Padres, Despite Question Marks, in Position for Post All-Star Break Playoff Push

The Padres open up the second half on the road, with the Cleveland Guardians, leaders in the American League Central.

They do so while in the thick of the National League wild-card race, among a clutch of five teams within 1.5 games of two of the three spots.

The Braves, four games ahead, hold a comfortable lead in the race, with in order, the Cardinals, Mets, Diamondbacks, Padres and Pirates giving chase.

To be sure, the latter group hasn’t necessarily impressed – no team is more than four games above .500 and the Padres sit at just 50-49. Nevertheless, they are all in position to contend.

“We’re in a spot where I think we can play into October,” General Manager A.J. Preller told MLB.com.

On the plus side, Manny Machado has been hot. And as for the team’s All Stars, Jackson Merrill, who has been pacing NL rookie position players, Jurickson Profar and Luis Arraez – the team will need them all to perform down the stretch just as they did in the first half.

On the minus side? Pitching. Joe Musgrove could be back in August, but without him and Yu Darvish the team is short on starters. The bullpen, especially over the past month, has been a question mark too.

And though Preller has earned his reputation as a wheeler dealer, the Padres are far from the only team that will be chasing fresh arms ahead of the July 30 trade deadline. Yet this year alone he secured the services of Arraez and Dylan Cease, so the Padres are always a team to watch.

But ahead of the deadline, they resume play, and will the Friars be the hot 10-3 team that headed into July or the one that limped into the All-Star Break after a 2-6 home stand?

First up in Cleveland, where Matt Waldron is set to take the mound, followed by Cease and Michael King. The trip also features stops in Washington and Baltimore, Machado’s old stomping grounds.

Meanwhile, the Padres added new prospects to the fold this week, 22 in all, courtesy of the MLB Draft. They include:

• Kash Mayfield, pitcher, Elk City High in Oklahoma, 25th pick.
• Boston Bateman, pitcher, Adolfo Camarillo High in Camarillo, 52nd pick.
• Cobb Hightower, shortstop, East Rowan High in North Carolina, 88th pick.
• Tyson Neighbors, pitcher, Kansas State, 118th pick.
• Kavares Tears, outfielder, Tennessee, 135th pick.
• Jack Costello, third base, University of San Diego, 300th pick.
• Brendan Durfee, catcher, UC Santa Barbara, 420th pick.