Padres Opening Day: Three bold predictions for the 2021 season

Before Thursday hits, we turn the calendar to April and bask in Padres Opening Day in all its glory, let’s just take a few minutes and have some fun. I mean, the Friars are the most exciting team in baseball so it only makes sense we shake it up and go big in one last preseason piece.

We’re going to dive right in. Three bold predictions for San Diego this year. Bold predictions, hot takes – whatever you want to call them, we’ve got them. Let’s go.

Padres Opening Day: Wil Myers pops 40 home runs this year

That’s right. All aboard, baby. The Wil Myers hype train is leaving the station. Destination: October.

Last season, the Padres outfielder mashed, slashing .288/.353/.606. Keep in mind he’d never even slugged .500 before, let alone .600. The dude was a machine for the Friars, hitting 15 home runs in just 55 games. By comparison, he hit 18 the year prior… in 155 games. Locked in doesn’t even begin to describe what we saw from Myers in the shortened 2020 season.

But 2021 is a different story, right? Doing something for 162 games is a whole lot different than getting hot and staying hot for two months. Wrong. While it might be different, the changes we’ve seen in Myers – accepting his role amid a supporting cast that often outshines him and embracing it with open arms – is why I think he’s about to have the best year of his career.

Calling it. Right now. Forty homers for Myers. Don’t be shocked if he makes his second All-Star team or even flirts with the MVP conversation. Teams come into San Diego worrying about Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado. Meanwhile, Myers is lying in wait, ready to pounce.