Padres outfielder Wil Myers respects the Dodgers organization but expects the Padres to have more success against L.A. once the team has a chance to gel.
The National League West was supposed to be a hard-fought battle between three very good teams this season. The Giants were coming off a 107-win season, and while the Padres collapsed at the end of last season, they still had a very talented roster that looked poised to compete.
View the original article to see embedded media.
That three-team battle hasn’t quite materialized. The Dodgers pulled off back-to-back four-game sweeps of the Giants over the past few weeks, and they just swept a three-game series with the Padres shortly after the Padres rebuilt their team at the trade deadline with the additions of Juan Soto and Josh Bell, among others.
The Padres, though, remain hopeful they will turn things around. Outfielder Wil Myers acknowledged the quality teams the Dodgers consistently put together, but he thinks the Padres have what it takes to turn things around.
“They’ve been a great team for the eight years I have played here, and it’s no different. They do a great job. It’s a great organization over there that does a good job of putting a team on the field. At some point I think when we get going and get this team together a little more, we’ll turn around some wins.”
Time is running out for the Padres to get things turned around. After being swept out of Los Angeles, San Diego trails the Dodgers by 15.5 games in the division. Perhaps more consequentially, the Padres are only 1.5 games ahead of the Brewers for the third and final Wild Card spot, which puts even a plan of “get hot in October” potentially in peril.
The Dodgers and Padres face off nine more times between now and the end of the season.
The Dodgers would have to have a 2021 Padres level collapse to even make the NL West close this year. The Padres have time, but it is running out.