(Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Xander Bogaerts might have signed a $280 million contract in the offseason, but he is currently not having the best of times as a member of the San Diego Padres.
He has faded considerably after a hot start, and his Padres are currently fourth in the NL West division with a 37-41 record.
Yes: a team that took a trip to the National League Championship Series last year is struggling to play .500 ball this season and has been surpassed by the Arizona Diamondbacks, the San Francisco Giants, and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
San Diego has lost two games in a row to the Washington Nationals, and have dropped six of their last 10 and five of their last seven contests.
Their current performance made Bogaerts make some comments about the state of the franchise, according to Dennis Lin, via “Talkin’ Baseball.”
The Padres have lost five of their last seven, including two in a row to the Nationals pic.twitter.com/CYf7T7wVqP
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 26, 2023
He said that “you have to beat the teams you have to beat”, referring to the Nats.
Indeed, the Nationals are last in the NL East division with a 30-47 record, so they clearly fall into that category.
The problem is that everything a player says about his team has to start with himself.
Bogaerts is hitting .256/.341/.389 with eight home runs, nine stolen bases, and a .730 OPS.
That would be his lowest OPS since 2014.
After posting a .914 OPS in the first month of the 2023 campaign, Bogaerts had a .546 mark in May and a .692 one in June.
That’s not good, and the Padres need him.
The good thing for the Friars is that the season is still young, and they are not that far from first place at 9.5 games behind the D-Backs.
The Wild Card is even closer for them, so what they need to do is get most of their talented performers to play closer to their usual level.
It’s definitely easier said than done, but there is hope for San Diego if everybody plays like they know how to.
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