SAN FRANCISCO — Mike Shildt caused a bit of a stir Saturday when San Diego Padres manager Jackson Merrill started fifth in the lineup for just the third time this season. Merrill may be the team’s most valuable player this season, but despite some fans clamoring for him to move up in the order, the 21-year-old rookie hadn’t played the position since back-to-back games in late June.
At the time, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Xander Bogaerts were on the injured list. Another veteran, Jurickson Profar, was battling the niggling effects of patellar tendinitis.
Now that all three players are active, the time seemed right for a small but noticeable change.
“He’s done great,” Shildt said of Merrill before the club’s 149th game of the year. “He’s been sixth for a long time. He just moved up a spot. Lately he’s been seventh, but it seems like a good spot for him in the fifth inning. The good news is our first eight guys have all been in the top four at times. It’s a long lineup; we’ve got (Donovan) Solano at eighth, so that tells you all you need to know.”
On Saturday night, the Padres backed up that statement with a second straight clean sheet, 8-0, over the San Francisco Giants. Solano had three doubles and four total hits, setting two career highs, and Merrill had two doubles for the second straight game. The offense totaled seven doubles and 17 hits, a season high, backing up another strong performance from the pitchers. Like teammate Dylan Cease the night before, Joe Musgrove threw six scoreless innings before giving way to a shutdown bullpen.
Jackson Merrill leads all rookies with 85 RBI! pic.twitter.com/1cYGVskbt3
— MLB (@MLB) 15 September 2024
After a 6-7 series that put the pressure on a competitive club, two games of relative symmetry reinforced a certain notion. The Padres are not just a wild-card contender; with 13 regular-season dates remaining, a National League West title remains within reach.
The division-leading but injury-plagued Los Angeles Dodgers opened the weekend by announcing that their Opening Day starter Tyler Glasnow would likely be out for the rest of the season, then lost in a big way to the Atlanta Braves. That result, combined with a dominant performance at Oracle Park, allowed the Padres (84-65) to move to within 3 1/2 games of the Dodgers (and slightly extend their lead in a thrilling wild-card race).
“We’re on their heels right now,” Musgrove said. “Physically, they’re not where they want to be, but that’s the way it is. I mean, we lost a lot of guys over the course of the season and we managed to stay afloat and maintain our position.”
“We’re playing really good baseball right now. We’re very confident. The approach is right on both sides of the baseball. So I think we’re in a really good position to put pressure on here.”
San Diego still has a few head-to-head matches to narrow the gap with Los Angeles. The Padres, who already won the season series between the two teams, will play a three-game series at Dodger Stadium from September 24-26.
Of course, the Padres also have injury concerns. Most notably, shortstop Ha-Seong Kim (right shoulder inflammation) has not thrown at full intensity in the infield for four weeks. After being unable to take the next step last week, he is now back in action as a catcher, but it is becoming increasingly questionable whether he will be removed from the injured list before October.
“Of course the days pass, so we are optimistic, but not blind optimists,” said Shildt.
But the Padres’ depth has come in handy here too. Bogaerts agreed to move from second base to shortstop on Tuesday and has remained there ever since. That, in turn, has given Solano more playing time, and the 36-year-old has multiple hits in three starts this week. While Solano was sprinkling hits all over the field on Saturday, Bogaerts played another solid game at shortstop, contributing a solo hit.
Bogey Bomb by The Bay 💣 pic.twitter.com/T1EirMbHoa
– San Diego Padres (@Padres) 15 September 2024
After a resounding victory, two clubhouse managers agreed that this was the best team they had ever played on.
“Most of the time I’ve been on teams where guys aren’t playing at all just because the (starters) are playing every day,” said third baseman Manny Machado, who hit 2-for-5 with two RBIs. “Especially after the DH stuff in the National League, I think it helped. … Solano came in today; four hits. (David) Peralta has been one of our best hitters all of August. So if we keep those guys playing, keep them fresh, keep giving them at-bats, keep them switching back and forth, it gives the team that energy, especially the team we have.”
“I just told the guys I’ve had the most fun playing baseball I’ve ever had,” said Musgrove, who had eight strikeouts, allowed three hits and no walks. “And it’s not just the win that’s fun. It’s the confidence I have when I go out there and step on the mound. It’s not about me getting the win, it’s about keeping us in a position to win … guys willing to sacrifice a hit or do a job that might be beyond what they hoped for in a certain scenario. We’re really meeting the demands of the game very well right now, and I think everyone is really starting to embrace that and see that when we play this style of baseball, the results follow.”
That style, combined with the Padres’ performance, has given them a chance to reach what once seemed like a distant goal. A division championship this month would be their first since 2006.
“I don’t think it changes the way we play much,” Musgrove said. “I think we still go in with the intention of winning every game and doing what the game tells us to do and just seeing how things go.”
(Photo by Manny Machado: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
