The San Diego Padres are three games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL West lead. When the Padres made their blockbuster moves before the MLB trade deadline, it was to have a squad that could dethrone the reigning World Series champions.
Last postseason, the Padres fell to the Dodgers in five games in the NL Division Series, with the deciding game being in Los Angeles. As a result, San Diego will push for the division to ensure any deciding contest is held at Petco Park. Nonetheless, can the Padres take the division from the Dodgers?
On MLB Network, former big leaguer Xavier Scruggs made the case as to why the Padres can pull off winning the division over the Dodgers and have Los Angeles finish in the Wild Card.
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“I think the one thing I look at is, this is a team that now doesn’t need to depend on starting pitching like the Dodgers do,” Scruggs said. “You mentioned Blake Snell coming back, Clayton Kershaw. We don’t know how healthy they will be. Honestly, if you go down, we still have two more months of the season. I can’t count on starting pitching for the Dodgers to stay healthy. Same thing goes for Tyler Glasnow.
“What we see now, this Dodgers roster, we don’t know that it’ll be the same for them down the stretch going into the postseason. I think that’s where I give the edge to the Padres, because they’ve been able to stay out and now can close the game, make it shorter. This Padres team is a team that I wouldn’t count out to win this division.”
“This Padres team is a team that I wouldn’t count out to win this division.”
What are the Padres’ chances to catch the Dodgers in the NL West standings?@StevePhillipsGM | @Xavier_Scruggs | @JonHeyman pic.twitter.com/UHTo916eyB
— MLB Now (@MLBNow) August 4, 2025
San Diego and Los Angeles have a highly anticipated three-game set coming up at Dodger Stadium between August 15-17. The two NL West rivals will then face off again days later between August 22-24 as these six games will play a major role in who wins the division.
