Why Padres are MLB executives' 'sleeper' pick for deep postseason run

1 month ago 18

The San Diego Padres are competing with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the third and final Wild Card spot in the National League. And yet, there is a lot of belief in this Padres team.

Out of 14 MLB executives and scouts polled by ESPN's Jesse Rogers, half named the Padres as the "sleeper" team coming out of the National League this season.

But why are the Padres the sleeper team this year? According to one AL scout, it's a combination of timely resurgences from key players and a few savvy moves at the trade deadline.

Why Padres are MLB executives' sleeper team

"For me, San Diego is the perfect sleeper team. They're better now than they have been all season, but because they've been fighting for a playoff spot and have no chance at the division, it doesn't feel like people are talking about them," an AL scout told Rogers.

This AL scout continued, "Their last-second grab of Mize and Ray might be [general manager AJ] Preller's best work if they go far. And it just seems like everyone who was slumping in the first half is hot now."

San Diego's chances for the MLB postseason are strong, but there's still a chance that they miss the playoffs. But if they make it there, the Padres could be dangerous.

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Casey Mize, Robbie Ray, and Michael King are a solid starting rotation trio, and with Mason Miller and Adrian Morejon coming out of the bullpen, this Padres pitching staff can do some damage in a postseason series.

Add in that Fernando Tatis Jr. is back to being a superstar who can actually hit home runs, the resurgence of Jackson Merrill, and the emergence of Ty France as a star hitter, and this Padres offense has a chance to do damage as well.

There are reasons to have reservations about this Padres team, but if the right things click, then this Padres team can be a sleeper come the MLB postseason, just as these MLB executives predicted for ESPN.