MIAMI -- Say this for the Padres: They're keeping things interesting.
And not in the way they want.
Right now, the Padres are the measuring stick in the National League. They currently occupy the final NL Wild Card spot. You want to reach the postseason? They’re the bar you’ve got to clear.
This time of year, that dividing line carries major implications -- as does being the team just above it. The July 31 Trade Deadline looms next week. Teams are deciding whether to buy or sell. This week, the Padres had a chance to dissuade a few would-be contenders by asserting themselves in the NL playoff picture.
Instead, they left the door open for the chasing pack by dropping the final two games of a three-game series against the Marlins -- including a 3-2 loss on Wednesday afternoon at loanDepot Park.
“We’ve got to put ourselves in good position, regardless of what happens at the Deadline,” third baseman Manny Machado said. “We want to make a postseason run. We want to get deep into a postseason. That fact doesn’t change whether we do anything or we don’t. We’ve just got to go out there and play better baseball than we did these last few days.”
Hard to argue with Machado. Whatever moves the Padres make over the next week, their core offensive players need to be better. Machado is suddenly the only regular on the team with an OPS above .800. Given the players -- and the investment -- in this lineup, the San Diego offense should rank higher than 23rd (.688) in OPS (and 27th over the last three months).
Still, this week’s series in Miami laid bare the Padres’ biggest needs. Their offense isn’t nearly as deep as it was last season. There’s very little at the bottom of the order. Miami and San Diego played three low-scoring, one-run games. It’s easy to envision the last two games ending differently if the Padres had another bat or two. But, hey, that’s what the next week is for.
“On the offense side, it’s probably [about] rounding out the depth of the lineup,” general manager A.J. Preller told MLB Network Radio earlier this month. “The top of the lineup should be strong. ... You’ve got to be deep.”
Meanwhile, the San Diego pitching staff has been mostly excellent. But a confounding season for right-hander Dylan Cease continued on Wednesday. His line was solid -- three runs (two earned) over five innings. But Cease again showed glimpses of his dominant self without harnessing it over a full start.
He walked three. He allowed a go-ahead two-run homer to Jesús Sánchez in the fifth. Through 21 starts, Cease has a 4.59 ERA.
“I like where I’ve been at lately, honestly,” Cease said. “Ball’s coming out good. I feel good. I like where I’m at. I’ve just got to execute.”
Cease’s name has come up in trade rumors, largely because he’s in his final year under contract and is making nearly $14 million. Theoretically, the Padres could trade Cease for controllable pieces, while freeing up money to spend elsewhere on the roster.
But, well, that would mean trading Dylan Cease. The rotation has plenty of question marks as currently constructed. Dealing Cease would only add to them. Especially if the Padres were to sell low on a pitcher with an ace-caliber ceiling.
“He’s given us a chance,” manager Mike Shildt said. “The expectations are high for Dylan. But he’s giving us a chance to win games. We look up and, shoot, they scored three runs. One of them was unearned.
“If Dylan can continue to throw the ball, keep us in games, we’ll reward it more than we [have].”
The unearned run came courtesy of Machado’s throwing error, his second in as many games. Afterward, Machado shouldered the blame for a disappointing series.
“It came down to some stupid errors I made that allowed some dumb runs,” he said. “Would’ve been a different story if I played a little better defense. When you’re playing games like this, I think it comes down to defense. ... That’s why we lost. Those stupid errors.”
The accountability is welcome. And Machado isn’t wrong. When you’re playing close, low-scoring games, the little things are exponentially more important.
But his mea culpa glosses over an important fact: The Padres are playing close, low-scoring games far too often. Their offense needs to change that -- whether it’s the hitters on the current roster or any reinforcements who might soon be on the way.