LOS ANGELES – Ten days ago, after a lopsided win in San Francisco, Joe Musgrove told his teammates that he had never enjoyed playing baseball as much as he had this season. The San Diego Padres were several wins away from securing a chance to repeat their success in 2022. That fall, Musgrove delivered in what was then the most important game of his career. Less than a week later, he shone again as San Diego pulled off one of the biggest upsets in playoff history.

These Padres ended up having a lot of fun. They beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series. They made it to the franchise’s first National League Championship Series in 24 years. They also spent much of the summer tormenting their fan base.

“We had a good run, but I don’t think anyone really knew what made us so good,” Musgrove said Tuesday afternoon. “I think we just hit the ground running at the right time and rode a wave of energy. It was kind of a blackout month. I think everyone just stepped up in a big moment, but there was no big plan or steps we took to get to this point. It just happened.”

“This year we made plans from the beginning about how we would get to this point in the season, how we would behave and what we would do. And it’s going exactly as we hoped.”

The Padres secured their return to the postseason on Tuesday night by hitting a game-winning triple play to beat the Dodgers 4-2, their resurgence after a disastrous 2023 has been building since spring training.

“We believe we are that team,” said left fielder Jurickson Profar. “At the beginning and middle of the season, the results were lacking because maybe we were missing a few hits or a few pitches. And then after the All-Star break, everything came together.”

At halftime, the Padres were just one game above .500, one of many National League teams with vague chances in a murky playoff race. After the break, however, the Padres won 19 of their first 23 games, securing a wild-card spot while their playoff chances soared.

Rookie of the Year candidate Jackson Merrill, midseason traded Luis Arraez and first-time All-Star Profar have given the Padres lineup a new lease of life, while offseason additions Dylan Cease and Michael King have led the rotation. At 33, Robert Suarez has become one of the game’s better closers. The Padres can win the National League West for the first time since 2006 with five more wins in the next five days.

Even as a wildcard they would be dangerous in October.

And they have been eyeing such opportunities for years.

Starting with the signing of Manny Machado as a free agent in 2019, the Padres spent half a decade raising salaries and signing talent. Between 2019 and 2023, the Padres traded for the versatile Jake Cronenworth and starting pitchers Yu Darvish and Musgrove. They signed Korean infielder Ha-Seong Kim, acquired Profar (and kept bringing him back), extended Fernando Tatis Jr.’s contract for $340 million and made a splash with outfielder Juan Soto at the 2022 trade deadline. Last winter, they signed shortstop Xander Bogaerts for 11 years and $280 million.

Despite skyrocketing salaries and expectations, the Padres missed the playoffs in 2019, 2021 and again in 2023 after opening the season among the National League favorites and finishing just two games above .500.

Last winter, the Padres traded Soto to the Yankees in exchange for King and catcher Kyle Higashioka. They brought back Profar (for the third time), signed setup man Yuki Matsui and traded for Cease in spring training. They acquired Arraez in May and bolstered their bullpen at the trade deadline. Machado has returned to form in the second half and has fueled the Padres’ rise.

The Padres still have to sweep Los Angeles and then the Arizona Diamondbacks if they want to knock off the Dodgers and claim the division title. But they are on pace to match their most wins in a quarter century, and this will be their third playoff appearance in five years (after missing the playoffs the previous 13 straight seasons).

The Padres have built this team over the years and have made it back to the playoffs in the last three months.

(Photo of the cheering Padres: Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images)