The Padres have lost shortstop Fernando Tatis, Jr. for the rest of the season and into May of next year. He's been suspended 80 games for a violation of the league's joint drug agreement.
Of course, the Padres haven't had Tatis all season, so did they actually lose him?
If it sounds like I'm about to go on a path of optimism in looking at the prospects for the Padres moving forward during Tatis' suspension, that's because it's exactly what I'm going to do. Look, I grew up a Cubs fan. I've had to be an eternal optimist for the entirety of my sports fandom in order to maintain sanity. It comes in handy at times like these, so I'll channel that energy here for the sake of Padres fans -- really, for any baseball fans who wanted to see new blood late in the playoffs in the form of these Padres.
But mostly those Padres fans who are reeling right now. Let's get to it.
Padres haven't had Tatis anyway
As noted, the Padres have gotten zero games from Tatis this season, so it's not like they lost a lineup fixture who has been doing heavy lifting for the team all season. That's what Manny Machado has been doing, and he's fully capable of continuing to have a huge season. He's a 29-year-old seasoned veteran. He won't run out of gas.
The Padres as a whole have been in playoff position basically all season. They started 14-7 and have been under .500 just one day this season -- when they started 0-1.
A big part of the Padres' success this season has been the rotation. It's been one of the better rotations in baseball this season, and with Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Mike Clevinger and Sean Manaea, it figures to remain strong into the playoffs. The Tatis injury doesn't affect that.
What needed a boost was the offense.
Trade deadline additions
Let's just take Tatis out of the equation entirely for 2022. Let's say he was out for the season from the get-go and we never even thought about his return. We'd be talking about a team that was 60-46 through Aug. 2. The starting pitching was in great shape. The bullpen was good as well and added elite potential in Josh Hader in front of the deadline.
The offense needed a boost. Machado is the star while Jake Cronenworth and Jurickson Profar were having quality offensive seasons, but they needed more.
Josh Bell was hitting .301/.384/.493 (152 OPS+) with 24 doubles, three triples, 14 homers, 57 RBI and 52 runs in 103 games, and the Padres added him. Brandon Drury was hitting .274/.335/.520 (126 OPS+) with 22 doubles, two triples, 22 homers, 59 RBI and 62 runs in 92 games, and the Padres also added him.
And, of course, they added one of the best and most polished hitters in baseball: Juan Soto.
So, we're talking about a team that was 14 games over .500 adding a top-shelf closer, two very good offensive players and a generational talent.
It sure seems like there's a chance they'll be OK, right?
Division title was unattainable
One area they won't be OK is in the race for the NL West. That's over. After being swept by the Dodgers this past weekend, the Padres were facing a 16-game deficit in the division heading into Friday. They were never, ever going to make that many games up in this short period of time. Even if Tatis came back 100 percent healthy and played exponentially better than he ever has, they'd still fall short in the division.
Follow the Braves' path?
In terms of sheer talent level, age and potential moving forward, Ronald Acuña, Jr. is a fair comparison for Tatis. He finished second in MVP voting at age 21 while Tatis finished third at age 22. Acuña might have been en route to an MVP last season, too, but he tore his ACL on July 10.
The Braves were able to rally without him for a World Series championship. This was a team that only won 88 regular-season games, making them the playoff team with the worst record. They beat a 95-win Brewers team in the NLDS, a 106-win Dodgers team in the NLCS and then a 95-win Astros team in the World Series.
No two teams ever have the same circumstances. We all know this. The 2021 Braves doesn't mean the 2022 Padres are going to win the World Series. No one truly believes that. It doesn't hurt for the team to look at a situation and believe they can pull off something similar, though. Plus, as we established here at the top, the Padres didn't technically lose Tatis this season, as he never played a game. They also had a better record through July than those Braves did. The Braves didn't add a player the caliber of Soto at the trade deadline.
Hell, if anything, these Padres are better suited for a deep run than those Braves were.
This has been your optimistic spin on the Padres' current situation, vis a vis the Tatis suspension.
Did it work, San Diego?
