The San Diego Padres are in firm possession of a National League Wild Card spot, sitting five games ahead of the first team on the outside looking in—the Cincinnati Reds.
As the end of the regular season nears, San Diego seems likely to secure a playoff berth for the second consecutive season.
MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell recently fielded questions on Reddit covering all things Padres. Here’s what he had to say about San Diego’s approach to the postseason, including its potential starting rotation.
Breaking down Padres’ playoff questions
The top two starters in San Diego’s playoff rotation seem clear. Nick Pivetta has been the most consistent starter all season for the Padres, boasting a 2.73 ERA over 29 starts. Michael King has been equally as good, but he’s made only 12 starts due to injury.
Still the question remains—will Yu Darvish or Dylan Cease take the third spot in the playoff rotation?
“Definitely Pivetta-King (or King-Pivetta, if we see Ace Michael King down the stretch). Then, I like Cease in Game 3,” Cassavell wrote. “Cease has been far too inconsistent this season—even within his own starts. But one benefit of playoff baseball is that the moment Cease begins to teeter, you can go to your bullpen immediately.”
And the Padres’ bullpen owns the best ERA in the Major Leagues (3.13), thanks to players like Mason Miller, Ranger Suarez and Jason Adam, among others.
Then there’s the question of San Diego’s starting lineup, and one Reddit user asks why manager Mike Shildt has kept Luis Arraez as the No. 2 hitter.
Cassavell admits that Arraez, who’s slashing .282/.317/.385, hasn’t been as effective this season. But he believes Shildt is banking on the 28-year-old lefty to regain his old form.
“I think Shildt has been adamant about Arraez being the version of himself from the 2022-24 seasons, when he was a .371 OBP guy (and nearly .400 against righties),” he writes. “ …But we’re getting to crunch time, and Arraez hasn’t looked like that guy at all this season. We’ll see how the lineup looks come October.”
Cassavell suggests in a separate answer that deadline acquisition Ramon Laureano should bat second, with his .916 OPS against lefties.
But whatever the Padres (79-67) are thinking, all will be revealed soon enough with only 16 games left in the regular season.
