All in all, the San Diego Padres are trending in the right direction right now. The Padres are three games over .500 after winning seven of their last ten games (we’ll discuss a few of those games in a moment) and currently hold the second NL wild card spot.
While the trades for Dylan Cease and Luis Arraez have played a big role in the Padres’ recent success, fans must remember that this isn’t even San Diego at its best right now. Several key players are either on the Padres’ injured list or, in the case of Manny Machado, are still working to get back into shape.
With that in mind, here’s a look at the more recent news on the Padres, including a promising update on one of the cornerstones of their roster.
Xander Bogaerts’ time with the Padres has been a rollercoaster since signing the nine-figure contract. Unfortunately, a large portion of his 2024 season is lost after Bogaerts fractured his shoulder on a fluke play in late May. Given the strange nature of this highly unusual baseball injury, there was no accurate idea how long he might be out.
San Diego received some good news this week, however, as it was revealed that Bogaerts took batting practice, which is a big help in getting a feel for how his shoulder is doing right now. The team has not yet announced how aggressively it will increase its baseball activity, which is probably wise as it waits to see how his shoulder responds to hits. Still, it doesn’t seem like Bogaerts is that far away from a rehab stint, assuming he doesn’t have any setbacks. And who has seen, The coming in May?
As mentioned, a big part of the Padres’ recent success was a fantastic series against Washington. After Kyle Higashioka hit two home runs, San Diego swept the Nats for a comfortable win, which made for a nice change of pace.
It certainly didn’t hurt that the Padres managed to sweep a Washington team that had been on their minds throughout the series (and is competing with the Padres for a wild card spot).
After Jurickson Profar ejected them in Game 1, the Nationals were angry at the celebration and escalated by confronting Profar and clearing the benches. All the Nationals’ whining has done them no good, and now the Padres have to face the Red Sox. Washington will now, in a gesture that is half panicked and half calculated, promote former Padres top prospect James Wood to stop the bleeding.
Finally, the first phase of voting for the 2024 All-Star Game is officially over and the Padres did very well as four Padres players have made it as finalists to play in the 2024 All-Star Game. Luis Arraez, Manny Machado, Jurickson Profar and Fernando Tatis Jr. all made it to the final ballot.
There are a lot of really good players and big markets in the final round of voting, and Padres fans will need to be diligent in voting, especially since only one vote can be cast per day now. If you want to vote for your favorite Padres or just want an overview of how All-Star voting works, our sister site on the Astros has all the information you need.
