With New Manager Bob Melvin, San Diego Padres Put 2021 Collapse Behind

The San Diego Padres had a nightmarish end to the 2021 season.

The Padres held a one-game lead for the second National League wild card on Sept. 9. Yet they wound being eliminated from contention with a full week still remaining in the season.

For the 10^th full season in a row — not including the pandemic-shortened 2020 season — the Padres finished under .500 with a 79-83 record.

However, the Padres have put last season in the past. They are off to 15-8 start and seemingly ready to challenge the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants for supremacy in the top-heavy National League West.

“We’ve kind of buried that,” Padres All-Star second baseman Jake Cronenworth said of 2021. “Last year was last year. It didn’t end the way we wanted to and that was disappointing. But we’ve moved on and it’s like Bob says, we just need to thing about winning that day’s game.”

Cronenworth is referring to first-year manager Bob Melvin, who replaced the fired Jayce Tingler in the offseason. Melvin is in his 19^th season as a major league manager, including stints with the Seattle Mariners (2003-04), Arizona Diamondbacks (2005-09) and Oakland Athletics (2011-2021).

Melvin is a three-time Manager of the Year. He also kept the low-budget Athletics competitive for more than a decade as Oakland reached the postseason six times during his 11-year tenure.

As a show of respect, the Athletics let Melvin out of the last guaranteed year of his contract in 2022 when the Padres showed interest. Oakland has started a rebuild this season, trading away sluggers Matt Olson and Matt Chapman in March right after the lockout ended along with left-hander Sean Manaea.

While the Padres are also considered a small-market franchise, Melvin feels like he is in a different world in San Diego.

“When you’re in one place for a long period of time, you can pretty much close your eyes and know how things are going to work on a day-to-day basis,” Melvin said. “And then you come into an organization that does things a little bit differently, you don’t know the players, you’re going from the American League to the National League, it can all be a little daunting.

“But it’s been invigorating, a nice change with a really good team and a really good organization. I read somewhere (recently) that Petco Park is the best ballpark in the big leagues and that has come as advertised. It’s a beautiful ballpark, and with the fans, it feels like a playoff atmosphere every night. So, it’s been an exciting change.”

The Padres have an average attendance of 38,310 through their first 10 home games this season. By comparison, the Athletics drew just 2,488 fans Monday night for their game against the Tampa Bay Rays at RingCentral
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Perhaps the most impressive part of the Padres’ fast start is the number of key players who are on the injured list and have yet to play in a major league game this season.

Shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. reported to spring training with a fractured left wrist, reportedly sustained during an offseason motorcycle accident. Teams were not allowed to communicate with players during the lockout, so the Padres were unaware they would be without their 23-year-old star for a significant amount time until the work stoppage ended March 10.

Tatis was signed to a 14-year, $340-million contract last year.

Left-hander Blake Snell (left groin strain) and right-hander Mike Clevinger (Tommy John surgery/right knee sprain) are also on the IL.

Clevinger is expected to be activated Wednesday to start the first game of a doubleheader against the Guardians in Cleveland. It will be his first major league appearance since leaving Game 1 in a 2020 National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Snell, who was the 2018 American League Cy Young Award winner with the Tampa Bay Rays, is expected to follow Clevinger off the IL soon.

Hometown product Joe Musgrove has stepped up to help fill those rotation holes by going 4-0 with a 1.97 ERA in his first five starts. Musgrove is a free agent at the end of the season and he and the Padres are trying to negotiate a long-term contract extension.

Taylor Rogers has nine saves in 10 opportunities after being picked up from the Minnesota Twins in a trade on opening day.

The Padres also have the NL’s top two hitters in first baseman Eric Hosmer (.382) and third baseman Manny Machado (.375). Ironically, the Padres spent most of spring training trying to trade Hosmer after they acquired first baseman Luke Voit, now on the IL with strained right biceps, in a trade with the New York Yankees.

Hosmer and Machado are giving the Padres plenty of return on investment so far in 2022. Hosmer has a $21-million salary in the fifth season an eight-year, $144-million contract while Machado’s salary is $32 million during the fourth season of his 10-year $300-million deal.

Orchestrating it all is Melvin, the veteran manager who feels like a kid again at 60.

“When you have a $200 million payroll, you would think that’s exactly the case,” Melvin said of his team looking like a contender in so far this season. “You get the type of support from ownership that gives you a chance to win and gives you a payroll where you can go out and pay some guys, which we’re doing right now. I absolutely think that’s where we are right now.”