San Diego Padres: 3 bold predictions around second-half trades, statistics and more

To say the first half of the 2023 season for the San Diego Padres was a frustrating one would be an understatement. Actually, it would be a major understatement.

One season after reaching the National League Championship Series and falling short against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Padres made some big offseason additions in an effort to get over the top. That has not been the case as they are 42-47 and 6.5 games out of the final NL Wild Card spot and 8.5 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West.

The trade deadline is three weeks away and despite their place in the standings, it appears that GM A.J. Preller is going to be a buyer rather than a seller at the deadline. That's not surprising considering the money invested into the 2023 roster. Not getting back to the NL Championship series would be tough for the oranizaton to swallow, but missing the playoffs all together would be much more devastating.

The next two weeks are going to be big for the Padres in different ways and they get a golden opportunity to make up some ground in the wild card standings with a four-game set against the Phillies in Philadelphia. After that, a trip to Canada to face the Toronto Blue Jays is a big test for Bob Melvin's team.

As the second half of the season is about to get underway, here are three bold post All-Star break predictions for the Padres.

San Diego Padres first bold prediction: Friars will make the playoffs

Through the first half of the season, the one thing that hurt San Diego has been their inconsistent play. That changed right before the break and they hope it will continue after.

San Diego swept the Los Angeles Angels in a three-game series, before taking two out of three from the equally underachieving New York Mets. San Diego's offense finally broke out with contributions from up and down the lineup, while their pitching was good.

In the overall big picture of things, San Diego on paper is one of, if not the best, teams in the majors. Their offensive struggles have been head-scratching and their pitching believe it not has not bad as bad as their record indicates.

It will be interesting to see what Preller adds at the deadline, but the gut feeling here is that they put it together and find a way to get in as a wild card team. If they don't, changes could be coming. Getting Michael Wacha back at some point will only strengthen their rotation.

San Diego Padres second bold prediction: Blake Snell finishes the season with 14-plus wins

One of the additions over the offseason by the Padres was adding Wacha in free agency to a starting rotation that had Blake Snell, Yu Darvish, and Joe Musgrove. Wacha has been as they hoped he would be, but an injury cut his first half short.

The numbers for most Padres pitchers don't look good, but it is not an indication of how they have pitched. One of those pitchers is Snell and he closed out the first half strong. In his last nine starts, he left-hander has allowed just four runs, and his best performance he saved for the final one against the New York Mets.

In a 3-1 win on Saturday night, Snell struck out 11 and allowed just one hit over six innings in what could have been considered a must-win to close out the first half. When they have needed it, Snell has delivered. San Diego hopes it's a sign of things to come.

“Really good first half,” Snell said. “Got to put it together in the second half. Happy to build it sooner -- it means the offseason I had worked.”

If the Padres are going to get to the playoffs, they will need Snell to continue his late dominance in the first half. His run started when the Friars signed catcher Gary Sanchez as a free agent in late May and he became a staple behind the plate. He is currently 6-7 with a 2.85 ERA and there is no reason to see why his run can't continue. Getting eight more wins over the final two and a half months is reachable for the former Tampa Bay Rays hurler.