October is a magical time for Major League Baseball. Every postseason team has a legitimate shot to win a World Series title. Whether you are the prohibitive favorite or the longest of long shots, the stakes remain the same.
It is still hard to imagine the San Diego Padres hosting a Wild Card Series at Petco Park, especially after Las Vegas sportsbooks gave them a seven percent chance of playing in October. But this year’s postseason feels different from past playoff appearances.
A tale of two halves
Is the 2026 roster
better than past playoff teams? Tough to answer, but this group has risen off the mat to become a club no one wants to meet in the postseason.
Before the pomp and circumstance associated with Opening Day began, the Padres had to subtract two important pieces from the starting rotation: Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove. Finding suitable replacements became an agonizing, summer-long task.
A.J. Preller, Friars President of Baseball Operations and General Manager, deserves praise for bolstering the starting rotation. All the talk before the trade deadline was the Padres acquiring a starting pitcher. The addition of Robbie Ray and Casey Mize immediately raised postseason expectations to a season high.
The Friars struggled badly in the first half, saddled with one of baseball’s worst offenses. Each game felt like a continuation of the run-scoring troubles that plagued them a season ago. The club limped into the All-Star break with a 48-49 record.
No one expected much from the Padres in the second half, but the lineup flipped the script and led the team to a shocking 39-12 run.
Veteran leadership key to turnaround
What changed?
It is impossible to predict a locker room’s reaction to player moves made at the trade deadline. The additions confirmed Preller’s belief in the roster holdovers. They began to believe in themselves and gained the confidence to climb back in the Wild Card chase.
And 17 wins in their final 20 games put an exclamation point on the Padres’ remarkable regular season. They finished at 91-71, clinched the four-seed, and continue to play in front of the Friar Faithful.
The club’s veterans were the foundation for the dramatic second-half turnaround. Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, and Ty France have become a sounding board for the younger players. Team manager Craig Stammen fully trusts his veterans, as they kept the team afloat during the first-half struggles.
Adding Dustin Harris to the lineup has added another dimension to the offense. The youngster has fit comfortably in the No. 2 spot in the batting order. He finished the regular season hitting .322 in 28 games with San Diego.
Often, Harris starts an inning by getting on base. His base-running skills allow him to take an extra base before coming home on a hit by the heart of the order. He also plays a solid left field, showing good range on balls hit to the gap.
Harris has stabilized the left-field platoon, despite San Diego being his third major league stop this season.
Yes, the 2026 Friars are a different team. The front office tinkered with the roster; the team took off and never looked back.
Let’s see what happens.
