The Padres’ postseason odds, as calculated by Fangraphs, had slipped below 10% before the season’s best offensive showing salvaged a win in Kansas City.
Jackson Merrill homered twice. So did Ty France. Fernando Tatis Jr. homered in consecutive days.
It’s a start and it’s about time, but is it too late?
The Padres are still looking for Manny Machado to get his first hit of the second half and the test ahead — at the Braves and at the Marlins, both ahead of the Padres in the NL landscape — is quite a bit more difficult, especially with the trade deadline looming.
The Padres are 1-2 to start the second half, are 2½ games out of wild-card spot, have five teams to overtake to get back into playoff position and have just 13 games to convince baseball ops chief A.J. Preller to invest further into this 2026 season.
The top-10 …
1 | Los Angeles Dodgers (63-37; Last week: 1)
2 | Milwaukee Brewers (62-37; LW: 2)
3 | Atlanta Braves (57-41; LW: 3)
4 | Chicago Cubs (56-43; LW: 5)
5 | New York Yankees (55-44; LW: 6)
6 | Tampa Bay Rays (56-42; LW: 4)
7 | Chicago White Sox (52-46; LW: 10)
8 | Pittsburgh Pirates (52-48; LW: 11)
9 | Philadelphia Phillies (55-45; LW: 7)
10 | Boston Red Sox (50-48; LW: 22)
… and the rest
11 | Miami Marlins (52-48; LW: 8)
12 | St. Louis Cardinals (51-47; LW: 9)
13 | Cleveland Guardians (52-48; LW: 14)
14 | Arizona Diamondbacks (51-48; LW: 16)
15 | Washington Nationals (50-50; LW: 13)
16 | Seattle Mariners (50-50; LW: 12)
17 | Texas Rangers (50-49; LW: 15)
18 | Baltimore Orioles (49-51; LW: 21)
19 | SAN DIEGO PADRES (49-50; LW: 18)
20 | Minnesota Twins (49-51; LW: 17)
21 | Detroit Tigers (46-53; LW: 23)
22 | Toronto Blue Jays (46-53; LW: 20)
23 | Houston Astros (47-54; LW: 19)
24 | Cincinnati Reds (45-53; LW: 24)
25 | San Francisco Giants (42-57; LW: 26)
26 | New York Mets (42-58; LW: 27)
27 | Sacramento Athletics (42-57; LW: 25)
28 | Kansas City Royals (40-60; LW: 30)
29 | Los Angeles Angels (39-61; LW: 28)
30 | Colorado Rockies (40-61; LW: 29)