3 realities San Diego Padres fans need to accept and 1 fantasy that may yet come true

2) The NL West is (probably) out of the picture for the San Diego Padres in 2023

As of the writing of this piece, the Padres sit 10.5 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks for first place in the NL West. And while that's not an insurmountable deficit (the Atlanta Braves demonstrated that last year in the NL East), it's not likely that San Diego can reach the top of that mountain in 2023.

In fact, the Padres are closer to the last-place Colorado Rockies in their division than they are to Arizona. And with the San Francisco Giants punching above their weight too, that only adds another obstacle for San Diego to overcome in addition to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are always relevant.

In other words? The Padres have to outplay three teams in their own division to have a shot at clinching the NL West in 2023. And given how San Diego has played this season overall, there shouldn't be a lot of optimism on that front.