San Diego Padres: How the West Will Be Won in 2020

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San Diego Padres celebrate. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) /

Now that we know exactly what the San Diego Padres schedule will look like in 2020 we break down what it will take to win the NL West.

While a lot of people are already conceding the NL West to the Los Angeles Dodgers, in this weird season anyone can truly win — so why no the San Diego Padres?

Ryan gave his in-depth breakdown of the schedule on Monday when it was released, but I wanted to dig even deeper to see just how many wins the Padres would need to take the NL West.

Last year the Dodgers were 41-19 through the first 60 games of the season and were nine games ahead of the Colorado Rockies.

The year before that the Arizona Diamondbacks were 32-28 — just a game ahead of the Colorado Rockies.

In 2017 the Rockies were two games ahead of the Diamondbacks with a 37-23 record, and in 2016 the San Francisco Giants led the division with a 35-25 record, which is the same record the Dodgers had through 60 games in 2015 when they were atop the division.

I went back 10 years and the Padres haven’t been leading the division through the first 60 games of the season in any of those years.

But this is a different team and very different set of circumstances.

Teams cannot afford to get out to slow starts, and it will all be about the group of players who are hungry enough to win in a season where a lot of teams aren’t taking things seriously.

That’s why I wrote the other day about how encouraging it was to see the youthful optimism and excitement from the players in summer camp.

And they’ll need to keep that through the entire 60-game stretch to find those 35-38 wins that it will take to win the NL West in 2020.

Pitcher Kirby Yates #39 fist bumps catcher Austin Hedges #18. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Again, teams can’t afford to get off to a slow start so these first eight games in July will go a long in determining how the San Diego Padres do in 2020.

Normally people will make the excuse that wins at the beginning of the season aren’t as important as wins at the end, which is preposterous, but that’s certainly not the case in a 60-game season where every game counts and has to be managed like a playoff game.

July Schedule

Not that homefield advantage will mean much in 2020, but it’s certainly better than playing on the road.

And the Padres get the advantage of starting the season at home against perhaps some of their stiffest competition in the NL West in the Arizona Diamondbacks.

A lot of people liked what the Diamondbacks did this offseason and picked them to finish ahead of the Padres in the NL West.

The Padres have a chance to make a huge statement right out of the game by winning this four-game series.

And they travel up the coast to San Francisco for a three-game series against the Giants.

These are the types of series that the Padres can’t afford to lose in 2020. This has to be at least an easy two wins.

Finally, the wrap up the first month of the season with a road game against the Colorado Rockies.

They an interesting team that has the pieces to be good, but it’s still a team the Padres need to take advantage of.

July Record: 6-2

Josh Naylor #22 of the San Diego Padres celebrates. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) /

In August the San Diego Padres will play 13 straight games against their biggest competition in the NL West.

They start the month of August finishing off a series with the Rockies. With us giving them a win in the first game of that series we’ll say they split the last two.

And then comes the gauntlet that is the middle of August.

It starts with three games at home against the Dodgers, and then three at home against the Diamondbacks.

Then they go on the road for four in LA and three in Arizona, finishing off what might be the most important stretch of the season.

In order for the Padres to have a real chance in the NL West they can’t lose more than seven games in this stretch.

That would be a losing record over these 13 games, but it would still keep their chances alive with a much easier month of September.

Let’s think optimistically and say they actually have a winning record through this stretch and go 7-6.

But it doesn’t get much easier after that as they play four games against the Texas Ranges who have a solid pitching staff, and then three at home against the Houston Astros.

They’ll need to go at least 4-3 over that stretch and then finish the month strong with series wins against the Seattle Mariners and Rockies.

August Record: 17-12

Alberto Gonzalez #14 flexes. (Photo by Andy Hayt/San Diego Padres/Getty Images) /

With the majority of their games against division rivals out of the way, the San Diego Padres will hope for a big month of September.

They start out September with five games on the road against AL West foes in the Anaheim Angels (x2) and Oakland Athletics (x3).

This could be a sneaky tough stretch so I’ll so they go 2-3.

But then they have perhaps the easiest stretch of their 2020 season with three games at home against the Rockies and four games at home against the Giants.

They’ll really need to take advantage here and pick up at least five wins.

Because up next is their final matchup with the Dodgers where they need to win the three-game series at home.

After that, the Padres have a pretty soft schedule to end the season with three against the Mariners, two against the Angels, and three against the Giants.

They should be able to win each of those series and at least split against the Angels for five more wins.

September: 14-9; Overall Record: 37-23

Perhaps that seems a little optimistic, but that’s what it will likely take if the Padres are going to win the NL West in 2020.

And I certainly think the Padres have the depth and talent to make it happen.

Pagan a key factor in 2020. dark. Next

Let us know in the comments below how many games you think it will take to win the NL West in 2020 and if the Padres can meet that mark.

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