WHAT RIVALRY?

Evan Davis

The Los Angeles Dodgers are the hottest team in baseball right now and they just demolished the Padres in a 3 game series sweep, out scoring them 20-4. Since the Juan Soto/Josh Bell deal to the Padres during what was an insane trade deadline, people have been trying to put together a Dodgers/Padres rivalry which is utterly insulting.

First of all, the Dodgers have won 18 of the last 20 games vs the Padres, so it’s not like the season series have even been remotely close. In fact, the last time the Padres won a season series vs LA, WAS ALL THE WAY BACK IN 2010. There was a reason the Dodgers were quiet at the deadline, the team is already elite as it is.

And for the fans talking about a potential Dodgers/Padres playoff matchup, the Padres are currently in the third wild card spot and only hold a 1 ½ game lead over Milwaukee, so the Padres might not even make the playoffs.

Padres fans can make the argument Fernando Tatis Jr. wasn’t in the lineup so the games “don’t count”, but you did have Juan Soto, Manny Machado, Brandon Drury, and Josh Bell, so I don’t wanna hear it.

I do think a major concern for the Padres if they do indeed make the playoffs is the starting pitching rotation, because outside of Joe Musgrove, it is rancid. Blake Snell hasn’t been the same since Game 6 of the World Series vs the Dodgers.

Yu Darvish has been mid to say the least, just finding him to be way too inconsistent. Mike Clevinger is coming off of Tommy John surgery, so he gets a pass. Sean Manaea seems to always get lit up like a Christmas tree. The team has a lot of flaws and I just find it funny that the Padres have the sixth best odds to win the World Series and they are currently clinging onto a playoff spot.

The Dodgers currently hold a 15.5 game lead over the Padres, so they essentially won the division barring some catastrophic collapse. Even with all the injuries that have faced the Dodgers, they have still managed to be 42 games above .500.

That is with Clayton Kershaw being in and out of the starting rotation, Dustin May out the entire season so far, Walker Buehler out since June 10th, and Andrew Heaney also in and out of the rotation. Overcoming adversity has been the common theme for the Dodgers because even with all these injuries to their starters, they have still managed the best team ERA in the MLB (2.87).

Once the Padres actually start competing with the Dodgers, I don’t want to hear that there is even a slight rivalry brewing. Get back to me when the division race is consistently within arms reach, not ocean's reach.