Padres 2020 Postseason Run Starts Against Main Competitor

It’s highly important for the San Diego Padres to get off to a good start against the Arizona Diamondbacks in this abbreviated season.

And I think everything lines up for them to do just that.

I really like their chances in the first two games of this series going up against a couple of lefties that they’ve had success against recently.

It would not be shocking to me at all if they take the first two games of this series and go for the sweep on Sunday.

While I still think MadBum is a good pitcher, he’s clearly not what he once was. Players like Tatis, Pham, and Machado should have big weekends going up against him and Ray.

The game that actually scares me the most is on Sunday against Gallen.

He was lights out against the Padres last year — and I know that’s last year — but he’s also a really talented young pitcher that’s just getting started.

Arizona is certainly hoping he takes another step forward this year to possibly becoming the ace of their rotation, so don’t sleep on him.

And right now the Padres just don’t have a ton of great left-handed options in the lineup. Grisham and Eric Hosmer are about all they have.

We could see Josh Naylor get the start in the outfield over Myers on Sunday, or perhaps you put him in the DH spot. Maybe they find a way to get Greg Garcia in the lineup as well to add another lefty.

At some point they’re going to have to figure out how to hit right-handed pitching as that’s what you’ll see most often.

Last year they were last in the league hitting .234 against righties, so forgive me if I cringe every time they face a tough right-handed pitcher this season.

But overall, I still like the Padres chances of winning this series and getting off to a good start in the 2020 season.