Padres clinch playoffs ending 14-year drought

The 2020 MLB Postseason is just eight days away, and the San Diego Padres are the second team from the National League to clinch a playoff berth. The Padres beat the Seattle Mariners 7-4 Sunday night to clinch.

Who led the Padres to the playoffs?

In just his second year with the team, Manny Machado has had one of his best seasons. Due to the short season, it is tough to compare this season to the rest of his career. But there are some things that stack up.  Machado is batting .314, the second-highest season average of his career. Another great stat that Machado has is the percentage of hits that turned into runs. Machado has recorded 65 hits and has scored 42 runs. That means he comes around to score about 65 percent he records a hit. Normally, he scores just over 50 percent of the time he records a hit.

Another player that has been huge in the Padres’ success is outfielder Will Myers. Myers has had by far the best statistical season of his career. He is batting .298, has 14 home runs in just 50 games and has an OPS of .989. Myers’ OPS is .168 higher than any other season of his career.

Despite being in a slump in recent games, Fernando Tatis Jr. has been a star for the Padres. In the month of August, Tatis Jr. batted .313 with 11 home runs and 24 RBIs. During that time he also had an OPS of 1.057. In the month of September, Tatis Jr. has batted just over .200 with only two home runs, the same amount as he had in just eight games in July.

Where do they go from here?

Padres manager Jayce Tingler says that he set a goal for his team, and he is very proud of the players and staff and what they have accomplished. Tingler said going forward in the playoffs, they will “make this city proud.”

Tatis Jr. said, “this is just the beginning of what we’re going to accomplish this year.”

The Padres next play the Los Angeles Angels on the 22nd.