2 Padres who've exceeded expectations through 50 games and 2 who've fallen short

The San Diego Padres have without a doubt been the most disappointing team in all of baseball. At 24-29, the team stands in fourth place in the NL West, 7.5 games back of the first place Dodgers, and continues to play uninspiring baseball.

This was supposed to be the year of the Padres. After knocking off two powerhouses in the postseason and coming up just three wins shy of the NL Pennant, San Diego seemed set in 2023. They signed Xander Bogaerts, got Fernando Tatis Jr. back, made improvements to the back of the rotation, and had Juan Soto and Josh Hader for the entire season.

There's obviously plenty of time for the Padres to turn this around, but the clock is ticking. We're 53 games into the season already. There're a couple of players who have helped the Padres stay somewhat relevant, and a whole bunch of players who have failed to meet expectations. Two of these players really stand out.

Padres reliever Steven Wilson has exceeded expectations

With all of the injuries to relievers the Padres have sustained, mainly the injury to Robert Suarez, the team needed an arm to step up and help form a bridge to closer Josh Hader. Wilson has played a very key role in that.

The right-hander had a good year for San Diego last season, but has been even better in 2023. His 2.96 ERA through 23 appearances is very solid, but he's been even better than that ERA might show.

Wilson has allowed eight earned runs in 24.1 innings of work. Those runs have come in just three of his 23 appearances, and seven of the eight came in two of them. In other words, Wilson has 20 scoreless appearances. He's had two awful outings, one meh outing, and the rest scoreless. Three of those runs came in his Mexico City outing, do those runs even count?

With the Padres offense still struggling to produce much of anything, Wilson has had small leads to protect and try and hand over to Hader. He has nine holds and just one blown save.

The Padres bullpen has been the saving grace for this team. Their 3.27 ERA ranks sixth in the majors. Hader obviously plays a huge role in that, but Wilson has been their second best reliever.

Padres third baseman Manny Machado has fallen short of expectations

You knew he'd be here. Manny Machado got the extension he'd been waiting for, and has failed to do much of anything since signing it.

Machado is off to one of, if not the worst starts of his career. He's slashed .254/.282/.372 with five home runs and 19 RBI through his first 40 games of the season. Simply put, that's unacceptable from the Padres superstar third baseman.

The offense has been rough all season long, but we've seen the stars have good moments. Xander Bogaerts carried the team for a good month before his recent struggles. After an awful April Juan Soto stepped up and has carried the team in the month of May. Even Fernando Tatis Jr. has had some big moments even if he's underwhelmed overall.

Machado on the other hand, has done virtually nothing all season long. He even came up small when the Padres needed him against the Dodgers, going hitless in his 11 at-bats in their most recent series in Los Angeles.

When Manny returns from the Injured List, the Padres need him to get going very quickly. The Padres will go nowhere if he doesn't play a big role.

Padres pitcher Nick Martinez has exceeded expectations

Nick Martinez opened the season in the Padres rotation and had three really solid starts mixed in with a poor one. Overall, he had a 4.01 ERA through four starts which was capped with seven shutout innings in a 1-0 win against the Braves. With Joe Musgrove returning, Martinez was bumped from the rotation and has shined in the bullpen ever since.

Martinez has settled into a high-leverage role alongside Steven Wilson setting up for Josh Hader, and has done an unbelievable job.

Martinez has made 13 appearances and has allowed five runs (three earned) in 20 innings of work. He's struck out 20 batters while walking only four, and has held the opposition to a .535 OPS.

Martinez provides versatility to the Padres bullpen as a guy who can get both lefties and righties out, and as a guy who can go multiple innings. He's recorded six or more outs five times in relief already including a six-out save with five strikeouts against the Giants.

Martinez was solid as a starter and has been exceptional as a reliever. Knowing the Padres have a guy who can excel in both areas is awesome, and Martinez has played a huge role in some wins the Padres have had.