San Diego Padres: Albert Pujols makes a bold statement about the team's postseason fate

Everyone seems to have their own theories about why the San Diego Padres have not lived up to expectations in 2023, but future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols is a believer that San Diego has a big run to the postseason still in them.

Albert Pujols gives his thoughts on the 2023 San Diego Padres

Speaking on Audacy's The Bret Boone Podcast, Pujols seems to channel his inner Ted Lasso, saying that he still believes in the Padres to not only get to the postseason, but to do some damage when they get there as well.

"San Diego can still do it. They're not out yet, so don't count them out," Pujols said at around the 44:18 mark of the podcast. "I think that the leadership that they have in there, I know in Seattle they had a team meeting, a player's meeting. I think they're going to start playing better. That's a team that you can not sleep on because they have the potential of winning a championship."

Pujols even goes a step further, saying the Padres have the potential to be this year's team that could go from the Wild Card to the World Series. That's the same path that Philadelphia took last season (knocking out San Diego in the NLCS to get there) and Pujols believes the Padres have the talent to do it.

"If you look at that lineup. If you look at that bullpen. If you look at that starting pitching, that team can be the Philadelphia Phillies from 2022 this year, so don't sleep on that team," Pujols said.

Granted, a World Series run seems like a long shot with the Padres entering Wednesday's play 5.5 games out of a Wild Card spot with 42 games left on the schedule. However, like Pujols, FanGraphs and Baseball Reference's postseason odds aren't counting the Padres out just yet, so maybe there could indeed be a brown and gold miracle coming in the near future.