The Padres put Fernando Tatis Jr. and Luis Campusano on the injured list last week. Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish have been there most of the season, as has Xander Bogaerts. And Manny Machado’s swing has not been right (until of late).
Yet the Padres find themselves surging back into the No. 2 wild-card spot anyway as they began to get some good news on the health front.
Campusano is beginning a rehab assignment this week and Bogaerts might not be far behind him.
Of course, they still do not have a timetable for Tatis’ quad and that could be the most important injury that they’re managing, but weathering an early storm amid devasting circumstance has at least set the team up to continue to contend.
Given all that’s stacked up against them, it’s hard to ask for much more through the first three months of the season.
1 | Baltimore Orioles (53-31, Previous: 3)
An argument for tanking: The Orioles, powered by their kids, on Saturday became the third team to ever total 60 homers in a month.
2 | Philadelphia Phillies (55-29, Previous: 2)
The Phillies had just got Trea Turner back. Now Bryce Harper (hamstring) and Kyle Schwarber (groin) have joined J.T. Realmuto (knee) on the injured list.
3 | Los Angeles Dodgers (52-33, Previous: 5)
The Dodgers’ rotation remains in tatters, Clayton Kershaw’s return from shoulder surgery has been shut down with lingering soreness and Tyler Glasnow on Saturday turned in his shortest outing of the season (3 IP, 5 ER).
4 | Cleveland Guardians (52-30, Previous: 4)
With just 56 games played, Steven Kwan doesn’t have enough at-bats to quality for a batting title, but his .368 batting average over 252 plate appearances is impressive.
5 | New York Yankees (54-32, Previous: 1)
Flip a coin so far on Gerrit Cole’s return to the Yankees rotation: (4 IP, 2 ER), (4 IP, 6 ER) and (5 IP, 1 ER).
6 | Milwaukee Brewers (50-34, Previous: 6)
Bryce Turang’s grand slam on Sunday was the Brewers’ fifth in their last eight games. The only other team to do that? The 2020 Slam Diego Padres.
7 | Atlanta Braves (46-36, Previous: 9)
Marcell Ozuna, with 21 homers and a .951 OPS, is doing all he can to replace Ronald Acuña Jr.
8 | Kansas City Royals (47-39, Previous: 8)
Seth Lugo leads the majors with 11 wins … just like we all knew he would.
9 | Minnesota Twins (47-37, Previous: 10)
The Twins have homered in a franchise record 19 straight games and they have 30 homers in that stretch, more than everyone but the Orioles, Yankees and Padres.
10 | San Diego Padres (46-42, Previous: 13)
Manny Machado homered twice on Saturday, pulling into a tie for fifth on the team with Ha-Seong Kim with 10. Jurickson Profar has one more homer than Machado. Jake Cronenworth and rookie Jackson Merrill have two more. The injured Fernando Tatis Jr. has four more. Maybe a Machado heater puts things back in order.
The rest
11. Seattle Mariners (47-39, Previous: 7), 12. Boston Red Sox (44-39, Previous: 11), 13. Houston Astros (42-41, Previous: 24), 14. St. Louis Cardinals (43-30, Previous: 17), 15. New York Mets (40-41, Previous: 23), 16. Cincinnati Reds (39-45, Previous: 12), 17. Washington Nationals (39-44, Previous: 15), 18. Arizona Diamondbacks (41-43, Previous: 16), 19. San Francisco Giants (41-44, Previous: 21), 20. Chicago Cubs (39-46, Previous: 19), 21. Pittsburgh Pirates (40-43, Previous: 22), 22. Tampa Bay Rays (42-42, Previous: 25), 23. Texas Rangers (38-46, Previous: 20), 24. Toronto Blue Jays (38-45, Previous: 18), 25. Detroit Tigers (38-46, Previous: 14), 26. Los Angeles Angels (36-47, Previous: 26), 27. Oakland Athletics (30-56, Previous: 27), 28. Miami Marlins (30-54, Previous: 29), 29. Colorado Rockies (28-55, Previous: 28), 30. Chicago White Sox (24-62, Previous: 30).