2 reasons San Diego Padres fans should give up on 2023 and 1 why they shouldn't

San Diego Padres lacking fight is a reason to give up on 2023

If your team is struggling, you still want to see them put up a fight on the field. That has not always been the case with the Padres and recently, frustration has boiled over with comments from Bogaerts and Manny Machado.

After dropping two out of three games at home to the Washington Nationals to close out their last homestand, Bogaerts voiced his frustration to reporters. “Lack of fight — I don’t even feel any of that. You know?” Bogaerts said. “But maybe trying to do too much might be one.”

“C’mon, man. We’re playing the Nationals. … I don’t think they have playoff aspirations. I mean, they obviously have a young team and they fight. They do fight. But I wouldn’t say anyone picked the Nationals to be in the playoffs. So you have to beat the teams that you have to beat.”

You would think that the comments would have added some fight to the locker room, but they didn't. They proceeded to get swept by the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates, before dropping two out of three to the Cincinnati Reds. San Diego has lost seven of their last eight series. In Pittsburgh, it was Machado's turn to voice his frustration.

“We need a little more urgency as a team,” he said. “We just do.”

Yes, they do, but following that comment, they proceeded to lose 7-1 that night to the Pirates in the middle game of the three-game set. It's clear that the frustration is boiling over and if the Friars are still not playing without much fight after those comments from Bogaerts and Machado, then just how much fight do they have? Not much apparently.

San Diego Padres reason not to give up on 2023 season: The 2011 St. Louis Cardinals

Anything is possible. Yes, it really is. An 11.5 deficit in the NL West is a lot and an 8-game deficit in the Wild Card is even bigger considering the number of teams they have to jump over. One lengthy winning streak, however, can change all of that.

For motivation, the Padres have to look no further than the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals. From mid-to-late June that season, the Redbirds went 3-12 and the playoffs seemed out of reach. On the Fourth of July, they turned their season around, and they slowly crept back into the race before going 23-9 over the final 32 games, erasing a 10.5 deficit in the standings and completing the largest comeback to clinch a postseason berth after playing 130 games.

San Diego still has a month to figure out what they are going to do at the trade deadline, but Preller can go out and upgrade his roster if needed. If not, there is plenty of talent on his roster that can go on a lengthy winning streak. Who knows, maybe a streak like the 2011 Cardinals to get into the race is in their future.

The Padres have the benefit of an upcoming schedule that features a home series before the All-Star Break against the equally underachieving New York Mets and series still on the schedule with the Detroit Tigers, and Chicago White Sox, and still two series with the Colorado Rockies. One long streak can change the narrative in a 162-game season.

It is easy to see both sides of things, giving up on 2023 and looking ahead to 2024 and still having hope this season. San Diego needs to show more urgency and start stringing wins together and as unlikely as it sounds now, you just never know