San Diego Padres: The Best Therapy this Spring will be Padres Baseball

2017 is off to a rough start for San Diego sports. But even though the San Diego Padres have low expectations, baseball will help fans cope this spring.

From the departure of the city’s beloved football organization to the snubbing of legendary closer Trevor Hoffman from the Hall of Fame, San Diego fans have taken a beating this month. And with the long term impact of the Chargers leaving, turning fans’ fortunes around will be a lengthy process.

Now, as the reality of a city with just one professional team sets in, there is only one silver lining. Baseball is right around the corner.

Sure, the Padres will enter 2017 completely overlooked and quite possibly ignored altogether in the NL West. With one of the youngest rosters in the organization’s history, the lack of name recognition will help lead to the low expectations and negative attention surrounding the team.

But for reeling fans who now have just one team to hang on to, none of this matters. In fact, building this organization from the ground up will help fans embrace the club. And without a football team to cheer for anymore, they really have no choice.

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After a long winter of negativity, baseball will provide some optimism to this city and their fans.

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Plus, unlike the past few seasons, there will be players on this roster for fans to get excited about. It will no longer be the aging and uninspired players such as Matt Kemp anchoring the organization. Instead, players such as all-star Wil Myers and rookies Hunter Renfroe, Manuel Margot, and Ryan Schimpf will hopefully give everyone reason to be excited about the future of Andy Green’s club, even if the rest of baseball doesn’t see them coming.

Most of all, the fact that the Padres aren’t supposed to contend this season alleviates some pressure from the club. Expectations have somewhat of the same impact on fans, even if it is to a lesser degree. Fans will be more excited over having professional sports back this spring even if their young club is struggling out of the gate.

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With Opening Day now less than two and a half months away, and the beginning of spring training less than three weeks away, preparation for baseball season is in full swing. Though it has undoubtedly been a tough beginning to the 2017 calendar year for San Diego fans, the return of baseball in the form of this promising young Padres team will serve as the best therapy.