It was great to see the Mariners finally play up to their potential for an entire weekend. That it came at the expense of the Astros makes it all the more sweet. Between the odd fourth game against Houston on Monday, the quick three-game road trip to San Diego in the middle of this week, and a quick second series against the Rangers back at home this weekend, I\u2019m not sure what the MLB schedule makers were thinking with this week.<\/p>\n
The Mariners won the inaugural \u201cofficial\u201d version of the Vedder Cup last year, taking five of six games against the Padres. The last time San Diego won this regional rivalry was back in 2021.<\/p>\n
The Padres have been one of the most entertaining teams over the last few years. They\u2019ve got tons of superstar talent on the big league roster and haven\u2019t been afraid to make aggressive moves to stay competitive. Years of those win-now moves have depleted the depth in San Diego\u2019s organization, which makes this roster pretty top heavy and potentially very fragile. When everyone is healthy and things are working as they should be, this team is as good as any other in the National League.<\/p>\n
While the Padres\u2019 pitching staff isn\u2019t currently at full strength, the lineup is firing on all cylinders. Built around a quartet of stars, the offense mirrors the construction of the entire roster: extremely top heavy. Fernando Tatis Jr. hasn\u2019t been able to replicate the MVP-type production from earlier in his career before his motorcycle accident in 2021, but he\u2019s still been one of the best players in baseball over the last three years. Manny Machado is the iron man of the group; he\u2019s played in less than 150 games in a season just three times in his 12-year career and one of those times was his rookie year when he was called up midseason. He\u2019s been one of the most consistent producers in baseball as well, the metronome in the heart of the Padres lineup. I\u2019m not sure Xander Bogaerts will ever get back to the level of production he enjoyed in Boston, but he plays excellent defense at a premium position. The star with the biggest question marks is Jackson Merrill; he took a step back last year after a fantastic debut in 2024, though he\u2019s still only 23 years old and still has an extremely high ceiling.<\/p>\n
Michael King looked like an ace in his one lone full season in the starting rotation back in 2024. He had made the switch from the bullpen during the year prior, but his follow up campaign after his breakout was filled with injuries. He missed about two and half months of the season last year with a shoulder injury and another two weeks in August with knee inflammation. He never really looked settled last year and his ERA and FIP really suffered. He\u2019s got a couple of solid pitch pairs to attack batters on both sides of the plate; four-seam-changeup against left-handers and sinker-sweeper against right-handers. With his low-slot delivery, he gets a ton of horizontal movement on his secondary pitches, while still staying pretty vertical with his fastballs.<\/p>\n