Are the Padres cursed?

The Padres have lost 5 straight games and their offense seems stuck in neutral after trading for Juan Soto, Josh Bell and Brandon Drury. What the hell?

No, of course the San Diego Padres aren’t cursed. But they certainly seem cursed.

A month or two ago, on an episode of Padres Hot Tub, I said that I didn’t remember a player being acquired at the deadline that played well for the Padres afterwards. Especially offensive players. It almost doesn’t matter how good of a season they’re having, they’re going to come to San Diego and their offense is going to die. All of this is an over-exaggeration, of course.

I said that I would trust Juan Soto, and maybe only Juan Soto, to not face an offensive drop-off if the Padres traded for him.

Now, hilariously, that’s exactly what is happening. Juan Soto is slashing .300/.440/.450 since joining the team. Everyone else in the lineup absolutely stinks. Neither Josh Bell nor Brandon Drury are hitting over .167.

The last time the Padres scored a run was in the 4th inning….of Saturday’s game. It’s now Tuesday.

The last time the Padres won a game was Wednesday, the day after they traded for Soto and Bell and Drury. It’s now Tuesday!

Luckily, trades are not evaluated in the first week after they happen, or this would be a total disaster for A.J. Preller. As it stands, what is going on with the Padres is a slump. And the team pressing to try and get out of the slump and immediately live up to large expectations. These things happen, these players didn’t actually become less talented when they put on a Padres uniform, and everything should be fine. In time.

The only question now is how quickly they can find their footing. They’re still 61-51 with a lot of easy matchups in the next month. Going 30-20 over the rest of the way would get them over 90 wins and clearly in the playoffs. They definitely have the talent to pull it off. Can they figure out the rest before it’s too late?