PHOENIX — Two things stand out when you look at the National League West standings. The first is the Arizona Diamondbacks in first place ahead of the perennial division leaders Los Angeles Dodgers. The second is the San Diego Padres sitting in fourth place.
Both teams had different expectations heading into 2023, and both teams are surprising people for different reasons. The Padres, who went on a spending spree and were projected to do well, cannot get a winning streak started. They’ve alternated wins and losses in their past nine games, going 5-4 overall.
Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks are 8-2 in their last 10—the final game of their series against the Washington Nationals was postponed due to bad air quality from the Canadian wildfires, but they won the first two contests.
Javier Reyes of Locked On Padres joined Millard Thomas of Locked On Diamondbacks to discuss the NL West division standings and how the two teams differ.
BE SURE to listen to Locked On Padres and Locked On Diamondbacks wherever you find your podcasts!
Thomas said he was stunned by how the standings currently look because he assumed it would be Padres, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants, and the Colorado Rockies. He added that it is compounded by the fact that he picked Juan Soto to be the National League MVP in the preseason, and so far, the Padres just haven’t gotten anything going.
While Reyes said, “The Dodgers or Diamondbacks leading doesn’t surprise me. It’s the Padres being in fourth that surprises me.” He also said he believed the NL West would mirror the American League East in that there would be four strong teams in the first four slots and the Rockies at the bottom. He wasn’t expecting the Padres to be so inconsistent.
Reyes brought up the Padres’ problem with runners in scoring position and mentioned how bad they are with two outs and how often they strike out as the main reason why the Padres just can’t get anything going. Padres fans are excited about guys like Rougned Odor and Gary Sanchez, who weren’t on the team to start the season because they’re hitting home runs and contributing, while the guys who were signed to big deals are struggling to string together wins.
On the flip side, Thomas brought up how the Diamondbacks have the most comeback wins in Major League Baseball this year, including Tuesday’s game against the Nationals which ended up being a 10-5 victory after starter Tommy Henry gave up a grand slam in the bottom of the first inning to Stone Garrett.
The 2023 season has been an interesting one so far. And it isn’t only the National League West division that’s topsy-turvy. The St. Louis Cardinals are in last place in the National League Central and have the second-worst record in the NL. There’s still plenty of time for the Padres to right the ship and contend in the NL West and it will be interesting to see if the upstart Diamondbacks can hang in there and give the Dodgers some problems down the stretch.
BE SURE to listen to Locked On Padres and Locked On Diamondbacks wherever you find your podcasts!