MLB.com generously doesn't punish Padres after worst offensive series this past weekend

In their weekly power rankings article, MLB.com has refused to overreact to a putrid showing from the Padres, as the team only slipped from No. 2 to No. 4. The Padres were outscored 15-3 over the course of the series, as their steady offense could never get off the ground against Seattle.

In the power rankings' brief write up about the Padres, it is noted that outside of their hot start, this has been a .500 baseball team for over a month now. As Will Leitch explains, "That early hot streak is disguising a team that has been average ever since."

Simply put, this series may be the beginning of alarms sounding in San Diego. Scoring one run per game and barely showing up against a good-not-great Mariners squad is a red flag for this team. Nick Pivetta continued his great start, allowing one earned run in his Saturday night start. Stephen Kolek had his first bad start, giving up five runs on Friday night (which could have greater consequences as Yu Darvish is set to return to the rotation soon). Michael King - the ace of this team - allowed three runs on Sunday to allow the sweep to commence.

The bullpen, which has also been a league-best unit - allowed five runs over the course of the weekend. After this series against the Mariners, combined with the Robert Suarez disaster against the Angels, it is fair for fans to begin worrying that the bullpen may be due for some regression. So while the offense is going to catch a lot of flack, the elite units that have been carrying the Padres had an underwhelming weekend as well given the lofty expectations of each.

Speaking of the offense, let's get into this. Yes, they scored three runs all weekend. However, they did collect 23 hits. That is slightly under their rate of 9.3 hits per game going into this weekend, but still should have produced more than three runs. There are some lineup decisions that could provide a spark to the lineup, but overall MLB.com may be correct in not overreacting to this series.

From an optimistic perspective, King and Pivetta both posted quality starts and sure, Kolek had a blowup start. He is a new starter in the big leagues and speed bumps are expected. And the offense should have scored more runs, but baseball is a weird sport and sometimes 8 hits don't equate to multiple runs.

The Padres have a fantastic chance for a get-right week. They have road series against the Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves - both who are near-.500 ballclubs. The Padres are being given the benefit of the doubt from MLB.com, and could prove they are still an upper-echelon team this season with a couple of series wins this week.