3 Padres players fans are losing patience with

The San Diego Padres have been good, but not great, to start the 2024 season. A three-game sweep at the hands of the rebuilding Colorado Rockies certainly wasn't helpful for their image, but the Friars have also handled their business against some of the best teams in the the National League. The Padres are 5-3 versus the Los Angeles Dodgers and 4-2 against the Chicago Cubs already this season.

While the Padres moved on from Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell this past offseason and traded Juan Soto to the New York Yankees, expectations are still high in San Diego. The Friars made some key pickups to help both their rotation (Dylan Cease) and lineup (Luis Arráez), and Pads fans expect their team to compete for the NL West division title this season.

A few players, however, have tested the patience of the Friar faithful at the outset of the 2024 season. Which three players to Padres fans have beef with? Can any of the three overcome their early-season struggles and regain the favor of the San Diego fanbase?

Padres fans are not happy with Manny Machado's start

How much grace does one offer to Manny Machado due to his offseason injury? That is ultimately what will decide how patient Padres fans will be with Machado's early-season struggles. The All-Star third baseman has just returned to playing defense after being restricted to only hitting at the outset of the 2024 season.

But the injury wasn't supposed to affect Machado's swing. While the dip in batting average and on-base percentage is discouraging, nothing is more troubling to the Padres fanbase than Machado's floundering slugging percentage. The barrels, hard hit rate, and average exit velocity are all there, and yet Machado's slugging percentage is below .350.

If the injury is truly what has kept Machado from living up to expectations, Pads fans will be more patient. But if a player is on the field, there are going to be certain things that fans expect. One such thing is for Machado to be a force in the middle of the lineup. To date, that hasn't happened, and Pads' fans are frustrated.

Joe Musgrove's early-season struggles have Padres fans panicking

Joe Musgrove had a rough outing during the Padres' overseas visit to South Korea, and quite frankly, it hasn't gotten much better. Musgrove was yanked during the third inning of that second game of the Seoul Series and has given up three or more runs in six of his eight starts this season.

Pads fans are used to seeing Musgrove dominate the opposition, but this season, the strikeout numbers are down and the hits are up — including home runs. Java Joe has allowed 10 home runs in eight starts after allowing 10 round-trippers all of last season.

Musgrove hit the IL recently, and there's hope that he'll return to form once he's back from the elbow issue that was plaguing him. Padres fans assumed they could count on the trio of Musgrove, Yu Darvish, and Dylan Cease to lead the rotation in 2024. Two of those three pitchers have been great — the other is Musgrove.

Xander Bogaerts is giving Padres fans buyer's remorse

Xander Bogaerts was one of the hottest names on the free agent market during the 2022-23 offseason, and the Padres were able to lure him to San Diego. But it cost the franchise a huge sum of money to do so. On top of that, after all the free spending, the Padres had to renegotiate Machado's deal, which only added more zeroes to the payroll.

Through a year-plus of Bogaerts in America's Finest City, it's safe to say that Pads fans are less than impressed. When an organization shells out $280 million to a player coming off back-to-back All-Star seasons, a .301 batting average, and 130 OPS+, the expectations only increase.

Since arriving in San Diego, Bogaerts has hit just .269 with a 108 OPS+. This season, he's hitting just .213 with a sub-.600 OPS. That type of performance is exactly why the Friar faithful are fed up with Bogaerts. Not only that, but there's no end in sight. The Padres already showed their lack of faith in his defensive efforts after moving him off shortstop to second base, and the 30-year-old is under contract through 2033. This could get a lot worse before it gets better.

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