Near Padres-Marlins brawl highlights the risks of SD's aggression under Mike Shildt

One thing that has been abundantly clear in 2024 is that the San Diego Padres are playing with a bit of an edge under new manager Mike Shildt. While Shildt is far from a perfect manager and his in-game decision-making can be a bit questionable at times, no one can deny that he is great at motivating his players and keeping the Padres ready each and every game.

Most of the time, it serves the Padres extremely well. San Diego seems to never be out of any game this year and it is because they compete down to their last out. Sometimes things don't go their way, such as when they came inches short of a comeback after a bizarre ruling against the Marlins on Sunday, but that was the exception to the rule, especially during their recent hot streak.

There is, however, a downside to playing the way the Padres do and with the type of energy they excude. That reared its ugly head in the same game against Miami when benches cleared after Jake Cronenworth slid hard into second base.

Padres' "compete to the death" mentality comes with risks as well as loads of benefits

Ultimately, this situation turned into a bit of a nothing burger as no punches were thrown and order was restored very quickly. Miami's Otto Lopez took exception to Cronenworth's spikes finding his ankle while trying to break up a double play a day after a similar, but more severe slide from Jurickson Profar knocked Lopez's legs out from under him. These are the types of hard-nosed plays that old school fans love, but can also result in guys getting really hurt.

Most of the time, calmer heads are going to prevail and any hard feelings on plays like that won't linger. However, there is a fine line between "playing hard" and decisions that could be considered dirty. All it takes for a fight to break out or an injury to happen for things to go just a little too far. The Padres need to be careful because if they cross that line (even if they don't think they did), guys like Jackson Merrill and Jurickson Profar (again) are going to get thrown at, which risks injuries and suspensions.

For now, the Padres don't need to change what they are doing because it is clearly working. How competitive they are is in their DNA from their manager on down. Hopefully Sunday's misunderstanding/skirmish can serve as a reminder of what it could cost them if they go too far.

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