Matching San Diego Padres players with their Taylor Swift eras

This summer, it's more than just baseball season. Oh sure, the San Diego Padres and the other 29 MLB teams are all taking their familiar places inside stadiums throughout North America. However, the boys of summer aren't the only ones packing stadiums with fans.

In case you haven't heard (and I find that hard to actually be possible), Taylor Swift is out on tour right now with her Eras Tour, giving her a chance to showcase music from throughout her illustrious career. The Padres ran into all kinds of Swifties during their recent trip to Cincinnati when their series with the Reds coincided with Swift taking over the nearby Bengals stadium for her concert. Fireworks from after the game even interrupted a serene moment for Swift in her concert (the horror!).

So what's another way that the Padres and Swift can be connected outside of a random meeting in Cincinnati? Well, thanks to an amazing Twitter thread from Janelle Lafond, a producer at San Diego's NBC affiliate, there is absolutely a way to bring them together.

Lafond decided to match up a current Padres player with a Swift era. While I may not be the most knowledgable about Swift (my daughter attended her show in Dallas, so maybe that counts?), I love the creativity she displayed in pairing these two things together, so I decided to mesh her thoughts with some of our own about her choices.

With that in mind, let's dive into the Padres and how they correspond with the Swift Eras.

Taylor Swift Era and matching San Diego Padres player — debut / Austin Nola

Her take: love him, hate him. he’s been with the team for a while. he’s just trying to find his place (in this world) this season.

Our take: In this era, Swift was making her mark in country music and was the opening act for other country artists rather than her own stand-alone star. We'll say Nola here as well because Gary Sanchez praised Nola in our exclusive talk with him for helping him get acclimated to the Padres and their pitching staff. Like Swift back then, she would do things that would catch people's eyes, but would often bow out of the limelight to let someone else take center stage. Sounds like the Nola-Sanchez relationship to us.

Taylor Swift Era and matching San Diego Padres player — fearless / Manny Machado

Her take: the original superstar. fearless was taylor’s first album to get a grammy. manny is the team’s long standing mvp. plus, both fearless era taylor and manny have a habit of telling it exactly like it is.

Our take: This is the tour where Swift would begin the habit of drawing her lucky number (13) on her hand prior to every show. Machado wears number 13, so it makes sense to us.

Also, Swift's "You Belong With Me" debuted during this era as well. That seems to fit the Padres' views of Machado after signing an 11-year, $350 million extension in the offseason.

Taylor Swift Era and matching San Diego Padres player — speak now / Joe Musgrove

Her take: for “long live” alone, this made sense for a kid who grew up watching the padres and got to join the team.

polaroid king: i said remember this moment / i passed the pictures around

the no-no: you held your head like a hero / on a history book page

Our take: Mad props for this one. Love the connection between the local kid and him finally getting to dawn the brown and gold in a history-making way.

Can we also flip back to the incident in last year's postseason between Musgrove and the New York Mets where he was so dominant that Buck Showalter called for the umps to check him for illegal substances (which he wasn't using, of course). To quote Taylor here (and looking at you, Buck), "You, with your switching sides. And your wildfire lies and your humiliation ... why you gotta be so mean?"

Taylor Swift Era and matching San Diego Padres player — red / Juan Soto

Her take: i don’t know about you, but i’m feeling twenty twoooo.

red was a transition period for taylor, and soto is still trying to figure out how he fits with the padres

also listen to the title track and tell me it won’t apply if we lose him

Our take: This era was all about some iconic outfits that Swift wore and fans fell in love with just as much as her music. Padres fans loved seeing Soto debut in the brown and gold last season, and he pulls off the City Connect look in a stunning way as well. We expect him to stay looking good in a Padres uniform for the near future (including past the trade deadline).

Taylor Swift Era and matching San Diego Padres player — 1989 / Blake Snell

Her take: this one was a hard pick, but snell is at the top of his game right now. when 1989 came out, so was taylor. for a while this was her peak, and she only got better.

plus can’t you just see snell being goofy and dancing to shake it off?

Our take: Yeah, actually, we can see that happening. Snell is absolutely feeling it on the mound right now, so why not?

We'll also throw these lyrics from "Wildest Dreams" out there as well: "Nothing lasts forever. But this is getting good now." That can certainly apply to Snell's last seven starts where he has allowed just three earned runs in 42.0 innings, good for an ERA of 0.64 and FIP of 1.86.

Looking at those numbers, Padres fans do hope it last forever, but with Snell being a free agent next season, what lies ahead?

Taylor Swift Era and matching San Diego Padres player — reputation / Fernando Tatis Jr.

Her take: zero explanation needed

Our take: After getting snubbed for the All-Star Game, we're expecting a revenge tour for Tatis in the second half of the season as he changes the narrative around his reputation. El Niño may well look at the rest of MLB, shrug, and say, “Look What You Made Me Do.”

Taylor Swift Era and matching San Diego Padres player — evermore / Trent Grisham

Her take: swifties often joke taylor forgets evermore, and with his at bats this season grish can get a little lost in the lineup. but he’s a star in his own right in center field, just like evermore is among taylor’s discography.

Our take: Slashing .206/.318/.375 in 313 plate appearances heading into Friday night's action, Grisham hasn't exactly been at the top of the favorite lists for many Padres fans. The same can be said for Evermore. Don't get me wrong (and don't come after me, Swifties) ... it's a fine album, but it certainly doesn't have the hits like some of her other eras. It's there and it's OK, kind of like Grisham in the San Diego lineup.

Taylor Swift Era and matching San Diego Padres player — midnights / Xander Bogaerts

Her take: he’s the new kid on the block, just like midnights. in such a short time, taylor has shared so many iterations of this album. in just a season we’ve seen the same of xander. but through the ups and downs, best believe he’s still bejeweled.

Our take: You have to wait a while for midnight to actually get here, and the same can be said for the Padres with Bogaerts this season. That nagging left wrist injury hasn't allowed him to be the All-Star player San Diego planned for him to be, but there's still plenty of time (see what we did there) in the season for Boagerts to crank up the production.