WASHINGTON — The potential similarities stagger, considering it was only a season ago. The Braves hunted for traction after inconsistent play, despite grand expectations in spring training.
Hey, Padres. Sound familiar?
They lost a 23-year-old superstar in outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. as the first half of the season essentially had been tucked into bed. Sound familiar? They made four midseason pickups to reshape their core group on the fly. Sound familiar?
As the Padres consider life without the addition of Fernando Tatis Jr., now serving an 80-game suspension for a banned drug, the Braves sketched out a fresh road map to find the right pieces, find the right timing, find the right galactic whatnot to reshape uncertainty into a World Series run.
Though the Padres cannot fully replace the talent sidelined into 2023 with Tatis, they have the opportunity to create the glue that binds in a rare and special way. Defiance in the face of deflation can fuel such things.
“Look at this clubhouse,” pitcher Mike Clevinger said Friday at Nationals Park. “We really don’t need anybody else. It would be nice to have somebody else, but we don’t need anybody else. We got everyone we need right here.”
The loss of Acuña could have torpedoed the season for the Braves. Instead, they scooped up Joc Pederson, Jorge Soler, Eddie Rosario and Adam Duvall. They started winning and winning and winning.
They didn’t stop until the last out of October.
The Padres picked up the bats of Juan Soto and Josh Bell from the Nationals, Brandon Drury of the Reds and elite closer Josh Hader from the Brewers. Sound familiar?
“It sucked,” pitcher Joe Musgrove said of the Tatis bombshell. “Everybody had the day to process and analyze it. Now we move on. You don’t sit and wonder what could have been or start thinking if we lose, it was because he wasn’t here.
“We’ve played without him the whole year. We’ll finish the job without him.”
Does the finality of not inserting Tatis into a power-packed lineup alter the ceiling?
“The potential? World Series,” Musgrove said. “That’s been the plan from the get-go. We felt pretty good coming into the season. Acquiring those guys (at the trade deadline) is added fuel.”
Dig the moat. Boil the oil. Fill the quivers. When opposing storm fronts like wild possibility and an exasperating letdown collide, it can become us against anyone and everyone storming the castle.
Sure, the Padres are good … but they haven’t made a full-season playoff appearance since 2006.
Sure, they can make the playoffs … but no Tatis means there’s not enough to muscle past the Dodgers.
Sure, they can do this … but they can’t do that.
“I think we’re pretty galvanized here, so I don’t think that furthers that narrative,” said Melvin, downplaying the notion before immediately reconsidering. “But you know what? Guys spoke up (Friday) and told their feelings. A lot of times that doesn’t happen in situations like this.”
That could be the sole and unplanned contribution Tatis hand-delivers this team in 2022.
Prove it. Prove things will be different without a player signed to a $340 million contract. Prove it when the lanky, human sparkplug hits the showers for the season. Prove it when a massive, missing puzzle piece gets lost under the sofa.
“Our clubhouse is pretty tight-knit,” second baseman Jake Cronenworth vowed.
Tatis becomes a setback this season, only if the Padres allow it.
Everyone will find out more about the leadership of Manny Machado. Everyone will learn how Melvin steadies and steers things when national news rocks a clubhouse. Everyone will discover who sees the bottom of the lineup as a golden opportunity.
“There was no guarantee we were getting (Tatis) back anytime soon,” Musgrove reasoned. “He was out on rehab. He very easily could have had a setback. So we don’t waste any more time or energy thinking about him or what would have been.
“Tatis hasn’t been here, so it’s not like we lost any players. We didn’t get worse. We just didn’t get that extra, added piece.”
Can a huge negative sprout a transformational positive?
“When we left spring training, we felt good about our team,” Melvin said. “We felt like Tati was coming at some point in time, but the acquisitions that A.J. made has made us feel very good about team right now.
“I was asked if our expectations were higher. When we made the trade, I said, ‘Yes. I don’t know how they could get much higher.’ We like our team very much.”
The team they have, not the team they might have had.
When the Braves scrambled all those eggs midstream in 2021, it was with the knowledge that Acuña would not be a part of the picture. Things changed in an unforgettable way.
In October, will the Padres be able to say it all sounds familiar?
