Déjà vu all over again

The San Diego Padres showed, once again, that they're not on the same level as the Los Angeles Dodgers. It doesn't matter, though. This team needs to beat the other teams on the schedule.

For the second time in about a week, the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers played a very similar series.

In the first game, the Padres gave everything they had to get the victory (this time, a Jake Cronenworth walk-off special) and then expelled that energy in celebration. In the next two games, the Dodgers showed them that they are clearly the better team and there is no doubting it.

It’s fine. I’ve been saying this since the offseason: Stop making the Dodgers the bar to clear. They’re an impossible team to compare to. Not only do they have unlimited resources, but they do everything the right way. They have top-tier hitting talent, a great rotation, a very good bullpen and a stacked farm system.

I understand the desire to want to finish the marathon in 10 minutes as opposed to 10 hours, but the Padres have a long way to go to catch the Dodgers. That’s okay! It’s okay if it takes some time.

Both the Padres and Dodgers were sold to their current ownership in 2012, but Peter Seidler didn’t take a real leadership position in the organization until 2019. That’s when things really started turning around (RIP Ron Fowler’s love of debt reduction). That gives the Dodgers a 7 year head start, and they’re constantly trying to improve as well.

The Padres are roughly where they were before the series against the Dodgers, 1.5 games back of the Phillies for the 2nd Wild Card spot and 2.0 games ahead of the Brewers for the 3rd Wild Card spot. That’s fine. The Padres can still make the playoffs and make some noise without conquering the Dodgers in the regular season.