As the Padres wait to pop the champagne just a stone’s throw from the playoffs, an unmistakable reality is emerging that goes beyond the division and the National League.

Nobody wants to play against this team in the playoffs.

They’re a mess, from the rotation to the bullpen, from the offense to the bench. No baseball team has been more successful since the All-Star break.

Favorite appointments on the calendar include a colonoscopy or an IRS audit.

They win close games, like Sunday’s 4-2 comeback against the struggling White Sox at Petco Park. They win when they’re down. They win on the road. They win when Aquarius lines up with the Harvest Moon.

San Diego has found a deep balance, a team that can do everything a baseball game requires.

Before Sunday’s home finale, the Padres’ starting pitcher had a 3.32 ERA since the break – the fourth-best in the game. The offense had scored 5.13 runs per game during that span, better than all but three other teams.

They are 10-2 in extra innings. Their 45-30 road record is second only to the Yankees.

Despite trailing in the eighth inning against the White Sox, who already had a 10-56 record this season, they used a lot of skill and strength to score three runs and their 90th win of an outstanding season.

“It was fitting,” said Padres manager Mike Shildt. “Grit Squad showed up again.”

These Padres are everything the 2023 version – despite stars like Juan Soto, Blake Snell, Josh Hader and the salary expectations that come with them – couldn’t be.

They wiped over $90 million off the books, watched a generational player become one of the biggest stars in the Big Apple, and saw three-fifths of the rotation eliminated.

Then they built a better mousetrap anyway.

“We’re never out. We’re never out,” said Fernando Tatis Jr., whose 389-foot rocket to left capped the eighth-inning uprising. “… We’ve shown it all year. What we’ve done here is really special.”

“We have the talent to make it to the end, but now it’s time to take care of business day by day.”

The Padres found an All-Star in left fielder Jurickson Profar from the free agent scrap heap. They put a 20-year-old in center field in Jackson Merrill and watched him develop into the most dynamic rookie in the National League.

In the Soto trade, they traded away key pitchers with Michael King, who was questionable in the innings. They made ice-cold moves, acquiring batting champion Luis Arraez and starter Dylan Cease early, as well as bullpen anchors Tanner Scott and Jason Adam at the deadline.

They have built a stable bench with current regular players Donovan Solano and David Peralta.

And for all these reasons they are a real pain for all opponents.

“We have everything,” said Donovan Solano, whose double to left kicked off Sunday’s big inning. “We have guys who can hit, starting pitchers, bullpen guys. We’re well positioned for the playoffs.”

Where are the gaps? Aside from the current and real questions about All-Star closer Robert Suarez, everything needs to be examined closely. The new additions Scott and Adam offer options on that front anyway.

And so many arrows are pointing upward. Rosy rotation returnees Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish are buoyed by Cease looking like Cease.

Adding King, which team has more cap space? Martin Perez has become a delicious luxury, suddenly reinforcing the bullpen where Jeremiah Estrada is already waiting.

Manny Machado’s recovery from offseason surgery appears complete as he has regained his strength to where it was before, and the addition of Tatis, who is healthier by the day, has allowed the lineup to be extended from Petco Park to Poway.

But that doesn’t mean the Padres can’t lose in the opening series of the playoffs. After all, this is baseball. If you get too confident, you risk that.

These Padres, however, feel as complete as ever, and that should give those facing them, in seasons where everything is on the line, some idea of ​​what seems possible.

“It’s a complete squad,” Shildt said. “… We’ve been able to show a lot of different ways to win games.”

It won’t simply be a matter of beating a starter or a few hitters, as has been the case too often in the past. There’s plenty of poison to choose from.

This is a job that requires you to roll up your sleeves.

Starting pitcher? Darvish finished with nine strikeouts and no walks with just three hits, two of them solo home runs, in 6 1/3 innings.

The bullpen? The baton-handling unit of Adrián Morejón, Estrada and Suarez did not allow a run after recording six strikeouts and no walks.

The bench? Luis Arraez took out his bat and hit a double in the eighth inning to tie the game. Fast pinchrunners Tyler Wade and Brandon Lockridge both scored.

“We are confident,” Solano said. “We are ready to compete. We are prepared for any situation. No matter what the outcome, we believe we can do it and we will.”

The champagne is coming.

How much? It might be wise for the Padres to buy in bulk.

Originally published: September 22, 2024 at 5:17 pm