch situations, this bad in extras and this bad in close games with a $250 million payroll and a closer with an ERA around 1.

Yet here we are.

The Padres are an unbelievable anomaly. A team with immense talent, underperforming in a combination of ways that’s virtually unprecedented in baseball history.

It’s no comfort for frustrated San Diego fans, but the good news is that it literally can’t get worse. Can it?