Padres can’t ignore the Dodgers’ most annoying advantage in spring training

Bob Nightengale dropped the detail that should make the Padres’ coaching staff flinch a little: the Dodgers’ regulars have barely played, Mookie Betts hasn’t played at all, Shohei Ohtani is back in Japan for the WBC… and Los Angeles is still 6-0 with a 51-19 run differential. “Gulp,” as Nightengale put it. 

That’s the advantage the Padres can’t ignore in spring training, because it’s the advantage that decides the NL West when the calendar stops being cute.

Padres have a frustrating preview of how the Dodgers separate from the pack

We all know the Dodgers have stars. That’s not the point. The point is they can win games when the stars are in hoodies, on flights, or ramping up. They can win on random nights with the B-lineup, and those are the wins that quietly turn a division race into a math problem by mid-July.

For the Padres, this should change what matters in February. Forget the box-score dopamine. The real question is whether San Diego is building a roster that can bank boring wins when things get messy. Because things always do.

And to be clear: this isn’t the part where we sound the alarm because the Dodgers are undefeated in February. Spring records are basically paper airplanes. The point is what that kind of 6-0 start reveals when it’s happening without the headliners: Los Angeles has built an organization that can spit out functional, game-ready depth on command. Their machine keeps running anyway. That’s the insult. It’s also the lesson.

That’s why the Padres can’t treat the last bench spot, the fourth outfielder, or the final two bullpen jobs like background noise. Those roster edges are the difference between staying attached in the standings and spending August playing catch up.

Spring training is supposed to be slow-cooked. The Dodgers are out here microwaving wins with backups because they can. San Diego doesn’t need to copy the Dodgers player-for-player — but they do need to chase the same idea: build enough playable depth that the season doesn’t collapse the first time the roster gets stressed.

If the Padres want 2026 to be more than “close, but not close enough,” this is where it starts. Not with panic, but with clarity.