The San Diego Padres have built a roster capable of being dangerous in the playoffs.
They’re now on the verge of getting a chance to prove that, with only a couple things still needing to happen to ensure the Padres clinch a playoff berth.
The last week of the MLB regular season begins for most teams on Tuesday, and the Padres will be in action with six games remaining to try and finish the job.
The baseball playoffs are a lot different than the regular season. Short series mean that almost anything can happen.
So even though the Padres didn’t win the NL West Division — the Los Angeles Dodgers already clinched that — they could still be dangerous if they get on a roll at the right time.
First thing’s first: Clinching a playoff spot. The Padres are almost there.
What’s Padres Magic Number?
The San Diego Padres enter the final week of the regular season with a magic number of just 2 to clinch a playoff spot.
That’s in relation to the Arizona Diamondbacks. So any combination of two wins by the Padres and two losses by the Diamondbacks ensures that San Diego will be going to the postseason.
The Diamondbacks are trying to chase down an NL Wild Card spot, and technically they could also catch up to another team, but the Padres have been the closest in range for most of September.
San Diego has played well enough to likely hold off Arizona. It’d be a really tough break for the Padres to not get in at this point.
There is a scheduling challenge, though.
Padres Schedule
The Padres’ final week of the regular season begins with a three-game series against the high-powered Dodgers.
While San Diego obviously has everything to play for, it certainly wouldn’t be unheard of for them to get swept by the Dodgers. That would potentially leave the door open for Arizona.
And fittingly, the Diamondbacks play the Padres in three games to end the regular season. Arizona will have to win to open this week in a three-game series at Coors Field against the lowly Colorado Rockies, but if they do that, and if the Padres can’t handle the Dodgers, then it sets up a grandstand finish on the weekend.
If the Diamondbacks are still alive at all entering Friday night’s opening game of the three-game series against the Padres, the drama will be quite rich.
Given the added pressure that could come from a potentially looming collapse, it’d certainly feel more comfortable for the Padres to play well against the Dodgers and clinch a playoff spot before even having to worry about the series against the Diamondbacks.
Padres’ Magic Number to Make Playoffs Depends on Diamondbacks