SAN DIEGO — The Padres didn’t have an All-Star player in 2023, which is weird, they’ll tell you, because they feel Ha-Seong Kim deserves a lot more.
And maybe it was. (Interesting argument.) But the real reason it’s weird? The Padres employ Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, and Jake Cronworth on their turf. All three were All-Stars in both 2021 and ’22. After that, all three were paid well before the ’23 season.
The first half of the ’23 season was, of course, quite underwhelming in San Diego. And regardless of their 8-5 victory over the Angels on Tuesday afternoon, the Padres will have an All-Star break under .500. Meanwhile, each of these three centenarians posted numbers well below their career averages.
It’s not perfect. But at the very least, it makes the Padres’ path to a second-half turnaround crystal clear. If this trio can mash-up like their track records indicate they can do-the Padres might be able to get on to something.
It certainly made it possible on a sunny Fourth of July afternoon in packed Petco Park, as the Padres edged out Shuhei Ohtani for their second straight win while trying to put last week’s dreadful road trip behind them.
Cronworth became the first player to hit three extra base hits off Ohtani in a major league game, doubled in each of his first two games, before hitting running back with the Bogaerts home run in the sixth. As for Bogaerts, he has marked his second home run in most games, and he finished the game 2-for-3 with a walk. Neither of these two has reached base as many times as Machado, who went 3-for-3 on a walk.
This was a huge support for the dominant Joe Musgrove, who hit 11 in seven innings from one ball.
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